Page 1 - CooperatorNews NY January 2021
P. 1

January 2021                        COOPERATORNEWS.COM  continued on page 12   about to start now!” Another reported that he had to set up sup-  port groups for the staff in his building because the stress of   traveling to and from the building and the nervous behavior of   the residents were causing pervasive, chronic feelings of fear and   despair.   The truth is that never before had property managers and   their client communities faced a crisis of this type, presenting   NEW YORK  THE CO-OP & CONDO RESOURCE  COOPERATORNEWS  continued on page 10   Buildings are in many respects like cars;   they’re a synthesis of a number of mechani-  cal  systems  with  lots  of  moving  parts.  To   keep a car running at peak performance, it   requires regular maintenance: oil changes,   engine tune-ups, regular emissions inspec-  tions. Buildings are the same. If a boiler   is not properly maintained, its efficiency   drops, and heating costs increase. If roofs   or facades aren’t inspected and kept up,   they can leak, causing water damage to in-  terior walls, wiring, and ceilings. The key to   avoiding these problems is staying on top of   them with regular inspections and upkeep.   To that end, scheduling is everything when   it comes to maintaining optimal perfor-  mance.  Why Inspect, and When?  “Preventive maintenance helps extend   the useful life of a building’s infrastructure   and makes sure all systems operate effec-  tively and efficiently,” says Dan Wollman,   CEO of Gumley Haft, a management firm   based in Manhattan. “It also allows us to   evaluate where cost savings may be found,   as well as forecasting major repairs which   become necessary as buildings age. Inspec-  tions, servicing major building equipment   systems, and assessing what needs to be re-  paired or replaced, all fall under year-round   schedules of preventive maintenance. At   Gumley Haft, we set up preventive main-  tenance programs in all our buildings to   oversee different building systems at differ-  ent times of year. Programs like these are   very important to how a building operates   optimally.”  Scott Wolf, managing partner at BRIGS   Property Management located in Boston,   Massachusetts, adds, “Regular maintenance   of building components extends the life and   The day-to-day life of a property manager—while not quite as predictable as that of,   say, an accountant—does revolve around certain cyclical tasks, like building inspec-  tions, staff meetings, and keeping boards informed of what is going on with various   projects in their buildings. That’s not to say that there isn’t an occasional emergency,   of course; a boiler fails, a visitor slips and falls, a vendor doesn’t deliver. And while any   good manager takes these challenges in stride, there’s little that could have prepared   managers for what they would face with the arrival of COVID-19.  The novel coronavirus is called ‘novel’ for a reason. It’s a newly emerged public   health threat that you can’t see, smell, taste, or feel—at least until you’ve contracted   it. It’s there, everywhere, and at the beginning of the pandemic, no one knew exactly   where. It created paralyzing fear for both our leaders and individuals, particularly in   New York City, its first epicenter. In a hyper-urban environment where people were   packed in like sardines to begin with, physical distance between loved ones, neigh-  bors, and strangers went from being a luxury to being a requirement. The many non-  verbal cues we receive and interpret from facial expressions disappeared behind fea-  tureless masks; no more smiles from the porter when he came to deliver a package to   your apartment.  The mental and emotional stress foisted upon literally millions of people in what   many would agree was often already a stressful environment has frayed nerves, short-  ened tempers, and in some cases ignited conflict between neighbors and between resi-  dents of co-ops and condos, their boards, and their management agents and staff.  The stress has extended to the smallest of things. One manager reported that when   the board of a building she manages decided to ban domestic helpers from entering   the property, she received a call from an irate shareholder. The shareholder told her   in no uncertain terms that she “hadn’t picked up a vacuum in 50 years—and wasn’t   While many condominium associa-  tions and co-op corporations hire profes-  sional property managers or management   firms  to  handle  the  routine  (and  not-so-  routine) tasks involved in running a mul-  tifamily building or HOA, a significant   number take the opposite route, eschew-  ing formal management and running their   properties themselves. While most of these   self-managed communities tend to be on   the smaller side, self-management can be   successful at any size, from a handful of   units to hundreds.   Self-management involves numerous   skills, however; everything from account-  ing to minor home repairs may need to be   handled directly by the board, rather than   being delegated by a manager or firm. Ob-  viously, anyone with a plumbing problem   can call a plumber; you don’t have to be a   professional manager to intervene when   a leak rears its head. But that said, the   most successful self-managed properties   are those that do have a range of practical   skills distributed between owners, and a   positive, community-oriented view from   members. It’s  a  ‘pitch-in’  sort  of atmo-  sphere, and it’s not for everyone.  The arrival of COVID-19 has had ma-  jor implications for all properties and their   management of course, but the pandem-  ic-related restrictions on close personal   contact has had a particularly personal   effect on smaller, self-managed communi-  ties.   CooperatorNews   spoke with several   self-managed community leaders to un-  derstand how the global health crisis has   changed the way they live, and how they   manage themselves.  A Condo Grows in Brooklyn  Benjamin Weinstein is the vice presi-  dent of a 10-unit condominium building   located on Lorimer Street in the Williams-  burg  section  of  Brooklyn.  The  five-story   elevator property was built in 2018 and is   100 percent sold.   Weinstein explains that when the as-  sociation was originally formed, they   had outside management. However, with   minimal reserves and residents and board   Management in Crisis:  How the Pandemic Changed an Industry  BY A J SIDRANSKY  Self-Management in   Stressful Times  Some Communities    Go it Alone—Others Outsource   BY A. J. SIDRANSKY  Inspection   Timetables  Maintaining Maintenance,   Keeping Your Building   Healthy  BY A.J. SIDRANSKY  205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED  continued on page 14 


































































































   1   2   3   4   5