CooperatorNews New York Expo May 2022

May/Expo 2022 COOPERATORNEWS.COM it be regarding COVID regulations, water shutdowns, or notice of an- nual meetings—we use email notification, BuildingLink where sub- scribed, and snail mail, as well as lobby distribution of materials and signage when appropriate. Residents are always invited to communi- cate with their property management team about issues or questions of concern. It often happens that these issues are already under discus- sion by the board, or we will bring new matters to the attention of the NEW YORK THE CO-OP & CONDO RESOURCE COOPERATORNEWS 205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Do you remember when you were a kid and the closest thing you had to a cell phone at the time was two cups with a string attached between them? You pulled the string taut, spoke into one cup, and hoped your friend holding the other would hear you. Miraculously, they did! That long-ago game worked because sound travels along rigid pathways. If you let the string between the cups go slack, the sound doesn’t travel. Turns out, all you really need to know to understand soundproofing you probably learned in kindergarten. The ABCs of Sound & Soundproofing According to Sarah Marsh, President of MAAI Marsh Architects in New York City, “There’s no such thing as soundproofing; rather the proper term is sound attenu- ation.” Sound attenuation is the effective reduction of sound—not necessarily its elimination. Much of the sound we hear through walls and ceilings in our apartments is known as structural sound, explains Marsh. Structural sound is created inside a building by someone or something causing vibrations. “The only way to stop the vibra- tions is to interrupt them with a sound iso- lator,” she says. “Examples of sound isola- tors are a rubber gasket or a huge spring.” Alan Gaynor, an independent architect based in New York, adds that noise in mul- tifamily buildings can be further divided broadly between two general categories: airborne noise and structural noise. Air- borne noise filters in from adjacent units While some co-op and condo communities have tried social media platforms like Face- book, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter as ways to build community spirit and facilitate better communication between neighbors, management, and even the board, most have remained ‘old-school,’ sticking with newsletters, bulletin boards (both digital and cork) in the lobby or mail room, and email blasts to residents. With the ubiquity of social media these days, it may be worthwhile to ask why multifamily communities haven’t really embraced it. If It’s Not Broken… “We have a Facebook page that was started by one of my neighbors,” says Dana Greco, a longtime resident of a large, active co-op community in the Bronx, “but nobody posts any- thing.” The 17-story high-rise building features a pool and manicured grounds. “We have a brief newsletter perhaps twice a year,” Greco says. “There’s just not a lot of newsworthy events. We also have a bulletin board for those in need of assistance from neighbors, or who want to sell something. Honestly, most of our news comes from gossiping with the doormen.” Gayle Goodman, director of communications for Gumley Haft, a prominent co-op and condo management firm based in Manhattan, says, “With the many channels of communica- tion management can avail itself of, we disseminate information in multiple methods so resi- dents are notified of building news in the way they may prefer. When there is news—whether There’s a riddle in a popular children’s book that asks, ‘What’s the largest room in the world?’ After much consideration and many incorrect guesses, one of the characters in the book has the answer: “Why, the largest room in the world is room for improvement!” If you’ve lived in a multifamily commu- nity for any amount of time, it’s hard to argue with that statement. A residential building or complex can always stand to be improved, whether with an aesthetic update, design overhaul, or an upgrade of its machinery or systems—but even the most discretionary improvements can open a Pandora’s box of regulatory requirements. Likewise, upgrades intended to make a multifamily building or community code compliant very often force some design and decor decisions—so mak- ing a ‘simple’ improvement is often anything but. Best Laid Plans With so many variables in play and po- tential points at which things can go awry with a capital design project, the pros say the best way to ensure that it goes smoothly is to do as much up-front planning and organiz- ing as possible. According to Michael Refat, the Canton, Massachusetts-based Regional Director for national property management company FirstService Residential, that starts with lining up a team of competent profes- sionals to advise on all aspects of the project before it gets going, starting with an engineer. “We always advise the trustees, before they engage in any kind of renovations, to get a consulting engineer \[who can\] advise them if the project will trigger code compli- ance or not,” says Refat. “Usually \[clients\] think that redesigning the lobby or the hall- way is a matter of cosmetics. But when they start the project, they’re confronted with the reality that there is a large added expense to bring the alarm system, the fire suppression system, the sprinkler system, the panels into Co-ops, Condos, & Social Media To Tweet…or Not to Tweet? BY A. J. SIDRANSKY Soundproofing Stopping Noise Complaints Before They Start BY A. J. SIDRANSKY Capital Design Projects There’s Always Room for Improvement BY DARCEY GERSTEIN continued on page 22 continued on page 20 continued on page 24 NEW YORK’S BIGGEST & BEST CO-OP & CONDO EXPO! NEW YORK HILTON MIDTOWN — WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 9-4:30 FREE REGISTRATION: COOPEXPO.COM LIVE AND IN PERSON