The New York City rules for heating are confusing. For example, from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., if the outdoor temperature is below 40 degrees, the indoor temperature must be at least 55 degrees. Taken literally, this means that if the outdoo…
Q If the majority of board members pass a motion, and the president or other members of the board decide to ignore the majority's vote and proceed in opposition to their directive, what recourse do the board members have? Is there anythin…
A snowy winter is a child's dream. What's more fun than the chance to build snowmen, dominate in snowball fights and of course, relish in the pure joy that is a snow day? Oh, to be young, blissful—and mostly ignorant of the havoc wreaked b…
At the tail end of October 2012, the nation and the world watched as the innocuously-named Superstorm Sandy made landfall across New York City. Lashing rain, hurricane-force winds, massive flooding, fire and power outages wreaked havoc on …
While crime rates are steadily decreasing nationwide—even in the Big Apple—multiunit dwellings are often more difficult to 'police' due to the number of residents, visitors, delivery personnel and third party workers such as contractors. A…
The perks of living in New York are obvious to anyone reading these pages, and won’t be listed here. But there is one glaring drawback to city life: lack of space. We all have winter coats we don’t need in August, air conditioners we don’t…
The drop in crime in New York in the last 40 years has been nothing short of miraculous. In the 1970s, the city’s obvious danger was notorious. Muggings were commonplace. Subway cars rolled along the tracks tagged in graffiti and ugly fluo…
Cristina Torre kept her eyes on the kid, as he dropped right into the old mitts. On June 19, 2013, the daughter of Yankees legend Joe Torre caught a 1-year-old baby boy when he fell from the awning of a Brooklyn storefront. Dillin Miller h…
In New York, buying a co-op or a condo goes something like this: Your realtor takes you to see your dream home. You put in an offer—along with a bunch of other people. After a ferocious bidding war, your offer is finally accepted. You subm…
Q When is a Place of Assembly Permit required for the private common areas (for example a roof, lobby or basement) of a cooperative building? Particularly when those areas are used for many shareholders and residents to assemble for annua…