In a city known for its expanses of steel and concrete, despite that giant expanse of parkland at its center, it can be easy to forget the importance that greenery plays in the life of New Yorkers. For many co-op and condo residents, the f…

Q My family is a shareholder of one of eight apartments in a small Brooklyn co-op. The apartment directly above ours was sublet to a family in 1997 that signed an agreement specified by the board of directors requiring the apartment to ha…

The only thing more aggravating than having a pipe burst in your co-op in the middle of the night may be the question of "Who is responsible for the repair?" The proprietary lease generally governs who is responsible, and different leases …

Managing risk is one of the most important things you can do to maintain the viability of a business, and what many board members sometimes forget is that their association is just that, a business. Risk management—the process of identifyi…

In a stunning decision that has wide-reaching application to the scope of review to be used by appellate courts throughout the State of New York, the Court of Appeals has overturned an errant decision of the Appellate Division in a hotly c…

More than a year after “Superstorm Sandy” wreaked havoc along the East Coast, many communities throughout the region remain focused on recovery efforts. The storm was catastrophic and the ongoing media coverage highlights the fact that the…

The Building: Glen Oaks Village is a self-managed cooperative residential housing development located in northeastern Queens. It was built in 1947 shortly after WWII to help fill the void of affordable housing for returning GI's. Originall…

Increasingly, those who manage residential rental, cooperative, or condominium apartment dwellings in New York are learning they must walk a fine line in setting house rules that govern the ownership and acceptance of animals in their buil…

One of the most beloved New York characters in sitcom TV, Carroll O’Connor, the actor that played the cantankerous Archie Bunker, grew up in this section of Queens that came to signify a quintessential middle income, working class neighbor…

While it's true that having apathetic leadership is an all-too-common problem in a lot of co-op and condo buildings, having a board that oversteps the boundaries of its power or invades the privacy of residents can be just as bad. Ignoranc…