The good news is, after a fallow period in the depths of the recession, the construction industry in New York City is starting to come back. However, with that activity comes the potential for disputes and property damage, especially w…
It’s not necessarily to the degree of the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, the famous mountain clan involved in a decades-long blood feud, but living side-by-side in a co-op or a condo can, needless to say, get pretty heated on occasion. …
When you speak of Hell’s Kitchen and the far west side of Manhattan, the stories that come to mind are of longshoremen, the notorious Westies and dark deserted urban streets, but now, thanks to a the 7 Subway Line extension, a massive p…
Williamsburg suffers from multiple personality disorder. Just one subway stop away from Manhattan in the Brooklyn neighborhood, you’ll find a large Hasidic Jewish community, a glut of ethnic enclaves, including Polish, Puerto-Rican, Dom…
Insurance is a relatively simple concept that any homeowner can understand. You purchase a policy paying a premium to an insurer, and when a claim gets filed, the insurer pays. So in theory, insuring your co-op or condo building should …
The leading factor responsible for the Great Recession—fraudulent mortgage lending—remains a thorn in the side of the nation’s fledgling economy. It started with the false promise of home ownership to many susceptible, under-financed peo…
As the winter months fade into spring, it’s easy to try and forget about heating and all the costs it incurs. For managers, board members and others with an eye on a co-op or condo building’s budgetary bottom line, now may be the perfect…
Congratulations, you’ve been elected to serve on your building’s board. You managed to convince the rest of the building that you know enough about building systems or law or economics or even people-pleasing to make them vote for you a…
No one likes it when a neighbor has an ongoing renovation project that lasts for months on end, especially when the renovations may cause damage to your own apartment. Luckily, most buildings have a mechanism in place to fix this: the …