It’s that time of year again—trees are budding, flowers are blooming, and on Tuesday, April 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Cooperator’s Co-op & Condo Expo will set up shop at the Hilton New York at 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas. …
Q I serve on the board of a Brooklyn co-op which is only 52 percent shareholder owned. Shareholders now have the simple majority on the board. Our sponsor owns the management company (which is non-responsive), has a relationship with ou…
Concrete is the most prevalent building material in existence today, though most people probably don’t notice how widely used the material is until it begins to break up in front of their homes, or falls off of their buildings, roads an…
With its plethora of major cultural and educational institutions like Lincoln Center, the Museum of Natural History, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Grant’s Tomb, Barnard College, Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University…
Unless it's a thoughtful gift or a party in their honor, nobody likes surprises. That's especially true when it comes to sudden, serious, or non-negotiable repairs to a co-op or condo building. A building community must have enough mon…
It’s no secret these days that co-op and condo operating costs are going through the roof, so to speak, and boards and managers are all looking for effective ways to generate cost savings. Building management looks at fuel and energy u…
Whether it is redesigning light fixtures in a common space or replacing a roof, repair jobs and capital improvement projects are like death and taxes, they are inevitable. Whereas a building administrator or a managing agent most often …
As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and for co-op and condo homebuyers, that first impression is almost always the view from the street. No matter how deluxe the accommodations inside, if th…
Walking down the streets of New York City, the zig-zag iron work of fire escapes immediately evoke romantic images of a simpler time, having been immortalized in books, songs and plays from West Side Story to Rent. With some fire escape…
In New York City, urban high-rises with sidewalk frontage and outer-borough HOAs with walking paths, parking lots, and service roads are reliant on their paved surfaces and therefore need to regularly inspect and maintain their concrete…