As recently as the 1930’s, only 68 percent of American homes had electricity. By the middle of the last century however, most Americans enjoyed well-lit homes, and the light had started to spread outdoors as well. Initially, yards and g…
The roof is the uppermost part of any residential building, serving as the first line of defense against whatever the skies throw at its inhabitants. In many New York co-op and condo buildings, the roof is also a social space, complete …
More often than not, when boards or associations broach the issue of their buildings “going green,” images of bamboo flooring, hemp drapes, or solar panels on the roof suddenly spring to mind. The impression seems to be that in a condo,…
As a co-op or condominium board member, you rely on a long list of service professionals for work ranging from HVAC maintenance to parking lot sealing. Finding the right person for the right job, though, can be a challenge. In…
Q I am a co-op owner. A renovation plan for my apartment was approved by the building, the board and the city. Con Edison added a new power line to the building at no cost because the building was at its capacity for the existing electr…
Q Is it ethical for board members or immediate family members to choose to do a job that would normally be something the community would get together to do for free (i.e. spreading out mulch in the park, pressure-washing the gazebo or …
During the Second World War, the United States and its allies invested a fortune in research to understand why so many people in the Axis nations seemed willing to believe the unbelievable, do the undoable, and follow leaders who seemed…
With spring around the corner, many co-op and condo boards and HOAs start thinking about giving their landscaping design a fresh new look but they want to keep it within their budgets. How can this be accomplished? Some common sense qu…
Unless you live in the perfectly utopian condo or co-op (in which case please disclose where), conflict is virtually inevitable. Whether is it a noise complaint or larger issue of governance, disputes between neighbors and board member…
Today’s Harlem has a celebrity chef whipping up gourmet cornbread for President Barack Obama, a new Starwood Hotel featuring loft-style rooms geared toward an urban tech-savvy clientele, a newly opened 174,000-square-foot Target big-box…