Fresh from hoisting up the banking and automobile sectors, a newly muscular Uncle Sam is now turning his attention to putting the skids on the real estate meltdown. The Obama Administration earlier this year rolled out two maj…

Unemployment is up and apartment sales are down. That’s the trend of headline news lately. But, so far, New York City co-ops and condominiums seem to be weathering the storm in reasonably good shape. According to those close to the situ…

When you walk down many large commercial thoroughfares in New York, whether it’s Fifth or Madison Aevnue in Manhattan, Kings Highway in Brooklyn or Main Street in Flushing, you’re sure to notice many more empty stores than usual—living p…

Not so very long ago, pretty much any individual or corporate entity could get a loan quickly and easily, with only some cursory paperwork separating borrower from lender. The so-called subprime mortgage crisis put a stop to all that, a…

Even in the best of economic times, preparing a co-op or condo’s annual budget can be a tiresome task, fraught with uncertainty, estimations and shifting numbers. Factor in one of the most harrowing economic downturns in a century, with…

Q I am the president of a 60-unit condominium in Brooklyn. Years ago, the board created some bicycle storage space (a room with some bicycle racks) in the basement and allocated the two spaces to owners on a first-come, first-serv…

Q  I have used my sister’s co-op apartment as my primary residence for 12 years. She holds the  proprietary lease and owns the shares but she has never lived here. Recently  the old co-op board was replaced, and the new board is tryi…

New York City’s skyline is distinguished by thousands of rooftop water tanks. While they make for interesting architectural conversation pieces, the 5,000 to 10,000-gallon tanks actually serve a vital purpose. Since the New York City st…

 As attorneys who represent a large number of cooperative and condominium  buildings, we’re seeing more and more often that, instead of attracting community-oriented  individuals, New York City condominium and cooperative buildings often a…

 Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has unveiled a $59.4 billion budget plan for Fiscal  Year 2010 that reduces the city’s workforce by about 13,000 jobs and counts on givebacks by organized labor to  reduce a projected $4.8 billion budget gap. …