It’s such a simple idea—covering your roof with plants—that it’s no surprise people have been doing it for millennia. From the hanging gardens of ancient Babylon to the terraced farmsteads of the Andes, working greenery into everyday ar…

For a building to run in accordance with the law and to deliver its owners and tenants the rights they deserve, good management is crucial. Most co-ops and condos hire a management company to provide the guidance they require; manageme…

Everyone is feeling the crunch of the ongoing recession and as building communities look for ways to raise revenue without adding to their residents’ current financial worries with large assessments, flip taxes are becoming a hot topic.…

Bad economic news is pretty much inescapable these days. You can’t turn on the TV without hearing about another round of layoffs or plummeting consumer confidence. The stock market is a roller coaster, retirement funds are shedding valu…

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers investment bank went under in the largest bankruptcy of all time. The economy was already on the decline, other august companies had already foundered, and both presidential candidates were procla…

Despite the collapse in housing prices in much of the country and a definite slowdown in sales, new residential development in New York City—and Manhattan in particular—continues, though at a much more modest pace than in recent years. T…

The year 2008 is likely to go down in history as one of the most disappointing (or maybe flat-out alarming) for the U.S. economy in general. To be fair, the city hasn’t suffered as much as most of the nation has—but the co-op and condo …

Q Our co-op has a prospective purchaser who refuses to buy the shares in his own  name. He wants the shares to be purchased by a holding company or limited  liability corporation (LLC) that was created specifically for that purpose. Ho…

Q We are in a small condo building of 3 units, hence we do not have (quite frankly, can’t afford) a management company, with the intention that the 3 owners share in building upkeep and responsibilities. One owner has since moved out…

Q I live in a co-op in the Lower East of Manhattan. We have an entrenched board, which is under the control of our building manager. Over the past few years, our building has made some ‘improvements’ to the tiles, windows, lobby, etc…