Nowadays people are using their computers to connect to the Internet for just about every facet of their lives. Whether it’s buying cheap airline tickets, making reservations at their favorite restaurant or connecting with old friends on…
Any relationship depends upon effective communication to function properly. In a co-op or condo, the relationship between the board and managing agent, or between the board and the shareholders, all have boundaries regarding what is acce…
Most co-op and condo boards that hire managing agents, rather than manage themselves with in-house staff, are reasonably satisfied with them. After all, the managers are presumably trained and experienced professionals. But now and …
Until recently, Claudia Tracey worked full time in a position that required an extensive amount of travel. At the same time she was, and still is, board president at Hampton Vistas Condominiums in Manorville, New York, which just went th…
Q I have a neighbor whose door is just across from mine and whenever she enters her apartment, she closes her door with a very loud bang. Sometimes, I am asleep and I wake up and can’t go back to sleep. This has been going on for year…
Q I recently received a memo from the board of directors of my co-op in Queens Village, stating that the building will not allow cooperators to sell their apartments below a sales price that they determine. Is this legal? —Suspicious…
Q I am a shareholder in a Westchester County 73-unit cooperative, two of which are commercial units generating approximately two percent of the co-op’s income. The president of our five-member board of directors has been president for o…
Having sat on a board for almost ten years, I continue to be astonished at how little most volunteers know about what the job entails. While it is important to volunteer your time for this position, there are things you must know in advance…
Examining a few pounds of freeze-dried goji berries in the Bowery neighborhood’s Whole Foods market, it is easy to forget that you might be standing in the exact spot where the Bowery Boys, clad terrifyingly in stovepipe hats and flared…
On last season’s “The Apprentice” reality show, celebrities volunteered their time to team up and compete, not for a job with the Donald Trump organization, but to win a large donation to their favorite charity. The show’s concept is to…