I manage a small Mitchell-Lama co-op. Our local grocery store, which has served  as an important resource for our senior residents who can’t go too far, is closing down. We were wondering what we would have to do to set  up a little store i…

Some shareholders of our cooperative wish to record board meetings as the  minutes do not always accurately reflect what was said during open sessions of  board meetings. One of 12 board members objected to the taping of a recent  session a…

It is easy to focus attention on the governance and business aspects of operating associations because of their immediacy. However, clear lines of communication and a strong sense of community among residents focuses everyone's attention…

As one year ends and a new one begins, talk turns to New Years' resolutions—everybody has a wish or a plan for how they'd most like 2008 to unfold. For some, a happy New Year includes the fortitude to stick to a sensible diet (finally!).…

In 1939, when the WPA Guide to New York Citywas first published, South Queens, and particularly the area around what would become Rochdale Village, had little to recommend the visitor. "Springfield, Laurelton and Rosedale, at the so…

The deep freeze of winter will fall on New York from January through March, and though the city hasn't had the most severe winters in recent years, weather has a way of tricking us into complacency and hitting hard when we let our guards…

The idea of cooperative living was hatched in the early 1900s in New York City as a way for people to either have a say in who they had as neighbors, or as a way for building tenants to band together and exert some control over their qua…

For most New Yorkers, the search for housing is the least favorite part of the New York experience. If the size is right, the price is wrong; if the price is right, the neighborhood's wrong. And then there's that hideous bathtub in the k…

New York City's condos and co-ops are more than just apartment buildings—they're part of one the most famous architectural landscapes in the world. Next time you walk around the city, slow down and notice the beautifully designed structu…

For almost a year now, we have been hearing more and more about the subprime mortgage crisis. Subprime mortgages are mortgages that banks sell to borrowers whose problematic credit ratings do not allow them to get mortgages at better rat…