One of the fundamental truths about condominium life is that, eventually, your building will need extra money. A leaky roof, an inefficient boiler, busted pipes, elevators that don't elevate—the list is endless. If your boar…
Lobbying for one cause or another has always been a part of the daily life in New York City. These days, in the Bronx, it's the borough president who is the most prominent person lobbying for the interests of those living in the bo…
The northeast corner of the Bronx is one of New York City's most diverse areas. It's home to Co-op City—the state's largest housing cooperative—and includes such neighborhoods as Throgs Neck, Pelham Bay, Westchester Square and others. As a …
The Bronx has quite a reputation. Grim and featureless slums as far away as Catena, Sicily have been dubbed "The Bronx" by their local residents. For decades, the name of the once-promising borough of New York City has been synonymo…
Every year, the shareholders of co-op apartments gather together—in their building's community room, or even in the basement in the shadow of the laundry machines, on flimsy chairs that are only used once a year—to discuss their mutual inve…
Sometimes being on the board of a co-op or condo is like being a politician. Fellow residents look to you to solve problems. They can vote for you, or they can choose not to vote for you if you do something they dislike. You feel li…
As the trees start greening and the last dregs of winter ice and slush melt away, it's once more time to turn our collective attention to The Cooperator's annual Co-op & Condo Expo—to be held this year on Wednesday, April 25th on three floo…
Nothing worth doing is ever easy. That rule of thumb certainly applies when it comes to the creation of co-ops and condos. Whether constructing a new building or converting an existing one, it can be a tricky business. The person o…
Thirty-eight of the 400 individuals on Forbes magazine's list of the richest Americans—almost ten percent—call New York City home. All thirty-eight are billionaires. Some of them, like Ralph Lauren and Donald Trump, are household names. Two…
While the real estate market across the country has cooled in general, it's still going strong in New York. The New York City market has always stood apart from the rest of the country, for reasons that everybody here practically knows b…