If you’ve ever attended a meeting and witnessed the group president call it into order, heard the secretary review the minutes of the previous meeting, heard motions, seconds and then voted, you have participated in parliamentary procedu…

Unlike co-ops, which are governed by the business corporation law and the common law with respect to cooperative housing corporations, condominiums are really a creature of statute. The statute that gives authority to create condominiu…

Some years ago, an acquaintance of ours worked as a “permit clerk” for a plumber while on summer vacation in college. The plumber would give him paperwork for a work project, he would go to the city offices, and, in theory, he would ge…

In its last meeting of 2005, the New York City Council enacted legislation to make the city a quieter, cleaner and more environmentally-friendly place to live. Perhaps one of the major initiatives sought by the mayor’s office was revis…

Few experiences can rattle the collective confidence of a co-op or condo community as much as charges of fraud. Trusts are broken and faiths betrayed, all in the name of personal gain. Boards and residents can protect themselves, thoug…

Mel Garskof is thrilled about the lobby makeover that will happen in the coming year at the Kips Bay area cooperative building where he lives. The public halls will be renovated, including new wallpaper and carpet, doors will be repain…

Property managers have a lot on their minds. There are board meetings to attend, legal issues to wade through, phone calls to return, emails to answer and a constant parade of maintenance issues to contend with at any given time. The j…

Recently, the Appellate Division, First Department—the state’s second highest court located in Manhattan—announced a decision with far-reaching implications for the state’s condominium owners. In the case Pekelnaya v. Allyn, the court …

In 1932, when Josephine Baldizzi was six, her mother Rosaria, used to bathe her in the kitchen’s slop sink in their five-story walkup tenement building at 97 Orchard Street. On her walk to school, she wore her father Adolfo’s size 9 sh…

When the Dutch settled in what was then called “New Amsterdam,” a man named Johann Lampo patrolled the trails and paths of the area, keeping the peace and watching for fires. Little did Lampo know that he was the first in a long, honor…