New York City is a beautiful place, but let’s face facts—it gets pretty dirty. All the fumes from countless trucks and cars letting off exhaust leave a layer of grim on buildings so thick that in many cases, it’s impossible to know jus…
In a city that is made for walking, few stop to pause and look beneath their feet at the sidewalks that lead them uptown, downtown and crosstown. But these sidewalks—all 12,000 miles of them—form the arteries at the heart of New York. …
In a city known for its tall buildings, two kinds of structures loom almost as large as the buildings themselves—construction sheds (normally called a sidewalk shed) and scaffolds. Everyone has seen these familiar blue plywood platform…
Sooner or later, your building will probably have to undergo an exterior maintenance, renovation or repair project—especially since Local Law 11 was passed in 1998, mandating periodic inspections of exterior walls of any building more …
Q Our board selected a Nominating Committee, which chose only the current board members as candidates. Six additional residents wanted to run, but their names were left off the ballot. The committee claims it selected the best for the …
Q I moved out of my Queens co-op apartment two years ago, right before the building started having numerous financial problems including bankruptcy and sponsor embezzlement. I am trying to sell my apartment, and have finally found a ba…
Q I have been a shareholder in my Brooklyn co-op since 1986, and am facing a problem that has come up since my husband’s death almost 18 months ago. My husband was an active participant on our board of directors—past president, vice pre…
All communities, be they nation-states, municipalities, or co-op or condo buildings, have rules. Respect for -- and adherence to -- these rules is essential for many people to coexist peaceably in the same communal space. In the co-op …
NYSERDA Provides Energy Assistance Boiler Maintenance and Repair By Erik Neumann Replacing your heating and domestic hot water plant is one of the costliest projects that your building management can undertake—which…
Water damage and related liability has always been — and always will be — a big issue for co-op buildings and their shareholders. Few other issues are as complicated and potentially volatile as the challenge of tracing the leak, repair…