While not a common practice, boards of directors of New York cooperatives have, at times, reached the decision to evict a shareholder based on objectionable conduct. Nearly every cooperative corporation's proprietary lease contains a sectio…

There are five main rules that must always be considered when designing apartment building lobbies. Each project has its own set of circumstances and goals. And these goals must also coincide with the aesthetics, the inherent building style…

Patricia is a 65 year-old woman who is in good physical and mental shape. She exercises daily, sees her physician regularly and is active in the community. She lives alone in an apartment and doesn't even want to consider moving to an as…

In a recent New York magazine article on sound and noise levels, an acoustics expert measured various sound levels throughout the city. Normal conversation is measured to be approximately 65 decibels. The National Institute o…

Unwanted sound is the bane of many a New York co-op or condo dweller's existence. Few things are as annoying as being awakened in the middle of the night by a car alarm, being forced to listen to a neighbor's stereo against your will, or…

Throughout New York City, some of the most sought-after apartments are located in prewar buildings (those built prior to World War II), such as the Central Park West's Dakota or the stately maisonettes located on the Upper East Side. On…

We've all done it: walking along a quiet street in the evening, our eyes are drawn to the lit windows overlooking the sidewalk-we crane our necks to catch a quick glimpse of the sumptuously-decorated apartment behind the curtains, and immed…

Everybody knows at least one person who can't seem to bear parting with anything, be it movie ticket stubs from 1978, scratched-up Tupperware, or their grandpa's back-issues of National Geographic. The tendency to hang onto every random …

"I was living on 93rd and 3rd in a railroad apartment, and I described it to my father as 'straight through with a bathtub in the kitchen,' and he thought I was joking. He said, 'Where's the toilet?' And I said, 'Out in the hall. I can take…

You only have one chance to make a first impression, and when it comes to co-op and condo buildings, your lobby is that first chance. The way a lobby is designed expresses what kind of building residents and visitors are walking into, both…