Every decade or era has its own design "˜look.' Remember the shag carpeting and wood paneling of the 1970s or the chrome-and-glass overkill of the 1980s and early "˜90s? Thankfully, those trends had their moment and have since been put out…
Walk by 502 Park Avenue and you'll find a vision in progress. There stands a classic example of a gracious Park Avenue building with one remarkable, eye-catching addition: an ultra-modern glass tower on the roof that is home to the kind of…
In this and in future columns, I will be examining decisions of interest to co-op and condo boards and suggesting what valuable lessons can be learned from these legal decisions. Theresa Merolo v. Board of Managers of the Hill at Grasm…
Situated in the far northwest section of the Bronx, Riverdale is bounded on the west by the Hudson River and the north by the Westchester County line but to many it feels like a suburban enclave within the city. Marked by a landscape …
A number of smaller bureaus and special task forces operate under the control and guidance of the DOB. Some have direct contact with residents, while others interact primarily with contractors, tradespersons, and legal professionals. B…
While it may be a cliché, it's entirely true that few things are more important than keeping a solid roof over your head. And like any other aspect of a building's structural composition, your roof has a life span that is dictated by time…
The Byzantine bureaucracy of New York City's government offices can often seem impenetrable; a warren of offices, commissions, departments, and boards designed more to thwart than to help. While the sheer size of New York insures that the …
Record crowds turned out for The Cooperator's 17th Annual Co-op and Condo Expo , March 18th, at the Hilton New York & Towers. Even some morning snow showers failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the more than 4,000 attendees, whose rank…
Whether it's cash in hand or borrowed dollars, your properties are constantly faced with competing demands on scarce resources. These financial pressures can keep you from replacing an old, unreliable, repair-intensive, under-performing ch…
Like many questions, the answer is "it depends." Many people think about a 20- or 30-year-old boiler the same way they think about a 10- or 15-year-old car: "It might need to be replaced soon, so I won't spend much money on it. I'll just …