Anyone who’s lived in a co-op or condo building for a number of years usually has at least a passing understanding of what happens when their building’s lobby needs repainting, or when the board meets to decide what style of new wainscoting…
Most co-op and condo dwellers are well aware of the responsibilities held and services provided by their building’s top-tier contractors–otherwise known as the managing agent, the accountant and the attorney. Working as a team, this group o…
1st Rochdale Cooperative Group Ltd. was created in 1997 when a group of New York City housing cooperatives realized that deregulation of the Federal and State electric utility industry might cause their energy costs to skyrocket. Forced int…
The well-known business guru Peter Drucker once said, "Long-range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions." This is the basic philosophy professional financial planners use in guiding their …
If someone were to tell you that as a New York co-op or condominium owner you may be throwing away up to $1,000 a year on unnecessary taxes, you’d probably be pretty indignant, right? No matter who you are or what you do, a thousand bucks i…
For the last decade or so, Washington Heights has remained a well-kept secret. A narrow stretch of Upper Manhattan crowned by the picturesque Hudson Heights neighborhood, it is home to many transplanted down-towners, among others. The area,…
"…In 1973, I received my Pest Control license and started my business. My first job was in a building in the South Bronx. The owner of the building had given me the keys to the basement, and I remember driving up to the building and thin…
New York City is famous the world over for being "The City That Never Sleeps", but perhaps, as one sardonic resident put it, "They should call it ‘The City That Never Lets You Sleep’!" Thanks to honking cabs, shrieking trains, hypersensitiv…
With all the recent grief and confusion in our city, it’s almost easy to forget that there was a mayoral primary scheduled for September 11th. Voting had barely started when terror descended on New York. As images of destruction and chao…
It’s a common enough occurrence: Jane, who has served on your co-op’s board of directors since the Hoover Administration, makes a surprise announcement at the monthly meeting: she’s selling her apartment and retiring to Florida. This does n…