The hard work of on-site employees - supers, resident managers, doormen, concierges, and handymen - is the fuel that New York’s apartment buildings run on. To a great extent, these employees are represented by Service Employees Internationa…

Q. Our annual shareholder meeting is to be held each April (per our bylaws). However, when COVID started in March 2020, our 2020 annual meeting was canceled and we have not had one since. The last meeting was held in April 2019.  When I’v…

Q. In this time of COVID and depressed Manhattan co-op sales, sellers have been willing to accept bids way lower than a board would allow. If a seller and buyer agree to enter into a contract of sale for an acceptable (to the board) selli…

Q. I live in a 192-unit co-op in Brooklyn. The board decided that due to COVID, for the safety of shareholders there will be no annual meeting this year. Also, our maintenance will go up. We have a large outdoor courtyard that I suggested…

An old time-worn saying ‘that you’re only as good as your first impression’ is paramount in how your co-op or condo building is perceived at street level. The curb appeal factor cannot be discounted when people pass by your building and see…

The words communication and community share a common root. It comes as no surprise, then, that the success of communities depends on effective communication between board members, managers, and residents. In multifamily residential communit…

Ever since the end of World War II—and the widespread prosperity that brought about a historic baby boom, a healthy middle class, and suburban sprawl—a vibrant, manicured lawn has been synonymous with the American domestic ideal. Even for t…

One of the enduring facts of home ownership is that maintaining your abode is never really done. There’s always something that needs to be upgraded or updated.  That is doubly true in multifamily communities. Whether you’re in an urban high…

Living in a dense urban or suburban multifamily setting often means living without easy access to nature. Many residents in these housing environments crave some sort of outdoor space—if not a private one like a balcony or deck adjoining th…

The continuing war in Ukraine and the accompanying sanctions imposed by the US, EU, and their allies reach into our own backyard. Many Russian oligarchs own luxury apartments and other real estate in New York and elsewhere in the United Sta…