When co-op and condo residents agree to serve as board members, some don’t understand the full implications of their service. Governing even a small building or association requires making decisions that can involve hundreds of thousands of…
On a base level, character traits reflect whether a person is ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Likewise, a board is comprised of a group of individuals who collectively become one ‘character’ charged with steering their community in the right direction. De…
Chances are if you’re a resident in a co-op, condo, or HOA community, you’re familiar with your property’s board of directors (or trustees, or managers, depending on what part of the country you live in). Boards are usually made up of volun…
Despite the fact that most people would agree that discrimination is a bad thing, discrimination persists, which suggests either that existing laws against it are sometimes ignored, or that the legal definition of ‘discrimination’ isn’t alw…
Are condominiums, co-ops and HOAs cohesive communities? Is community part and parcel of what the purchaser is seeking when they buy into a co-op, condo or HOA? The concept of ‘community cohesiveness’ could be defined as a community in which…
Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, oh my! Today, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t use some form of social media to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. Whether they are posting updates on their daily life, sha…
In New York, with its countless multifamily buildings, there are certain dangers that have nothing to do with crime rates, economics, or the latest exotic imported disease. Falling bricks, short circuits leading to fires, trash piling up, a…
The City and State of New York have been in a very public fight with homeshare giant Airbnb for what feels like the last decade (the current short-term leasing laws were passed in 2006, so it’s been at least that long), but they haven’t bee…
In a metropolis of 8.5 million residents, it’s not surprising that it takes an awful lot of people in a lot of departments and organizations to keep New York City government running smoothly. Some of those people (the mayor, for instance) a…
Since before recorded history, people have celebrated events, often decorating homes and public spaces to mark this or that special day or event. We still love to adorn our doors, windows, and other areas with festive décor at different tim…