Of all the goings-on in the thousands of co-op and condo buildings in New York City, perhaps none inspires more questions and confusion than board and shareholders' meetings. How often must meetings be held? What gets decided at meetings? …
Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) reached agreement on a new three-year contract, averting a potentially costly and damaging strike that would have impacted more than a million apartment dwellers in Manhattan, …
Reporter's Diary Day One: The Assignment 2:30 PM: Read e-mail assignment letter from editor at The Cooperator. Topic is compulsive hoarding: who does it, how it mushrooms into problems for shareholders and their neighbors, what can…
Subletting your co-op or condo apartment in the city is a lot like subletting a rental - but with a few important differences. Many co-op apartment boards flatly refuse to allow subletting, and of those that do allow it, nearly all have st…
The Cooperator recently hosted the first of what is hoped to be an ongoing series of casual, roundtable-style forums in which co-op and condo presidents from all five boroughs met to discuss issues and concerns of particular interest to sh…
If you live in a co-op, you have one. It may be a woman, or a man; someone just starting their career, enjoying the fruits of retirement, or somewhere in between. They don't get paid, they put in many hours on your behalf, and chances are …
As the years pass in any enduring community - like a co-op or condo building - there's a lot to remember sometimes it gets hard to keep track of all the decisions made, contracts signed, bills paid, and rules amended. How can board decisio…
Co-op boards make decisions for the good of all shareholders, not just one or two. Though board membership may be a selfless proposition, productivity results from a concerted effort to put duty first, with personal conflicts and interpers…
Anyone who has ever undergone the process of applying to be a shareholder in a New York City co-op knows how exhausting it can be, not to mention stressful. From securing a loan, to culling financial documents to be reviewed by a co-op …
Whenever a resident, board member or building owner gets frustrated by inaction or the process of wading through the bureaucratic red tape of board politics, it's hard to know where to turn for a solution. Hostility accomplishes li…