It's not easy to be a smoker in New York City these days. It has become commonplace to see office workers in front of skyscrapers lighting up, or to hear announcements prohibiting smoking in theaters and other public venues. And now, under…
Bad things happen to good buildings; it's a fact of life. From tyrannical sponsors to maintenance mishaps, there's plenty to go wrong - and when it does, your life can be made miserable. But sometimes a truly inspired manager can pull a ha…
Driving around Manhattan can be a hazardous sport. Cabbies signal lane changes by changing lanes. Brazen bike messengers yield for few things, and stop for fewer. Congested pedestrian groups form walls as they cross the street, stymieing c…
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…