Co-op and condo boards are charged with maximizing the value of their shareholders' and unit-owners' real estate investments. Year after year, these boards diligently replace aging equipment, refurbish lobbies, clear up code violations, …
Apartment-dwelling New Yorkers have a tendency to spoil their trash. That is, they allow it to stink. "When people think of garbage rooms, they think of having to tolerate bad smells because it comes along with the territory," says …
The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) receives more complaints against home improvement contractors than any other category - Period. If you engage an unlicensed, unregistered contractor to carry out an improvement project…
Four years ago, the co-op at 430 West 34th Street in Manhattan was in trouble. The 17-story, 168-unit vanilla brick building needed money - and needed it quickly. A couple of major capital projects, including new window installation, grout…
Your home is supposed to be a sanctuary - your family's protection from the hazards and harms of the outside world. Unfortunately, what should be a haven can often be full of hazards, especially for children, whose curiosity can be thei…
Nearly two months into Mayor Michael Bloomberg's suspension of glass and plastic recycling - a move designed to trim $40 million from the city's budget - New Yorkers are slowly getting used to the idea of tossing their Pepsi and beer bottl…
Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." In truth, New York-area co-ops and condominiums are discovering that "going green" is easier and more cost-effective than ever before. No, you won't be seeing a rash of high rises…
Once upon a time, like many cities across the nation, New York City had a government-regulated energy market. There was one number to call to make all the lights come on: Consolidated Edison of New York (or, more familiarly, Con Ed). Th…
Saving money is always a top concern of any co-op or condo board, so when energy deregulation first offered customers the opportunity to choose their energy provider in 1998, it seemed that lower energy bills were on the way. But in the…
In 1863, when a tenant at 97 Orchard Street came home from work, he entered a pitch-dark hallway and had to feel his way up the stairs to his apartment. He most likely felt his way with one hand while carrying a bucket of coal for the s…