What can a board do if its building is faced with extensive capital work while recovering from the real estate slump of the early 1990s? Assessments are unpopular and reserves are low. There's a desire to have construction operations com…
In Spring, 1996 New York State made it legal for small-volume users in the metropolitan area to purchase natural gas from sources other than the major utility companies such as Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) and Brooklyn Union Gas (BUG). Ho…
In 1988 Mayor Ed Koch announced a new program that would give homeowners and multiple-dwelling buildings ten years to switch over to water meters, a program that is scheduled for completion by December 31, 1998. With this change, all New …
What do you know about lead-based paint? Perhaps you know that it's a toxin that's espe- cially dangerous to children under the age of six, and that even fetuses can be affected since they can be exposed to lead through their mother's blo…
Even at the most stately Park Avenue address, relocation is a frequent activity as apartments are bought and sold and sublet tenants or roommates move in and out. More than 100,000 people hire movers every year in New York City. But while…
You are walking along the sidewalk and, as happens so frequently in New York, you approach a portion that is covered by a sidewalk construction shed. Thinking nothing of it, you stay on that side of the street and continue walking under i…
Cooperative housing corporations are not exempt from income taxation. Like any other taxpayer, a housing cooperative must pay tax on its taxable income, i.e., its gross income less allowable deductions. Not all amounts that would seem to …
The City of New York, in its infinite wisdom, has classified properties into various categories. Class one properties consist of one-, two- and three-family homes and class two properties are multi-family residential properties including …
Any major change takes some getting used to and hiring a new management company for your co-op or condo is no exception. Even though you're anxious to ring out the old, you can't help but be a little apprehensive about whether the new com…
Michael Radomsky, on-site manager of a 16-unit prewar cooperative on Park Avenue, was hearing complaints from the residents about unpleasant cooking odors on the landings. To handle the building's problem, Radomsky put matters into the ha…