In an ideal world, every New York City building owner, manager, condominium association, and co-op board issued a Safe with a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP) notice for exterior defects during their previous Facade Inspection and Sa…
For many, the topic of insurance can be a bit overwhelming. Even the terms we use as insurance purchasers differ substantially from the terms industry professionals use when discussing and settling claims—which can leave laymen feeling like…
First-time buyers in condo associations, co-ops, and other multifamily residential communities are often surprised—and a bit confused—by the way in which their new building or HOA operates. Whether they are coming from a rental background o…
Even before the pandemic and social unrest of the last few years, interpersonal conflict and outright hostility often surfaced in the co-op and condo environment, forcing boards and managers to deal with both legitimate grievances and confl…
In a rental building, the landlord has certain rights under certain circumstances to remove a tenant from his property before the expiration of their lease. In a private home setting, the only real path to removing an owner is through forec…
On Friday, May 20 32BJ SEIU building workers - a group that includes doorpersons, superintendents, resident managers, handypersons, concierges, and porters in the city's residential and commercial buildings - voted overwhelmingly to ratify …
As both a writer about and resident of high-rise residential buildings, I followed the June 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium with a hawk’s eye. I read about the people who perished and the loved ones left to carry on;…
Passed in 2019, The Climate Mobilization Act (CMA) is an ambitious legislative package that puts emissions limits on New York City’s large commercial and residential buildings. In addition to these limits, which are codified in Local La…
Deadlines for benchmarking reporting for all apartment buildings - co-ops, condos, and rentals alike - has been postponed from May 1, 2022, to May 31, 2022. The postponement gives building and property owners more time to accumulate and org…
Hoarding Disorder - the compulsive need to collect and keep possessions, animals, or even trash - is estimated to affect as much as five percent of the population. In New York City where neighbors share walls, a hoarding resident often beco…