In early 2009, at the urging of President Barack Obama, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) with a view toward easing the blow dealt to the economy by what some are calling the Great Recession. The ARRA ha…
New York City’s skyline is distinguished by thousands of rooftop water tanks. While they make for interesting architectural conversation pieces, the 5,000 to 10,000-gallon tanks actually serve a vital purpose. Since the New York City st…
As attorneys who represent a large number of cooperative and condominium buildings, we’re seeing more and more often that, instead of attracting community-oriented individuals, New York City condominium and cooperative buildings often a…
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has unveiled a $59.4 billion budget plan for Fiscal Year 2010 that reduces the city’s workforce by about 13,000 jobs and counts on givebacks by organized labor to reduce a projected $4.8 billion budget gap. …
With a worldwide fiscal crisis in full swing and many New Yorkers more stressed than usual over lost jobs, pay cuts, and dwindling assets, the last thing any co-op or condo community needs is the additional expense and acrimony of a la…
At the height of the housing boom, some builders attempted to recapture profits lost in the price they paid for their properties by cutting costs spent on labor and materials, and many others could not find good contractors or obtain l…
Sometimes our neighbors can be our best friends. They’re the people we turn to for emergency babysitting help, or for a cup of sugar, or for that friendly chat in the elevator. Sometimes, though, the people we live in close proximity to…
Consider the (fictional) couple, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They love their co-op apartment, and have lived in their comfortable and convenient New York City neighborhood for the last seven years, moving in when Mr. Smith took a job as editor…
As the legislative session in Albany winds down for the year and the New York City Council continues to address legislation, as always, there are several measures in play with serious implications for the condo and co-op community. …
Those who handle the management of any kind of residential building deal with contractors and contracts regularly—but they aren’t the only ones who should know about the process. It’s not necessarily an arcane topic—whether the project i…