Admit it: We take elevators for granted. Like answering machines or calculators, elevators are one of those conveniences that are so woven into the texture of our lives that we're barely aware of them at all - that is, until they go on the…
Marble columns, iron grillwork, decorative cornices, brass details on doors; these are extra touches that make a building unique. When marble is polished and clean, ironwork and cornices free of rust, and brass buffed to an impeccable s…
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…
The eyes may be the windows of the soul, but windows are the eyes of your home, looking out onto the world and letting in air and light. More than just plain old sheets of ordinary glass, today's windows are loaded with features designed t…
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…
Just about every working person, from the busboy at your favorite diner to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, works under a job description that outlines their duties and establishes responsibilities and boundaries of authority. Your bui…
On May 8, 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a comprehensive plan to ensure that apartments surrounding Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan are properly cleaned. The plan - which calls for government funded cleaning and…
In 1999, after her four-year-old son began coughing up blood and her husband started suffering respiratory complaints and memory loss, Melinda Ballard and her husband Ron Allison were told by their family physician to evacuate their Austin…
On April 5, David Letterman joked that the drought threatening the Northeast is so severe that New Yorkers can't even get a moist towelette at Kentucky Fried Chicken. While the water shortage hasn't yet impacted the city's population to…