When you're on the board of a co-op or condo building, sometimes it can feel like you need a law degree to understand all of the paperwork that gets thrown at you. Depending on where you live, there are bylaws and proprietary leases and hou…
As the legislative session in Albany winds down, with the Legislature passing the budget on time for the first time in two decades and the City Council continuing with its business, now is a good time to take a look at some of the housing-r…
A03813 -- Automatic Application Approval --Requires applications to purchase condominiums or cooperatives to be acted upon within sixty days. Failure to do so would result in an automatic approval. 02/04/2005 referred to Housing 04/0…
Co-op and condo buildings can often seem like their own little self-contained worlds, with drama, politics, and debates aplenty. Given that, it's understandable why shareholder/owners might think the people who run their building—the boa…
While not a common practice, boards of directors of New York cooperatives have, at times, reached the decision to evict a shareholder based on objectionable conduct. Nearly every cooperative corporation's proprietary lease contains a sectio…
In a recent New York magazine article on sound and noise levels, an acoustics expert measured various sound levels throughout the city. Normal conversation is measured to be approximately 65 decibels. The National Institute o…
Unwanted sound is the bane of many a New York co-op or condo dweller's existence. Few things are as annoying as being awakened in the middle of the night by a car alarm, being forced to listen to a neighbor's stereo against your will, or…
New York City can be tough enough to navigate as a young, able-bodied person; it's even more difficult for the elderly or physically challenged to get around and go about their day. Imagine living with a physical disability in an apartment …
Though necessary, major capital improvement projects—like facade restoration, elevator refurbishment, or window replacement—can often mean big hassles for building residents, particularly if they haven't been properly prepped for the change…
Getting on a condo or a co-op board requires a significant investment "“ both in time and sweat equity. As president of a Greenwich Village co-op board, I can attest firsthand to the labors involved. Rarely does a day pass when I don't rec…