A decade ago, I was elected onto the board of a condo of a fairly young building that was plagued with assessments, lawsuits, and other issues. A previous board member—happy to pass on the troubled torch—came over to hand me a binder as pa…
‘John’ (not his real name, in consideration of his and his neighbors’ privacy) has lived in co-op buildings for over 40 years, and in his particular co-op - a well-tended, 100% sold, mid-size building in Manhattan - for over two decades. Th…
Anyone watching the news lately knows that rechargeable lithium-ion batteries - the kind that power e-bikes and scooters, but also electric cars, laptop computers, cell phones, vape pens, and many other common devices - have become a real d…
Electric bikes and scooters became ubiquitous during the darkest days of the pandemic, when food delivery workers relied on them to get them from one neighborhood to another quickly. With that increasing popularity however, has come increas…
According to a recent poll of 1,000 consumers conducted by telecommunications company Frontier, p rivacy concerns around smart home tech devices are on the rise. Sixty percent of respondents to the poll reported being “very” or “extremel…
Not so very long ago, acquiring goods and services required some physical effort on the part of consumers; a trip to a store, or restaurant, or other commercial establishment. Sure, you could phone or mail in an order from the Sears catalog…
Whether you live in a single-family home, an apartment building, or an HOA, home security is a major concern. Providing that security can range from installing a simple alarm system to equipping and training building staff members to use so…
As smartphones have become ubiquitous, app-based technologies have impacted nearly every corner of our lives - including how we secure and grant access to our homes. While plenty of multifamily buildings still rely primarily on buzzers and …
Two new laws recently went into effect in New York City that regulate the collection, storage, and disclosure of information that can identify an individual “biometrically”—that is, by way of their fingerprints, retinal or iris scan, facial…
When a crisis hits a multifamily community—or any other organization—the difference between a good outcome and a disastrous one is often a matter of simple preparedness. Residential communities in particular need to have a plan in case of a…