Tag: community spirit

While some co-op and condo communities have tried social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter as ways to build community spirit and facilitate better communication between neighbors, management, and even the board, m…

Among the most unfortunate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the chill it cast—and is still casting—over social activities nearly everywhere, including in multifamily communities. So little was known early on about how the virus was sprea…

Design is what makes the difference between a space looking like a seductive boudoir… or the interior of a cardboard box. Neither may be appropriate for a co-op or condo lobby, but somewhere in between lies the comforting, welcoming common …

For just over a decade, a small paved lot on the Lower East Side of Manhattan sandwiched between high school tennis courts and Seward Park (the oldest municipal park in the nation) has been the site of a popular weekend street fair in the s…

For many buyers, a key factor in deciding to purchase a home in a residential community rather than opt for private, single-family ownership is often the appeal of amenities that come with condo, co-op, and HOA living—pools, gyms, clubhouse…

The holidays: a time for upholding long-standing traditions, usually involving festive gatherings of family and friends, communal meals, sacred services, gift exchanges, visitors, and, invariably, crowds—until this year, that is.  The coro…

The challenge of creating a sense of community during a pandemic is not something most people expected to face in their lifetime...but here we are. And while face-to-face communication is an essential part of daily life for most of us, we’v…

A few years ago, I was on the phone with a homeowner. He was irate with how his community’s money was being spent. He was unhappy with the budget increase. It was a call I took regularly from any one of my homeowners (and more often than no…

Seward Park Cooperative on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (where this author has lived for the last 15 years, and has served on its board of directors for the last six) is a remarkably diverse community of 5,000 or so New Yorkers that pri…

Whether you’re living in a co-op apartment building in Manhattan, a condo on Chicago’s Gold Coast, or a townhouse community or HOA in Las Vegas, Reno, or Florida, issues of legality and liability are always a concern for owners, board membe…