Page 13 - CooperatorNews NY April 2021

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Ideally, the team should at least include the property man- ager, but could also include key mainte- nance personnel or supers, executive board members (or the entire board, depending on the size of your community), and any non- board residents who participate in grounds committees, gardening clubs, or working groups tasked with landscaping issues or projects. That way, information doesn’t get lost in translation, and the board has more awareness of where the community’s money is going. They can also be educated on the time it takes for certain plants to grow to their full potential and the maintenance in- volved. You Dig? Considering the investment in both time and money that a smart landscaping plan requires, there is no time like the present to get the process rolling. Don’t let the inspira- tion of springtime go to waste! Consult with your professionals, establish your goals, and once you’ve got a game plan, get digging. The right landscaping choices will provide value and visual appeal for any multifamily community. n Darcey Gerstein is Associate Editor and Staff Writer for CooperatorNews. reopen the gym.” Politics Lastly, possibly most importantly—and sadly—unlike any such crisis before it, the COVID-19 pandemic has been starkly po- liticized. Numerous professionals contacted for this article stressed that the decisions about reopening a particular community’s amenities and the rules that will apply to it are often reflective of the political culture of that community. There are those com- munities where mask wearing is required and those where it is rejected, regardless of expert recommendations or evidence that masking greatly reduces the spread of the disease. One manager says, “It’s like ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’ I don’t recognize some of these people whom I’ve known for years. People actually put their politics before their own good.” Many pros say the biggest pushback against masks or continued amenity closures may be in over-55 communities, where resi- dents—more and more of whom are finally getting vaccinated—want to return to some kind of normal, and are campaigning for reopening. While that may be understand- able, says Masullo, “No senior who hasn’t been vaccinated should get within six feet of anyone else. Many are having difficulty get- ting vaccinated. We will help residents get appointments in senior communities to do vaccines in clubhouses, etc. I tell them that if you’re managing a senior community, you should not open amenities. It could mean millions of dollars in lawsuits. Don’t open the pool until the science tells us it’s safe.” Which brings us back to the matter of liability. One manager describes a situation where the board of a particular community was dominated by three attorneys who re- sided in the building. Early on, they imple- mented a very strict policy of mask wearing, social distancing, and closure of amenities. Many residents were unhappy with the pol- icy—some quite vocally—but these attorney board members told the complaining resi- dents that if they disregarded the rules, li- ability for any damages resulting from their disobedience would fall squarely on them individually—the condo wouldn’t share in the responsibility. Needless to say, the revolt was squashed as quickly as it began. Along the same lines, Wollman relates the circumstances in a luxury, 12-unit con- dominium in Manhattan. He says that there was such a divergence in opinion about opening the building’s amenities that he opted to go unit to unit and speak to each owner separately, rather than just the board. He stressed in each conversation that de- spite the small overall number of units and residents in the building, the risks were still too high, and that the best option was to wait a bit longer to open things up until more widespread vaccination reduces both the risk and the tension around the issue. He is in all probability correct—and no matter what one’s politics, we can all agree that the sooner COVID-19 is in the rearview, the better. n A J Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter with CooperatorNews and a published novelist. ADJACENT... continued from page 6 creeks that have been covered and diverted over the centuries as the city grows and de- velops. One such unknown water hazard might be sitting under your property. Additionally, Alimonti advises that “a proactive approach is always best for a posi- tive outcome. Steps to be undertaken should include determining the extent and schedule of the work to be performed, and to advise the residents \\\\\\\[about a project\\\\\\\] beforehand, since they’re typically more disturbed when the noise or vibration from the adjacent work comes as a surprise, rather than them being forewarned about it.” In the final analysis, the disruption of construction adjacent to your building can turn out to be a silver lining to a storm cloud. Use the opportunity. Communica- tion is the key, mitigation is the goal. In the end, good neighborliness will pay off. n PULSE... continued from page 4 continued on page 14 As reported by CooperatorNews , after developers SJP Properties and Mitsui Fu- dosan got approval for the project from the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) in 2018, a pair of community groups opposed to the project—the non-profit Municipal Arts Society (MAS) and the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development— challenged the way the previous developer amassed air rights from other sites, calling it “gerrymandered zoning.” A judge remanded the initial approval for a reevaluation, but the project was green-lighted again in 2019, prompting criticism from Manhattan Bor- ough President Gale Brewer and another legal challenge from MAS. In a ruling that confounded develop- ers and real estate experts in how it would be applied, the court determined that SJP and Mitsui Fudosan would have to remove floors from its already-topped-off build- ing. That ruling has now been overturned, according to Zetlin’s release. The Appellate Court rejected the lower court’s interpreta- tion of Zoning Resolution (ZR) 12-10(d), finding that the zoning provision is ambigu- ous. It held that Amsterdam Avenue Rede- velopment Associates LLC was allowed to