Page 1 - NY Cooperator October Expo 2019

October 2019 COOPERATOR.COM From getting the news, to finding that ultimate BBQ recipe, or just keeping up with friends and relatives both near and far, social media has become entwined in the fabric of our lives. In fact, Face- book, Instagram, and the rest are so ubiquitous, it may come as a surprise to many that in the world of co-ops and condominiums, social media is glaringly absent from communication channels in the majority of residential communi- ties. That’s not to say co-op corporations and condominium associations don’t use web-based technologies to communi- cate; they do – they’re just not posting and tweeting. Social Media, Why Not? Stuart Halper, VP of Impact Realty, a co-op and condo management firm with offices in Manhattan, Queens, Long Is- land, and Westchester, attributes the ab- sence of social media in residential com- munities to the tendency for Facebook groups and their ilk to devolve into a soapbox for general grievances – at the expense of just about everything else. “It can be harmful to a co-op or condo,” he says. “You don’t want residents airing their ‘dirty laundry’ in a forum that any- one can see. There’s always the possibil- ity of a begrudged owner or shareholder misusing it. Frankly, board members could misuse it as well.” Michele Schlossberg, a property man- ager with Manhattan-based co-op and condominium management firm Gum- continued on page 10 Housing affordability – or unaffordability, depending on your relative net worth – has always been a hot topic in New York City. Today’s housing market is no different – though in recent years, thanks to a combination of factors both economic and political, the chronic nature of the problem has become more acute. As income inequality has increased and pub- lic policy has swung toward providing housing opportunities almost exclusively through the private sector, the availability of adequate, affordable housing for anyone but the elite has become increasingly scarce. A Brief Look Back The conflict between different approaches to both the development and promotion of affordable housing in New York City, as well as to urban planning in general, goes back decades, even centuries, in the city’s history. In the mid-nineteenth century, the clearing of the Five Points, a notorious slum in lower Manhattan that’s now occupied by courthouses and other governmental buildings, was an early example of the city government’s attempts to redesign urban space. Like the grand plans that created the current configurations of Eu- ropean capitals like Paris and Berlin, the destruction of the Five Points slum was undertaken to make it easier to police the restive local population. For much of the first half of the 20th century, and really into the 1960s, affordable housing development fell squarely in the realm of large-scale, publicly created and funded projects; For most, living in a co-op or condo association implies at least some level of interest in being part of a larger com- munity. That interest is usually limited to the condo or co-op community itself – but what about the greater commu- nity around your building? Do co-ops and condos integrate themselves into the greater communities around them? Do they extend themselves outward to build quality of life in their neighbor- hoods, or are they more like islands unto themselves? The Cooperator took a look around Manhattan’s Washington Heights to see how those invested in their build- ings also invest in their neighborhoods. The Meadow on Overlook Judith Graeff and Doug Proops have lived at 736 West 186th Street in Wash- ington Heights for approximately 15 years. Their 54-unit co-op building, lo- cated on the corner of west 186th Street and Overlook Terrace, faces the sheer granite outcropping that rises up to Fort Washington Avenue above. Atop that outcropping sit many apartment build- ings, as well as the Manhattan Early Childhood Center, operated by Birch Family Services. The rear portion of the lot on which the school building rests is a steeply sloped, undeveloped portion of land fenced in at the bottom along Over- look Terrace. The drop is so sheer, the vacant portion of the lot is barely visible from the school’s playground at the apex of the hill. Over the years, the lower portion of the fenced lot, which is visible from half the apartments at 736, became over- grown and garbage-strewn. In 2013, Graeff was on the co-op’s board. She re- ceived a note from another shareholder in the building noting the condition of the lot and asking if there was anything properties such as Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan, Co-op City in the Bronx, and even the development of Lincoln Center are examples. Public housing was exactly what it sounded like – housing conceived of and funded by the government, or sometimes by unions, for the working and middle classes. These projects often involved massive urban ‘renewal,’ which in A More Affordable New York? Housing Prices Benefit Some, Block Others Co-op/Condo Communities and Social Media A Useful Tool for Some BY A J SIDRANSKY Being Good Neighbors Investing in Community Beyond Your Building BY A J SIDRANSKY THE COOPERATOR EXPO 2019 WHERE BUILDINGS MEET SERVICES 250+ EXHIBITORS, SEMINARS, FREE ADVICE & NETWORKING NEW YORK’S BIGGEST & BEST CO-OP & CONDO EXPO! JACOB JAVITS CONVENTION CENTER — TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 10–4:30 FREE REGISTRATION: COOPEXPOFALL.COM 205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED continued on page 8 continued on page 12