Page 15 - NY Cooperator April 2020

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — APRIL 2020 15 TENANT STORAGE SOLUTIONS Serving The New York Area For Over 20 Years. WireCrafters.com | 800-808-1860 | info@WireCrafters.com CONTACT YOUR NEW YORK OFFICE 800-808-1860 Welded Wire Lockers The Bike Stackerhe Bike Stacker T ® The Wall Riderhe Wall Rider • Single or double tier • Industrial grade construction • Installation service available • Solid 16 GA sheet metal lockers also available • Staggered, formed bike trays hold any style bike upright • Tear drop tire slot (pat. pending) • Made of 1/8” steel angle and 14 GA steel formed channel • Heavy-duty 11 GA steel-duty 11 GA steel • Vinyl sleeve protects wheel rim • Installs easily...with two 1/2” round holes for wall mounting • Includes security cable T • Heavy ® limitation? “One of the things I say that should be done is emergency contacts,” says Susan Birenbaum, founder of Humanitude, a national organization that deals with is- sues for seniors. “Every building should have a list of emergency contacts for indi- viduals — and on this list should be an in- dicator of whether people need emergen- cy assistance. Whether there’s a need for a wheelchair, or if they have young children or older adults, or children with special needs. Everyone should be aware of this, and everyone should have this list.” e New York City O ce of Emergency Management (NYC-OEM), the govern- ing body in times of crisis like Hurricane Sandy, suggests making a personal emer- gency plan. First, pick “buddies” who will help you, as you will help them, during a potential emergency. “Don’t go through an emergency alone. Ask at least two peo- ple to be in your emergency support net- work — family members, friends, neigh- bors, caregivers, coworkers, or members of community groups. Remember, you can help and provide comfort to each other in emergencies.” Second, write down instructions. “Pre-written cards or text messages can help you share information with your support network or emergency respond- ers during a stressful or uncomfortable situation. You may not have much time to get your message across,” according to OEM. “Phrases can include: I may have di culty understanding what you are telling me. Please speak slowly and use simple language or pictures. I use a de- vice to communicate. I am deaf and use American Sign Language. Please write down directions. I speak \\\[insert language below\\\].” Also prudent, OEM says, is to pick a meeting place; pack a “go-bag” with im- portant documents, medicines, water, and your passport; and know where you could stay both in and out of the city, in case of evacuation. Boards and HOAs can take the lead in having emergency contact lists, making sure vulnerable residents are accounted for during an emergency, and so on. Resi- dents, too, can help. “ e former chair of our disability committee,” Fraser recalls, “used a wheel- chair more than half his life, and he al- ways said, ‘All people, regardless of their circumstances, have some obligation to be prepared to take action during an emergency and to assume responsibility for their own safety.’ e right way is to go out and train people before a disaster oc- curs.” ■ Greg Olear is a freelance writer and novelist and a regular contributor to e Cooperator. “wish they would go away at this point.” He says that balcony enclosures are especially tough, “Because you have to make sure that the pointing on the interior is good, and the parapets on the balconies are solid. A lot of shareholders want to include it in their living space, so you have to block o the drains so you don’t have back-ups—there’s a lot that goes into these.” Up on the Roof An exception to the DOB’s stance on en- closures is a roo op or terrace “greenhouse.” is type of light, semi-permanent enclosure can currently be led without a ecting the building zoning area, says Erickson—as long as certain occupancy, size, and egress pa- rameters are met. erefore, top- oor apart- ments in some buildings may be able to con- vert some or all of the roof space above them to add square footage to their unit. Bellettiere did just that for a client in a TriBeCa co-op. e roof area above the cli- ent’s unit “was originally intended to be used as a \\\[common\\\] roof deck,” she says, but the client purchased it to become part of their own unit. Although on the top oor, the lo apartment had only two windows and did not get much light. So rather than enclosing the roof area to become more interior space, Bel- lettiere added a huge skylight that could serve as both a natural light source and a usable ex- terior space. She estimates that the alteration added an additional 600 to 700 square feet of usable space all together, and says it allowed “the whole area to be used more e ciently.” A renovation of that scale de nitely comes with its own set of bureaucratic challenges. Initial approval must be obtained from the co-op board and building manager. Drawings and plans must be submitted to the building’s own architect and engineer, who will advise the board of any issues, make recommenda- tions for changes, and may request additional information. Once approved, the DOB also must sign o on the plans. In the case of Bellettiere’s client, this part was comparatively simple, since nothing was being enclosed, and the space was already permitted for use as a roof deck. However, the building was part of a Landmark District, so anything that Bellettiere proposed had to be approved by the Landmarks Review Board. is meant that none of the alterations or ad- ditions could be visible from the street—so Bellettiere commissioned photographs to be taken from di erent corners of the neighbor- hood “to show Landmarks that whatever we are building, there is no \\\[way of\\\] seeing it from the street.” Adding Appliances, Getting Wired Aside from AC units, there are other ap- pliances that require an appendage to the ex- terior of a unit. Once a rare luxury, in-unit washer/dryers have become much more common. It has also become easier to retro t for them, thanks to WHEN INTERIOR... continued from page 10 continued on page 16