Category: Building Operations

 Little by little, the world seems to be getting greener. As part of Mayor  Michael R. Bloomberg’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, new legislation has been passed that among  many other measures, requires all of the city’s private buildin…

Over the past few months there have been several interesting and insightful court decisions. Here are a few legal cases that provide some helpful lessons. Vassi v. Salem House Condo Bd. Lesson: Condo boards need to make…

Kew Gardens in Queens seems to be just another urban neighborhood when you emerge from the Union Turnpike subway station. For instance, there is the long stretch of Queens Boulevard that is always busy with traffic. Lining the boulevard…

There comes a time in every New Yorker’s life when they are faced with a situation so grave, so urgent and so daunting, it can make even the toughest East Coaster crumble and cave: Laundry Day. Many have the tools to survive ev…

 As managers, residents, and board members of the city's residential buildings  gear up for 2011, sweeping up the tinsel and cookie crumbs leftover from holiday parties isn't the  only job at hand. From bedbug disclosure rules to a propose…

As recently as five years ago, traditional phone logs and Rolodexes were a common part of a managing agent’s daily communications arsenal. Yet, with recent advances in property management software, such anachronistic methods are largely…

Most buildings have emergency preparedness plans in case of fires, floods, or hurricanes. But there’s one form of crisis that very few have an organized response for: the public relations disaster. It could come in the form of a scandal…

Drawing up a contract for management services looks at first glance like a simple task. Such contracts usually follow a particular format and outline similar services for both co-ops and condos, regardless of size. But what about contr…

Job losses. Bankruptcies. Foreclosures. These are tough times for everyone, but when homeowners fall on hard times, they are often late paying their condo or co-op fees. Some can’t even afford to pay them at all. Add in contractors and …

These are hardly the best of times for those who manage co-op and condo buildings, charged as they are with overseeing financial well-being, maintenance goals, legal issues and an almost unpredictable kaleidoscope of other daily concer…