In today’s tough real estate market, people are searching for every advantage they can find when it comes time to sell their property. They’ll search out the best agent they can find. Or place ads in the highest circulation magazines. T…
Nothing can take the fun out of a design project faster than missed deadlines and cost overruns—and naturally, both problems usually go hand in hand. Even if a project is certain to increase a property’s value and/or curb appeal, the uph…
Good communication is key to making any relationship work—married or dating couple, parent and child, sibling to sibling, and best friend forever friendships. In the co-op and condo world, boards also have relationships—with vendors, des…
It's time to face the facts. The teal-and-salmon sofa that was purchased for your foyer may not exactly be in style any more. The window treatments that were chosen in the early 1990s no longer grace the pages of every design magazine so…
Wayne Bellet, of Manhattan-based exterior maintenance firm Bellet Construction, is getting a dose of his own medicine. At the time of this interview, it’s his own office that’s under construction, he explains over the racket of dueling h…
Local Law 11 inspection is a requirement of the New York City Department of Buildings that every owner of a building higher than six stories must retain an architect or engineer to inspect their façades. Based on this inspection, a repo…
In November of 2008, New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated seven new properties with landmark status—New York University’s University Village, the Guardian Life Insurance Co. annex, the Morris B. Sanders Hou…
Years ago, when I babysat for a young boy, I watched him create a multi-story building out of empty cardboard boxes. The lad then ran around his proud creation, flexing his muscles and crowing, “My house is indy-structible!” (He then pr…
It sounds like an urban legend—something that supposedly happened to your cousin’s friend’s cousin. A little girl was at a barbecue party at a friend’s house, frolicking in the pool with friends. She swam to the drain at the bottom of th…
New York City’s co-ops and condos might vary in their architectural styles, but over time every exterior—from the ornate historic landmark to modern glass-and-steel fishbowl—experiences exterior wear due to the elements and the simple pa…