Legal issues, maintenance challenges and the ever-present Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and Department of Buildings (DOB) compliance requirements are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the obstacles condo and co-op boards, a…
Workers' compensation as we know it today—the insurance system that provides medical care and other benefits for workers who become sick or injured in the course of doing their jobs—grew out of the European labor movement in the late 19th …
Though the last couple of winters have been unusually mild, New York City does in fact get slammed with the occasional blizzard or ice storm—and when it does, the heavy snow and freezing temperatures inflict lots of wear-and-tear on co-op …
Big or small, disasters often strike out of the blue. They catch us unaware, flatfooted and feeling helpless at their impact. This is especially true when these events hit us at home or within our shared communities. When fire, flood, hurr…
Property managers know that whether they're running a small, contained walk-up building, a multi-unit high rise, or a sprawling condo development in the suburbs, materials, capital and personnel all fall under their administrative jurisdic…
Of all the modern conveniences we take for granted, perhaps none is as profoundly basic—and indispensable—as indoor plumbing. Carrying fresh water into our homes and taking waste water away, the pipes in our condo or co-op buildings are th…
The rarely stated—but all too well understood—Murphy’s Law for Boilers—asserts that if your boiler quits working, it will do so on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, or at 4:45 p.m. on the coldest day of the year. With some planning, though, tha…
From the outside, the structure of a condo or co-op building may appear to be monolithic; just one big piece of brick and steel, punctuated with some glass here and there. That's an oversimplification, however. A multifamily building is pe…
Some of us will never forget the ultimate question posed by Paris Hilton on the reality show The Simple Life. The overly coiffed, highly-manicured Hilton was “roughing it” by bunking with a working-class family in middle America and when a…
While having goods and services like retail stores, banks and dry cleaners on-site can be convenient and viewed as a positive by co-op or condo unit owners and neighbors, not every commercial tenant is a good fit for every community or HOA…