Category: Law & Legislation

With all the recent grief and confusion in our city, it’s almost easy to forget that there was a mayoral primary scheduled for September 11th. Voting had barely started when terror descended on New York. As images of destruction and chao…

A couple years ago, I became genuinely surprised to learn of conflicting opinions throughout the legal community and in court decisions (including rulings from New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division) which centered on how to clas…

One of the unique features of performing construction work in a cooperative or condominium apartment is that it must usually be performed pursuant to an alteration agreement that addresses what, where, when and how construction work is to b…

Perhaps you’ve seen the commercials on television; a mob of people shouting “The Internet is slow as heck, and we’re not going to take it anymore!” Or the one where a succession of comedians tell jokes beginning with “My internet service is…

The Internal Revenue Code’s Section 216 authorizes cooperative apartment owners to receive a pass-through tax deduction for their proportionate share of the mortgage interest and real estate taxes paid by a qualifying co-op corporation. One…

Beyond the obvious differences—taxicabs versus cacti, towering high-rises versus wide-open spaces, big business versus big-sky country—there’s more separating the New York real estate scene from the rest of the country than just geography a…

Over the past decade, numerous pieces of legislation have been introduced at the state and city levels calling for the licensing of property managers in New York State. None have been passed, but a new bill, S279 sponsored by New York State…

Your roof terrace leaked and the neighbor below you sued for damages. Do you have any recourse? The heating system in your apartment failed to work and the managing agent sent you the bill for its repair. Do you have to pay? You bought a do…

Think you don’t need the services of that 24-hour doorman in your co-op anymore? Better check with the rent stabilized tenants with whom you share the building. Chances are their leases provide protection against the elimination of building…

Many New York City co-ops have garages leased to the sponsor dating back to the co-op’s conversion. Though these garages, described by one judge as "a veritable gold-mine," throw off riches mostly to the sponsor, a little-known federal stat…