Time was, when you had a big construction or renovation job, you hired a general contractor, and if the job was big enough, that contractor hired subcontractors. But in recent decades, a new player has entered into the process…
Walking on the sidewalks of New York can be tough; you need to maneuver through streams of pedestrians chatting away on their cell phones, many walking right at you from the opposite direction, and you need to be focused on what’s in fr…
There was a time when the buildings being built in New York City were largely constructed of earthy materials—limestone, brownstone, brick, terra cotta—and glass really only figured into their design in the form of windows and skylights…
On almost any given block in New York City, it’s easy to see how things have changed in architecture and construction over the decades. Historic buildings like the New York Public Library or Grand Central Station are noted for their ext…
Doing a major window replacement or repair project in a building that’s home to hundreds of people isn’t easy. There are any number of scheduling and access considerations, and time is obviously of the essence, as it’s impractical and un…
According to some sources, the word “tips” is actually an acronym—it’s short for “To Insure Prompt Service,” and the list of people who are commonly tipped—at least in the United States—includes everyone from hair and nail salon workers t…
In the late 1980s, seeking high-growth, low-risk investment opportunities, and with an affinity for brick and mortar, European pension funds began to invest heavily in the American real estate market. So much money poured into the Unite…
No doubt about it, the Big Apple is a pedestrian town: according to the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), over eight million people tread the city’s approximately 12,750 square miles of sidewalks each day. New …
Even before the landmark “Pullman” case in 2003 in which a co-op board and shareholders voted unanimously to evict an especially troublesome and disruptive shareholder from their building—New York co-op residents have grumbled about “obj…
"Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” An immortal line from a beloved movie, and perhaps a reflection of how many Western urbanites over the years have viewed the large pockets of Asian immigrants that have settled in their cities. Chinato…