One of the most important recurring themes Cooperator readers are likely to encounter in these pages is that of communication; between board and manager, between building administrators and residents, and between neighbors. When commun…
The sitting president of a Connecticut condo board recently approached the property manager with a proposition: If he saw to it that her contractor boyfriend was awarded certain jobs in the building, the property manager would receive …
The vast majority of co-op and condo residents are normal folks who wouldn't dream of disrupting life in their building by being verbally abusive to neighbors, blowing up board members' phones and e-mail inboxes with endless complaints…
Holding regular meetings is one of the most essential tasks of a co-op or condo board, because that’s where the building’s policy is formed, where business decisions related to the community are made and usually where administration of …
Co-op and condo board members are generally volunteers who live in their building and give of their time and expertise to help make sure their home is well-run, and their investment protected. In a perfect world, new board members are a…
For the majority of co-op or condo owners, their apartment is their largest asset. That apartment should be viewed as an investment and one that makes fiscal sense. But that approach is impossible if unit owners are missing important p…
All for one and one for all. We always knew that buying a unit in a condominium project meant that the value of our property depended in good part on the likeminded conscientiousness of our neighbors. Where owners live, vote and fund th…
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presented a Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Executive Budget and an updated four-year financial plan for New York City that calls for $62.9 billion in spending. While the mayor’s attempt to balance the city’s budget res…
In a high-cost, high-density real estate landscape like New York City, when disputes arise in a multifamily building, tensions can escalate from annoyance to litigation very quickly. In rental buildings, problems can range from lack of…
In the 1950s and 60s, airlines hired comely young women to work the aisles and tend to passenger requests—stewardesses, they were called. And while the word was the feminine form of steward, the combination of the title, the outfit, and…