Today, almost all residents of co-op and condo buildings are computer-knowledgeable. They can tell you how many ports your PC has, how many gigabytes are in the hard drive, how to set up a printer, and more. When it comes to elect…
For many co-op and condo owners, watching the work crews arrive and the scaffolding ascend into the sky is akin to seeing the storm clouds gather on the horizon. They can be a harbinger of dark days to come, filled with noise, dust and i…
Residential buildings are complicated entities—their various operating systems require maintenance and occasional repairs to remain in good working order. Sometimes maintenance can be carried out by the super or handyperson—sometimes it …
Time was, if the tiles in your building’s front foyer got grimy, your super would pour some ammonia or bleach in a bucket, grab the nearest mop, and get down to business. If a drain was slow, out came the heavy-duty industrial solvents, …
Water leaks are the bane of many an apartment owner—and many a building superintendent. The innocent drip-drip-drip sound can augur waterfall-like hardship if not properly addressed. Leaks can cause major structural damage, ruin property…
The skyline of New York City is unique, if not for the soaring glass, steel, concrete and brick skyscrapers that create caverns in the sky, but for the redwood and cedar water tanks that sit on rooftops and hearken to days gone by. …
Managing a co-op or condo community is far from an easy job. Six managing agents from some of the city’s top firms recently participated in the continuing series of roundtable discussions hosted by The Cooperator and the Federation of Ne…
Helping veterans and newcomers alike to become certified accredited realty managers (ARMs), the New York Association of Realty Managers (NYARM) has been perfecting the skills of those in the field with their School of Property Management…
Sometime in the future, perhaps, teleporters like those seen on Star Trek will be a reality. Every co-op and condo building will have one—not for purposes of travel, but for storage. Until technology allows us to beam our bins and boxes …
Like so many other neighborhoods and areas of the city, the Glen Oaks Village cooperative in Queens has seen its share of good times and not-so-good times. But from the bleak days of the 1970s and ‘80s, thanks to a conversion, a committe…
A little over four years ago, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was signed into law. The most significant provision was Section 404, which requires corporations to conduct an annual assessment and report on the effectiveness of their internal…
Q I live in an older co-op that has eight large roof-terraces from 300 to 500 square feet. We have experienced leaks emanating from these terraces, over the years, to the apartments below. No one is able to use the terraces except the …
Q Our 60-unit, self-managed co-op changed its bylaws about ten years ago to allow parents to sublet from their children and vice versa. The bylaws were changed with the condition that the flip tax would continue with any transfer of the…
Q My parents are both in their seventies and have begun setting their financial affairs in order. They have put whatever assets they own, such as cars, stocks and bonds, into their family trust in order to simplify their estate and avoi…
Q Our building is seriously considering replacing our present cable television with a satellite dish system. Cablevision installed TV cables and equipment in our hi-rise residential condo building several years ago, and has continued to…