2016 February
Focus on... Board Relationships

2016 February Training New Board Members By Anne Childers

A cooperative, condominium or homeowners association is the cornerstone of a building community.  The co-op, condo or HOA maintains order and continuity by preserving architectural integrity, maintaining the common elements, protecting prop…

2016 February Managing Building Staff By Danielle Braff

Your co-op or your condo unit  may be your home, but to many others, your building is a workplace. Whether they’re managing a small, tight-knit walk-up building in Manhattan, or a sprawling co-op development in Queens or Staten Island, pro…

2016 February Board Transparency By Raanan Geberer

One of the biggest political buzzwords of the past 10 years or so is “transparency.” Observers demand transparency in meetings of elected bodies in local and state governments, transparency in the proceedings of public agencies, and at time…

2016 February Co-ops Around the Globe By Greg Olear

It’s cheaper for two families to pool resources and share a house than for the same two families to buy two houses. This underlying concept has been around since people starting building houses.  As a report by the National Cooperative Law…

2016 February Keeping Legal Costs Down By Lisa Iannucci

Nowadays everyone is looking for ways to save money—and co-ops, condos and HOAs are no exception. After all, it takes a great deal of financial support to run a community in accord with residents' standards, so every dollar counts. Funds ar…

2016 February What’s Old is New Again By Steven Cutler

In New York City, a great source of pride equates from owning an apartment in a landmark building or living in one of the city’s historic or architectural masterpieces. Though, along with such ownership arise unique challenges involving rep…

2016 February Coloring Your Community By Greg Olear

For better or worse, color affects human behavior. Research indicates that practical and aesthetic applications of color, in public and private spaces, can manipulate mood and perception. A board planning to redecorate or refurbish common s…

2016 February Architects and Engineers By Keith Loria

Change is a part of life; and that’s especially true if you’re talking about living in a New York condo or co-op, where no building ever stays the same for too long. Renovations are done, capital improvements are required and even upgrades …

2016 February Yonkers, New York By Christy Smith-Sloman

After years of dissent, racial and economic woes and political infighting, Yonkers, Westchester County’s largest city and New York State’s fourth most populous town, has transformed itself into a vibrant residential community and a prime de…

2016 February ­Defining Board Relationships By Lisa Iannucci

Tis the season to be…watching football! Football seems to dominate American culture at this time of the year. There are pro games every week, preseason, post-season and Pro Bowl games, college, indoor, fantasy football, and of course the de…

2016 February How to Run a Successful Board Meeting By Cynthia Graffeo

Having served the greater New York co-op and condo community for more than 60 years, Argo Real Estate is fully committed to educating and supporting its board members. Argo University is a quarterly educational session for co-op and condo b…

2016 February The State of the Business Judgment Rule Appellate Court Rulings By Adam Leitman Bailey

The greatest changes in cooperative and condominium law this past year did not come from the legislature or from the courts but from the New York Attorney General’s office (NYAG).  This article will review some of those changes and the most…

2016 February Q&A: How Do We Access a Common Parking Area? By Leni Morrison Cummins

Q. In our parking garage we have access to a bike storage room and an outside bike rack that is next to a resident's handicapped parking spot. Right now the only way to get to the bikes is to "trespass" over the parking spot. Our concern …