2005 Dec
2005 Dec Vol. 25, No. 12
Focus on...Safety&Security
The Fine Blue Line
When the Dutch settled in what was then called “New Amsterdam,” a man named Johann Lampo patrolled the trails and paths of the area, keeping the peace and watching for fires. Little did Lampo know that he was the first in a long, honored line of law enforcement officers of New York City. Read More
Darkness Comes to Life
In 1932, when Josephine Baldizzi was six, her mother Rosaria, used to bathe her in the kitchen’s slop sink in their five-story walkup tenement building at 97 Orchard Street. On her walk to school, she wore her father Adolfo’s size 9 shoes and hand-me down clothes. Rosaria tended to the household, and for a time worked long hours in the nearby garment factory. Adolfo was a cabinetmaker, who carried around a toolbox, and did odd jobs to support his family. Read More
No Control Equals No Liability
Recently, the Appellate Division, First Department—the state’s second highest court located in Manhattan—announced a decision with far-reaching implications for the state’s condominium owners. In the case Pekelnaya v. Allyn, the court ruled that individual condo owners cannot be held liable to third parties for injuries sustained as a result of a defective condition in the “common elements” of the building. Read More
Tracking a Silent Killer
This winter, like all before it, is sure to see thousands of New Yorkers suffering from colds, sore throats, and run-of-the-mill-but-always-inconvenient flu. While fatigue, headaches, and even nausea are miserable in and of themselves, with cold weather there also comes a greater chance that those unpleasant-but-bearable symptoms might be a sign of something much more serious—carbon monoxide poisoning. Read More
Working Smart
Safety first” is good advice on any job, but it is especially appropriate for the varied and dynamic tasks assigned to co-op and condo building staff. Whether checking furnace valves, sealing minor plumbing leaks, keeping the lobby floors shining or getting that flickering light in the ninth-floor hallway fixed, the potential for accident or injury exists in just about any task, no matter how innocuous. Preventing those problems before they arise, however, is the key to a safe workplace—one in which management is fully invested in worker safety, and employees feel adequately protected. Read More
The First Line of Defense
Feeling safe in one’s home is one of life’s most basic requirements. In an urban residential building, it sometimes takes a lot more than locking the doors and making sure your stove is turned off before going to bed to achieve that feeling. Even though they aren’t trained security experts (and don’t necessarily have to be) the people who work in your condo or co-op building play an indispensable role in the building’s safety and emergency-response system. Read More
Are You Ready?
Tragedy and crisis seemed to be the theme for 2005, with tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and mudslides causing havoc and uprooting the lives of millions all over the world. Of course, we’d all like to think that if such an emergency ever hit New York, our city, state and federal governments would be prepared with an efficient and well-tested evacuation plan—but co-op and condo boards should know better than to just rely on that. When it comes to planning for emergencies, most likely it’s your board, management and staff who will be the first responders if a crisis does develop. Read More
Gearing Up
Twenty years ago, Lisa Collier Cool was sleeping in her 14th floor apartment on West 72nd Street in Manhattan when her dog began barking. Not wanting to get up, Lisa tried to go back to sleep, but the dog was adamant and continued. Lisa awoke to find her room filling with black smoke. Rushing to escape a potentially deadly situation, she opened her front door, but the hallway was even smokier. She decided to stay put until the fireman came to the apartment, which they did a short time later, rescuing both Lisa and her dog. Read More
Ready for Anything
Time was when New Yorkers rarely thought twice about disasters except when they watched movies such as “Airport,” “Earthquake,” “War of the Worlds” and “King Kong.” Read More
