2006 Sep
2006 Sep Vol. 26, No. 9
Focus on...Energy Conservation
Watts Up?
Seasonal spikes in the prices of fuel, oil and gas rising, higher costs of electricity, the need to bring those energy bills down—your condo or co-op will likely feel all of these, especially if it has older boilers, appliances, and so forth. Thankfully, there are strategies out there to help you conserve energy, and there are agencies and other organizations that are only too glad to help. Read More
A Chat with the Chief Executive
When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office in January of 2002, he inherited a city still reeling from the September 11th terror attacks—and had to fill the not-insignificant shoes of outgoing mayor Rudy Giuliani. Since then, Mayor Bloomberg has shifted City Hall’s focus to issues like housing and education, while still overseeing the reconstruction in Lower Manhattan. It’s a tall order—and Mayor Bloomberg took time recently to answer some direct questions from The Cooperator about his administration and his vision for the future of the city. Read More
Where Does the Garbage Go?
Think about this the next time you throw that banana peel, plastic packaging and junk mail away: residents of New York City and its surrounding boroughs are responsible for generating 12,000 tons (that’s right…tons!) of garbage each day. Picking up this mammoth daily load are 2,230 collection trucks. The collected waste is then moved to transfer facilities and carted off to landfills—located in various surrounding states—which are now nearly all at capacity. Prior to cutting back recycling services, it has been reported that New York spent almost $1 billion per year on trash and recyclables collection. Read More
Celebrity Appeal
Located on the luxurious Upper West Side along breathtaking Central Park West, the San Remo is one of the premier luxury apartment buildings in New York City. The first to incorporate the twin tower concept, this building’s addition to New York’s skyline added grace, beauty, and some interesting architecture along the west side of New York’s largest and most famous park. Read More
Reducing High Energy Costs
Energy usage and cost savings are on everybody’s mind these days— especially those of us in charge of running our buildings, keeping them both comfortable and financially solvent. Each building community is unique, and boards and managers must come up with energy-saving programs that are the best possible fit for their residents, their administration, and their budget. Here are three examples of how different building managers and boards have met the challenges posed by today’s high energy costs. Read More
Growing the Green Apple
When people think of New York City, they tend to think of things like Times Square, The Empire State Building, and Broadway—sparkly icons of the Big Apple. What most people don’t think of when they think of the city is green spaces. Sure, there’s Central Park and a few smaller parks scattered throughout the boroughs, but overall, it’s a concrete jungle out there. Read More
New Life for Old Technology
Where would we be without our personal computers? From news to e-mail to online shopping and financial management, they’ve brought so much convenience to our lives. Along with their associate devices such as printers and monitors, PCs have revolutionized how many of us do our work and run our lives. Read More
If it Ain't Fixed-Float it
Purchasing a building’s heating oil is one of the most important decisions a board has to make. And in this era of ever-rising fuel costs, it’s also one of the most frustrating. When deciding how to pay for their buildings’ heating oil, boards need to determine which method works best for them. Read More
Conducting Energy Audits
While there are a number of issues that make it to the top of the list of building managers’ and board members’ fiscal worries each year, the standout issue in recent years is energy costs. In light of rising fuel prices and increased demand for energy, it’s the fiduciary duty of all co-op and condo administrators to examine what cost-saving options are out there to reduce utility costs. Read More
Good Gadgets
You don’t need to go too far back to be reminded about energy conservation. Remember the stifling triple-digit heat in August? The power outages in Queens due to the strain on the distribution grids? And the annual call by public officials urging people to conserve electricity as summer power usage exceeded the overall record? Read More
A Win-Win Situation
It’s never easy to get people to do what’s good for them. No one wants to exercise or take cough syrup or lay off the T-bone steaks, even if they know life will be better when they do. For years, it’s been the same way with energy conservation. These days, though, with oil and gas prices soaring and headlines filled with talk of global warming, it appears the time has come at last to embrace the grown-up thing and do what’s good for us. Read More
Q&A: Smoking Ban?
I have a question about a condo owner’s right to smoke in their apartment. Having secondhand smoke infiltrate our units troubles many of my fellow condo owners—including myself. Our property manager suggests that we approach the offending neighbors and ask them to refrain from smoking inside their condos, or step outside to smoke. Read More
Q&A: Surpassing the Shareholders?
Several others and I are shareholders in a co-op on the East Side of Manhattan. Our board and management company are putting through Local Law 11. This is not a problem. However, they have refused for any of the shareholders to see the architect’s plans and have refused to get more than one bid. At a recent informational meeting we were told what was going to happen without having given our input. On top of that the management company is charging a hefty fee for this and we have not been allowed to see the contracts that authorize the project. Read More
Q&A: Unfair Allocations
Our 20-floor co-op consists of two small buildings. The building went co-op in 1982 and the sponsor/owner converted from oil to gas, removed the boiler at his expense, and converted the basement space into a 1,200-square-foot-duplex apartment without adjusting the shares. This meant that the new apartment had the same allocation of shares as an 800-square-foot apartment. Another duplex apartment with garden space in the building was sold to a friend of the owner for a mere 14 shares—for approximately 1,500 square feet. By comparison, second floor residents with 800-square-foot apartments have 12 shares and third and fourth floor residents have 10 shares. I understand that sunlight and views can affect share allocation but these are pretty much the same in all the apartments. The only variance is the amount of space and floor location in the two duplex units. Read More
Q&A: Hot Under The Collar
We moved into our Chelsea co-op last spring, and when the heating was turned on in the fall, we learned that the west wall fin tube radiation wasn’t working. This means that we have no heat in the bedroom and partial heat in the living/dining room. We notified the building super and managing agent and the super attempted to get the heat working by getting air pockets out of the pipes, but the attempt failed, and we’ve been shivering ever since. The managing agent then told us that it’s OUR responsibility to contact a plumber, have repairs made and pay for them out-of-pocket. We contend that this is a central system fed from a boiler in the basement, and that the building is required to provide heat to all tenants by keeping the system in working order. Their response is that they are only responsible for providing hot water and steam, and that we are responsible for repairing the control valves or any other part relating to the function within our apartment. We are concerned that any modification we make to their system could impact other apartments and we could be held liable for damage or discontinuation of service. Read More
