2012 May
2012 May Vol. 32, No. 5
Focus on...Design/Architecture
The Cooperator's 25th Annual Co-op & Condo Expo
The Cooperator's Co-op & Condo Expo celebrated its 25th anniversary show in fine style with hundreds of
exhibitors and educational opportunities for co-op and condo boards and
residents throughout the tri-state area. Since 1987, the Expo is a fixture on
the business calendar of vendors, service providers, board members, building
staff and residents.
Read More
Not-so Common Areas
Last November marked the completion of a two-year, $20 million renovation of the
lobby of the Empire State Building—a pretty hefty sum just to retrofit such a particular space. While the cost was
certainly of large proportions, it is not unusual nor unwise for buildings to
heavily invest in their lobbies. This space is the first impression guests and
potential homeowners receive and it expresses what kind of building residents
and visitors are walking into, both in style and in what kind of service
residents can expect.
Read More
Residential Architecture in New York
In 1906, the dashing and amply-mustachioed Stanford White was shot dead by one
Harry Kendall Thaw during a show at the Madison Square Roof Garden. Thaw was
the jealous husband of one of White’s old flames, and the press dubbed the resulting court appearance “The Trial of the Century.” A century later, the lurid details of the trial are largely forgotten—but what is notable about the incident is that the victim, one of the most
famous New Yorkers of the day, was an architect; it was White, in fact, who
designed the old Madison Square Garden.
Read More
Space, the final Frontier
Say your building has some extra, unused space—perhaps in the basement, or on the ground floor near the doorman’s station. What to do with it?
Read More
Attractive Perks
You’ve got the perfect couple looking into buying a condo in your building. And they
love everything about the unit.
Read More
Parking Practices
In a city as crowded and fast-paced as New York, parking is a big deal—it’s hard to find it when you need it, and when you do find it, it’s usually very expensive. Since parking spaces in the city are such a hot
commodity, it’s not surprising that many co-op and condo buildings operate their own parking
facilities, both as an amenity for residents and as a source of revenue. And
which of these benefits the building’s residents most value—the money earned from the facility or their own convenience—could be the deciding factor in how their board of directors decides to manage
the garage.
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Managing In-Unit Amenities
In an online forum, Sharon complains about her upstairs neighbor and begs for
advice. Her neighbor had installed a washing machine in her unit, even though
there was one already downstairs for the residents of her six-unit building to
use. As a result of the neighbor’s improper installation, her appliance overflowed, resulting in a flood of water
that came pouring into Sharon’s unit through heating and air vents. Now, Sharon’s wall-to-wall carpeting is ruined and she’s concerned about mold and other damage.
Read More
Dealing with Delinquent Owners
By and large, a board and management company can expect payment from residents
for monthly fees to be received on time and in full. These all-important funds
keep day-to-day operations moving forward without delay. There are situations,
however, that arise which can offset the balance sheet. Circumstances run the
gamut but in the end, monies that can’t be collected end up costing a whole lot more than the losses they represent.
Read More
Collecting Common Charges in Co-ops and Condos
While for many laypeople cooperatives and condominiums are essentially interchangeable, from the legal point of view they are radically different institutions. Read More
The Hamptons
The storied seaside resort is chock full of celebrities, socialites and
billionaires summering in eye-popping estates, and there’s also the communal seaplanes, hipster charities, polo matches and luxury
boutiques, but you’ll also find the share house crowd (up to 40, twenty-something Manhattanites
crammed into a single beach house, summer rental), year-round fishermen, a
community of dedicated farmers and a historically African-American beach
colony. Believe it or not, the Hamptons draws an extremely diverse crowd. Read More
New York City's Community Boards
New York City is a metropolis of 8.2 million residents, so it’s not surprising that it takes an awful lot of people in a lot of departments
and organizations to keep the town’s government running smoothly. Some of those people (the mayor, for instance)
are household names while others are perhaps less well known. The members of
the city’s community boards fall into the second category but the work they do for the
city and its residents is no less important than that of the mayor or the city
council. Read More
Q&A:Medicaid and the Co-op
My mother and I jointly own her co-op apartment. She is 90 years old and still lives in the co-op. If it becomes a necessity for her to need homecare and possibly go on Medicaid, what would happen to the co-op after she passes? Will Medicaid need to be repaid her share of the co-op? Should I transfer the stock certificate into my name solely? Read More
