Fires devastated Breezy Point; areas of Staten Island were destroyed with lives lost; thousands of residents in Lower Manhattan were plunged into darkness after an electrical transformer exploded on the East River. These events were amo…
The New York State legislative season is here again, and bills of all kinds are being considered, including housing. Some of these bills directly impact co-op and condo board members, managers and residents. Housing is also on the agend…
While some condos and co-ops are lucky enough to have lawyers serve as members of their board, the majority of boards don’t have an in-house legal expert. They often reach out to their attorney to answer questions, vet documents and sen…
Lawsuits are usually not an association’s go-to method for dispute resolution. Expensive and time-consuming, they can quickly turn into a financial burden and may create strained relations in the community. Unfortunately, in some cases …
Management of any property requires a varying degree of resources and skills. Materials, capital, and personnel are required for everything from ordering supplies to the complete overseeing of a multi-unit, high rise co-op or condomini…
A key to success and functionality in any relationship is clear, consistent communication. In a residential community, part of achieving functionality is managing the information in the governing documents and records which detail the …
People living along the Gulf Coast have long accepted hurricanes as a fact of life—one that brings with it torrential rain, howling winds, and devastating hailstorms. The Mid-Atlantic has been hit with a few big storms over the past tw…
Walls are the only separation between you and your neighbors when you live in a densely-populated area like Manhattan, and sometimes, it feels like privacy goes out the window. People hear their next-door neighbors talking, footsteps f…
Whether condo associations will buy into the so-called “electric highway” has become the perennial $64,000 question. And the answer? The electric vehicle or EV revolution is coming, albeit slowly. ChargePoint, Inc., wh…
When you think of Jersey mobster Tony Soprano, fashionista Carrie Bradshaw, perpetual food-stained clothes wearer Liz Lemon, neurotic, scatterbrained Hannah Horvath and socialite Serena van der Woodsen, Long Island City might not sprin…
It’s probably not something you think about every day—or that's especially pleasant to contemplate at any time—but the fact remains: without a thoughtfully constructed estate plan, there is a significant risk of your assets ending up in …
Some of the most intense combat occurring in modern times is not that which has taken place on battlefields, such as at Normandy, Pork Chop Hill, or in the la Drang Valley, or currently in the mountains of Afghanistan, but rather in the…
Q I am a co-op owner of 8 years and our management has raised the late fees from $25 to $50. Can this be done without any warnings? This affects me as I am not able to pay the maintenance and parking by the 10th of each month. I have wr…
Q I am a board member and shareholder in a Westchester County cooperative where there has recently been a lot of conflicts among board members. There is a board member who owns her own realty company and is now privy to all confidentia…
Q I have lived in my cooperative apt for the past 13 years and have never been late with my carrying charges. In those years, the only repairs that the cooperative has made in my apartment have been emergency repairs (there was a broken…
Q Our co-op has a board member who shared a confidential board decision with the shareholders and went so far as to initiate and circulate a petition for a meeting of shareholders to reverse the board decision. Naturally, many sharehol…