For some, stairwells are the dark little secret places between floors, where the kids go to drink beer at night, or where others go to do who knows what. While residents of most buildings will have few reasons to use their building’s in…
Regardless of whether you live in a co-op or a condo, or whether your community is a small, self-managed one or a sprawling development with hundreds of units managed by a professional property management company, there is or very well …
As the last few years have demonstrated, winter can be an unpredictable time in New York City. Some years, temperatures remain fairly mild and we barely get any snow, while other years are bitterly cold, with howling winds and epic sno…
The sun is hot and people are thinking about beaches and cooling off in pools and air conditioners, and surely the last thing anyone wants to think about is that brutal winter of snow and ice we just had. But this is precisely…
Security is a big issue no matter where you live, but in a sprawling urban environment like New York City, it's toward the top of residents' list of concerns. For co-ops and condos, addressing this means not only providing residents a …
Last summer’s heat wave is just a fading memory, and it's that time again: time to get your building’s boiler operating and ready for the colder months. Before the first snow falls however, some maintenance and housekeeping to your buil…
There have long been organizations that strive to strengthen and clarify the roles of owners, residents, and managers within the cooperative housing environment. But one essential player in the game—the superintendent—was the last to fi…
When a crisis arises in a building, however large or small, calling the super is almost as reflexive as dialing 911 in an emergency. After all, it’s the superintendent who literally holds the keys to a building’s successful operation—he …
When you’re a superintendent or a member of a building’s support staff, your educational background is not always that important when you’re hired, as long as your experience is enough to impress those doing the hiring. But once you do …
Lee Iacocca once said that if you want a sound company, “You start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can’t miss.” Id…