The turning of a new year is always a time to reflect on the old one, make personal resolutions for the next 365 days, and maybe make some wishes. 2002 was a roller coaster year for New York real estate, charting spikes and lulls in activi…
As buildings age, they inevitably need repairs and capital improvements - a boiler needs replacing, the façade needs repair, or the outdated lobby can use a facelift - to name a few. For cooperative buildings with healthy reserve funds, t…
Picture this: the mom-and-pop dry cleaner that has inhabited your building's ground floor retail space for years is moving out and a broker tells you that an upscale clothier wants the space for triple the rent. Or perhaps one of the many …
The death of a loved one not only brings grief and sorrow, but an agonizing pile of paperwork to tend to and affairs to get in order. For residents of New York City, it also means figuring out the fate of the deceased's co-op or condo apar…
Kitchens and bathrooms are the hardest, most expensive rooms in an apartment building or business - especially in Manhattan - to install, renovate or remodel. A variety of skills, trades and materials come into play; the job requires extra…
On the morning of December 2, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed an 18.49 percent property tax increase into law, the largest such increase in city history, but much lower than the 25 percent he originally proposed. Regardless of wheth…
When the weather outside is frightful, a functioning boiler system pumping soothing warmth into each and every apartment in your building is definitely delightful. Keeping boiler systems in tip-top shape is paramount to ensuring that warmt…
Once again, the time is drawing near to mark your calendars and program your Palm Pilots to remind you of The Cooperator's annual Co-op and Condo Expo, which is descending on Midtown's New York Hilton, 53rd Street and Avenue of the America…
Interior design in public spaces - like the lobbies and corridors of co-op and condo buildings - involves more than just the art of coordinating paint, wallpaper and fabrics. Public spaces require that the health, safety and welfare of the…
Here in the land of birdfeeder-sized apartments (otherwise known as New York City), people will do just about anything for more space. And while sordid tales of deception and skullduggery abound, there are some legitimate means of expan…
At the beginning of 2002, the outlook for the city's real estate market seemed healthy, if a little uncertain. September 11th was still fresh on everyone's minds, and the aftereffects on the co-op and condo market carried over from 2001. A…
In increasing numbers, residential developments constructed under New York's Mitchell-Lama housing program are considering the option to privatize - or "buy out" of the program - when they become eligible to do so. Understanding this tre…
City Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo pleaded with members of the City Council last month to enact meaningful tort reform to help the city close what officials say will be a $6.4 billion budgetary gap by 2004. Cardozo made a two-an…