2010 October
Focus on... Board Operations

Board Operations Put it in Writing
2010 October Put it in Writing

The sitting president of a Connecticut condo board recently approached the property manager with a proposition: If he saw to it that her contractor boyfriend was awarded certain jobs in the building, the property manager would receive …

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Board Operations "Everybody Out!"
2010 October "Everybody Out!"

One of the most important recurring themes Cooperator readers are likely to encounter in these pages is that of communication; between board and manager, between building administrators and residents, and between neighbors. When commun…

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Board Operations Tough Calls
2010 October Tough Calls

Board members find themselves acting as referees so often, some may feel like they're wearing black-and-white striped shirts. Maybe they're mired in the middle of a conflict between homeowners because one group of gardening enthusiasts…

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Board Operations Mind Your Manners, Mr. Board President
2010 October Mind Your Manners, Mr. Board President

 The job of a co-op or condo board member seems pretty straightforward: have  meetings, take votes on this or that item of business, approve checks, keep an  eye on the budget, and so forth.    That’s the administrative part of the …

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Board Operations Preparing for the Worst
2010 October Preparing for the Worst

Aniello DeGuida is the resident manager of The Cocoa Exchange condo building in Manhattan's Financial District just a stone’s throw from Ground Zero, so he’s very aware of the importance of having an emergency plan in place for his resi…

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Board Operations Cooperative Rules
2010 October Cooperative Rules

Every condo and co-op has its own set of governing documents by which building administrators direct their community's day-to-day business. Bylaws, rules and regulations, and precedent-setting legal cases help keep boards within the le…

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Board Operations Where There's Smoke...
2010 October Where There's Smoke...

 As the harmful effects of cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke have become  more widely publicized and acknowledged, anti-smoking campaigns have gained  traction across the country. Cigarette commercials have been banned from TV and  ra…

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Board Operations Invasion of the Night Crawlers
2010 October Invasion of the Night Crawlers

New Yorkers are used to their fair share of urban wildlife. There are the famed New York City cockroaches, of course. And mice and rats are expected in any gritty city. But the proliferation of bedbugs is a phenomenon that has gained a …

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Board Operations Out of Many, One New York
2010 October Out of Many, One New York

 Most of the multifamily, residential buildings found in large cities are either  co-ops or condos, and most are run the way co-ops and condos across the country  are run. But if you dig a little deeper in here in New York City, you’ll fin…

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Board Operations Exploring Brooklyn's Greenpoint
2010 October Exploring Brooklyn's Greenpoint

Tucked away in the northernmost top of Brooklyn, Greenpoint is a historic New York neighborhood bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, …

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Q&A Q&A:
2010 October Q&A:

Q Is a co-op in New York City compelled to have a live-in superintendent? If so, can he be fired if it is proven that his legal residence is in another state? Our super is never around and when he is in the area he is usually at another…

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Q&A Q&A: Selling A Mitchell-Lama Unit
2010 October Q&A: Selling A Mitchell-Lama Unit

Q My mother recently passed away and I inherited her shares in a Mitchell-Lama co-op building. It's taken quite some time to run down the paperwork, and make preparations to empty the unit, and the building management has not been at al…

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Q&A Q&A: A Union-Run Building?
2010 October Q&A: A Union-Run Building?

Q Our board president recently made a statement that "our building is essentially controlled by the building Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ." What does this mean? Are there some sort of documents to accompany…

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