2012 September
Focus on... Energy & The Environment

Energy Conservation Help with Going Green
2012 September Help with Going Green

 With the green movement in full swing across the country, it is not surprising  that incorporating energy saving and efficient measures has trickled into  condominium development. Today, many buildings in the New York area pride  themselv…

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Energy Conservation Green Pioneers
2012 September Green Pioneers

 Going green doesn’t have anything to do with choosing a natural paint color for your kitchen, or  planting herbs in your community garden. But the phrase can have many different  meanings and can be done across a broad spectrum. Turning o…

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Energy Conservation Garbage In, Garbage Out
2012 September Garbage In, Garbage Out

 We as a culture produce a lot of trash—and not just in the form of reality television shows, late night infomercials,  and bad romance novels. Whether it’s the candy wrappers we toss into the trash bins outside on the sidewalk, the  newsp…

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Energy Conservation Top Ten Hot (and Cool) Tips
2012 September Top Ten Hot (and Cool) Tips

 Saving energy does a lot more than just reduce a building’s carbon footprint and toxic emissions—going green can save a building some green too. The steps a co-op or condo  building can take to reduce energy consumption and save money ran…

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Maintenance The Ice Squad
2012 September The Ice Squad

 As any good co-op or condo building administrator knows—either through common sense or painful experience—failing to clean up snow or ice promptly can result in injuries, acrimony, and  expensive lawsuits. Any one of those is reason enoug…

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Board Operations Board Members for Life
2012 September Board Members for Life

 It is one of life’s eternal questions: is it possible to have too much of a good thing? That  question certainly can apply to the matter of long-serving board members: those  individuals who get elected and re-elected term after term and …

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Management Under New Management
2012 September Under New Management

 For the most part, human nature is fearful of change; people are more likely to  stick with what they have and what they know, rather than explore new  possibilities and take on unknown risks. That’s certainly the case with condo and co-o…

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Management Trash Talk
2012 September Trash Talk

 Most people don’t think much about their garbage after they toss it down the chute or into a  container for pickup, but the fact is, removing a multifamily community's trash  and recyclables can be a big job, especially in a private devel…

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Real Estate Trends The Exchange
2012 September The Exchange

 Anyone who lives in a city that is a popular tourist destination has likely  played host to a procession of family, friends, friends-of-family, and other  assorted houseguests over the years. It's something of a running joke in places  li…

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Management Managing Diverse Communities
2012 September Managing Diverse Communities

 New York is one of the most diverse cities on the face of the earth. Its huddled masses yearning to breathe free include immigrants from places  completely unlike the Big Apple: Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, Uruguay—even North Dakota. There are m…

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Finance Falling Behind
2012 September Falling Behind

Wait a second. You say you bought your apartment, but you don’t own it? Huh?” Explain the concept of the cooperative apartment —you buy shares of a corporation and then rent the apartment to yourself—to a homeowner outside of Ne…

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Finance Flush with Cash
2012 September Flush with Cash

 In December 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the  United States was in a recession that had started back in December 2007. The  official announcement was old news for most Americans.    As the dust cont…

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Board Operations How to Deal with Difficult Neighbors
2012 September How to Deal with Difficult Neighbors

 As an attorney and an apartment dweller, Michelle Freudenberger had seen it all  and more when it comes to living with difficult residents.    “I lived next door to twin toddlers whose parents were both attorneys,” says Michelle, w…

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Neighborhoods Woodside, Queens
2012 September Woodside, Queens

 Long known as a working class, Irish enclave tucked under the No. 7 subway line  in the western portion of Queens, Woodside is a neighborhood with a  multicultural flavor, affordable housing and an extremely convenient location.   …

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Energy Conservation Cutting Heating Costs
2012 September Cutting Heating Costs

 As winter looms, property owners can cut costs and save on their heating bills  with preventive maintenance and upgrades to their steam systems. Here are some  suggestions for savings from Con Edison.    Optimize Steam Piping Syste…

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Organizations Keeping It Cool
2012 September Keeping It Cool

 Heating and cooling systems within co-op or condominium developments are called  upon to provide safe, consistent energy to residents. The people who bring you  heat, air cooling and refrigeration know that, and want to find what works—an…

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Q&A Q&A: Providing Services to Hotel-Converted Condo
2012 September Q&A: Providing Services to Hotel-Converted Condo

Q The building where I live, a former hotel, was converted to a condo about four years ago. There are nine hotel-stabilized tenants remaining as renters within the condo. Management says that our hotel-stabilized units have been “condom…

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Q&A Q&A: Who's Responsible for Repair?
2012 September Q&A: Who's Responsible for Repair?

Q I live in a townhouse development consisting of 120 units. The board is the management team and the association is financially responsible for outside maintenance. In 2009, there was work done on the sidewalks and stoops, and more wo…

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