April 2, 2010 — Color us confused: A New York City regulation went into affect in March that mandates a new color-coding system for fire-suppression piping in every building in the city — residential, commercial, institutional, co-op, condo, existing, new construction, all of it — by June 2. This means new painting and certification all exposed standpipes and sprinkler piping, and all related valve handles.

Sound simple? Slap a new coat of paint here and there? Brother, you're living in a pipe dream. One expert says the city's deadline is impossible to meet — and what you don't know about the complicated law could lead to fines and, in one not improbable scenario, a loss-of-life lawsuit. Read More »

March 19, 2010; UPDATE July 2, 2010 — Following the outcry by New York City co-op boards, condo associations and others in April 2009, when the City Council introduced bills mandating expensive energy-efficiency upgrades to buildings of 50,000 feet or more (click on image at left to enlarge), the legislation that passed in December backed away from that contentious part of the plan.

On July 1, 2010, the revised version that became law went into effect. As the city's Department of Buildings said yesterday in a statement, the New York City Energy Conservation Code (NYCECC) "is more stringent than the state code, requiring thousands of more building projects to meet energy efficiency requirements."

What does this mean for co-op boards and condo associations? Co-op and condo attorneys in March finally had a chance to examine the four new Local Laws, and analyzed the costs and ramifications for co-op shareholders and condo unit-owners. Read More »

Feb. 24, 2009 — It's usually April 15 that strikes terror, or at least a resigned annoyance, in people's hearts. But this year, for co-op and condo boards at least, April 20 looms larger. Because this year is when the 2006 union agreement for your building's porters and doorpersons expires. And leaving aside, for the moment, important issues of raises and benefits — it's safe to say everyone wants their building staff to make a decent wage and have a good working environment and reasonable health and retirement plans — boards have to consider the practical effects of a strike when it comes to things like garbage pickup and residents' security. Read More »

Feb. 1, 2010 — Your co-op or condo apartment building may be paying more for electricity than you legally should be charged. Because of an obscure fee that managing agents and others often don't think to look for, your building may have overpaid as much as much as $20,000.

Why is that? Because, says energy consultant Herb Rose, many New York City condos and co-ops are the victims of an incorrect, inapplicable sales tax rate on your utilities. In 1980, he notes, New York State eliminated the sales tax on utilities for residential buildings — but many condos and co-ops have been erroneously listed as commercial, and thus pay a higher rate. Read More »

Jan. 27, 2010 — When 8 West 13th Street settled with New York State last year over a particularly contentious oil spill case, the 30-unit co-op had to agree to pay a $150,000 fine in addition to cleanup costs. (See the March Habitat in our print-magazine archive for the whole, 20-year-long story of the co-op board's fight.) While that case may be an exception, oil spills are common enough, with 487 reported last year in New York City alone. Should you building suffer an oil spill — almost always from your heating-oil storage tank or its pipes — you need to clean the contamination quickly and bear the financial costs. In other words, both literally and figuratively, you just have to suck it up. Read More »

July 8, 2009 — Summertime, and the livin' is … dangerous? It could be, if window-mounted air conditioners aren't properly installed in your building. While New York City doesn't consider a/c units as serious an issue as cracked bricks or loose masonry, a poorly installed one can fall and injure or kill someone. Boards and property managers must make sure the units at your co-op or condo are adequately secured. But how? What does "adequately secured" really mean? Read More »

Nov. 2, 2009 — I am a property-management member of the Green Building Initiative Committee of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which represents building supers and others. The union's Thomas Shortman Fund is sponsoring this environmental-training initiative — called "1 Year: 1,000 Supers" — in an effort to train at least 1,000 supers and handypersons to be greener and thus bring energy and cost savings to your building and reduce your carbon footprint.

My company, Midboro Management, has enrolled 12 of our supers into one of the initiative's first classes, and I'm writing this weekly account to walk board members and others through this smart, practical and free initiative. Read More »

Nov. 11, 2009 — Michael J. Wolfe of Midboro Management is a property-management member of the Green Building Initiative Committee of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ. Along with 12 supers from buildings he manages, Wolfe is himself taking the free weekly class in environmental training to lower energy use and cost. This is the second of five weekly reports.

Day 2 – Thursday, October 29, 2009. Today was an illuminating day as the morning began with "Lighting, Electricity and Plug Loads." It may not sound exciting, but it was. After all, today marked the 130th anniversary of the light bulb! We discussed lighting sensors, types of lighting and master metering vs. submetering. Read More »

Nov. 18, 2009 — Property manager Michael J. Wolfe (second from right in photo) of Midboro Management is a member of the Green Building Initiative Committee of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ. Along with 12 supers from buildings he manages, Wolfe is himself taking the free weekly class in environmental training to lower energy use and cost. This is the third of five weekly reports.

Day 3 – November 5, 2009: The class was a little tired today as many of the supers stayed up to watch the Yankees win their 27th World Series. I'm happy for New York, though it's a little painful for this Mets fan. That said, today we visited a building to conduct a hands-on seminar. Read More »

Oct. 21, 2009 — Say "pre-war" anywhere else in the world, and you'll get everything from a wistful nostalgia to a desperate longing for an end to atrocity. Say it in New York City, and it's all about the real estate. Buyers covet pre-war apartment houses — those built in the several decades preceding World War II — for their architectural details and rock-solid construction. Yet the "pre-war" part doesn't usually extend to interiors, where renovations ranging from efficacious to "ecch" often turn apartments into boxes.

Now, however, some boards are salvaging treasures and giving them to shareholders, who find themselves getting beautiful etched-glass mirrors, vintage 1930s bathroom sinks and much more — for free. Apartment-owners save money on fixtures, while the elegant antiques increase units' values — in turn increasing value for fellow owners. Read More »