Board President Isabel Taube Guides Manhattan Co-op Through Major Projects and Compliance

Isabel Taube

Board President,
22 W. 26th St.
By Paula Chin

Isabel Taube has her board responsibilities down to a fine art. The Massachusetts native, who holds a Ph.D. in art history and is a former lecturer at Rutgers University and instructor at NYC’s School of Visual Arts, is now co-managing editor of an online art history journal. Taube spoke with Habitat about how her jobs have honed her skills at meeting deadlines, managing projects and keeping people motivated, which have served her well as board president at 22 W. 26th St., a 12-story, 20-unit co-op in Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood. 

Small is beautiful. After moving from Philadelphia to New York in 1999, my husband and I rented a small apartment in Murray Hill until we moved to 22 W. 26th in 2011. What drew me was its size — there are only two units per floor, and we liked the idea of living in a smaller community. And our apartment is a wonderful space with lots of light.

Stepping up. I joined the board about four years after we moved in. I was initially brought on with several other people as alternates, not full voting members, so we could get a sense of what being on the board would be like. The next year I joined as a full member, and then in 2019 our president, who had served for 30-odd years, was ready to step down. The treasurer and secretary asked if I would be interested; I said yes and got elected. 

A daunting to-do list. This is a nearly 115-year-old building, and there was a ton of deferred maintenance. We have a masonry, limestone and terra-cotta facade, and the last round of FISP was a complete disaster because the engineering company that was handling the repairs dropped the ball and didn’t follow through with the work. We actually had to schedule weekly meetings with them to ensure that the project was completed and walk them through the details every step of the way. When the work was finally finished, there were also issues, like the contractor they recommended leaving rust stains on the roof. We just completed our recent FISP round, and all went very well. We had learned that selecting the right engineer and contractors is essential, and we chose an excellent engineering company that specializes in this kind of work.

In the last few years we also did a hallway renovation, put in a fire alarm and virtual doorman systems, and dealt with a gas leak that caused our cooking gas to be shut off for ten months. When I stepped into this position, I had very little knowledge about building systems. In some ways it helps to not be entirely educated on a topic, because then you’re forced to ask questions as opposed to just assuming that things are going to be done. And so you learn how to interview vendors and get the information you need. The other lesson I learned is that often you need to spend more money to get the better professionals. I’m someone who likes to save money, but you realize there are places to save money and places where you just shouldn’t because it’ll end up costing you more in the end.

Energy efficiency. In order to cut our emissions and comply with Local Law 97, we installed a new cooling tower last year. Thanks to new high-efficiency controls, it’s self-modulating and can scale cooling based on demand. We estimate there will be 40% in energy savings for the building by ensuring the equipment is running at peak performance, and also up to 50% savings in water use. We paid for our recent capital projects (boiler, cooling tower, hallway renovation and fire alarm system) with a combination of reserves and several assessments. We have not raised maintenance for the past two years. 

Helping hand. I keep on top of things by maintaining a calendar with deadlines and by attending monthly meetings organized by the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. But having a responsible and responsive property manager is a must. After our property manager — who we liked — left during the pandemic, we really struggled with our management company and went through four property managers in a single year. I found out that the property manager we liked had moved to another firm, and told them we would not switch to them unless we could get her back. Her follow-through is incredible. She is proactive, finds ways to cut costs and most importantly understands the need to communicate with shareholders.

Learning curve. Having alternate board members is a great way to bring new people in and give them an idea of what the board does before they fully commit. If you’re not on the board throughout the year, you don’t know the inner workings of your building and why certain choices were made. Serving on the board has given me insights into costs, from big projects to what it takes to run your building from day to day.

There’s also a wonderful sense of accomplishment when large capital and compliance projects are completed. When they removed the scaffolding after our last FISP round and I stepped outside and saw how clean and refreshed the building looked, I felt proud of what we’ve managed to achieve in terms of getting the building in much better shape. We’re ready to move on to the future.