HABITAT
NYC co-ops and condos, like all residential apartment buildings, are bricks and mortar. They need care, maintenance, and money to pay for the upkeep. The goal, though, is not to make a profit, but to create an environment that owners want to live and invest in. How co-op and condo buildings do that in New York City is what you'll find here.
Computerized Violation-Tracking and Alert Services: The New Cool Tool
Written by Frank Lovece on March 04, 2014
Services that alert condo and co-op boards and managers about building violations and fines are becoming more sophisticated and ubiquitous. Three years ago, computerized violation-tracking and alert (CVTA) services were considered nonessential by some in the management industry. Today? They've gone from cutting edge to cutting board — just another everyday tool.
Computerized Violation-Tracking and Alert Services: The New Cool Tool
Written by Frank Lovece on March 04, 2014
Services that alert condo and co-op boards and managers about building violations and fines are becoming more sophisticated and ubiquitous. Three years ago, computerized violation-tracking and alert (CVTA) services were considered nonessential by some in the management industry. Today? They've gone from cutting edge to cutting board — just another everyday tool.
What Lies Beneath: A Board Replaces a 94-Year-Old Vault Below a Sidewalk
Written by Bill Morris on February 27, 2014
Phase one was straightforward, at least on paper. There were no mechanicals under this first section of sidewalk, so it was a simple matter of replacing the vault's corroded cast-iron beams and pillars with steel I-beams, setting a metal "cue deck" on top of them, pouring and waterproofing a concrete slab, and finally pouring the sidewalk on top of it.
Condo-Specific Bedbug Responsibilities for Boards and Unit-Owners Alike
Written by Steven Troup on February 20, 2014
Residents in condos, unlike those living in co-ops, hold a deed to their individual units. The Frisch v. Bellmarc Mgt. case in 1993 ruled that the warranty of habitability does not apply to occupants of condominiums, and so building managers or condo associations cannot be held liable for any uninhabitable or dangerous conditions within the apartment. Thus, the burden of eradicating a bedbug infestation will usually be placed on the individual unit-owner.
Midtown Manhattan Condo Board Files Suit Over 8,000-Gallon Oil Spill
Written by Frank Lovece on February 14, 2014
Updated Feb. 17, 2014 — The Sheffield 57, a nearly 600-unit condominium at 322 West 57th Street in Manhattan, has sued its managing agent, an engineering firm and others following the accidental discharge of thousands of gallons of heating oil after what the condo board called "a series of missteps that created a 'perfect storm'" causing $3 million in damages, cleanup costs and other expenses.
The Secret to Capital Projects Without Assessments? It's Not So Secret.
Written by Aparna Narayanan on February 13, 2014
In 1950, a young Jay Silverzweig, the owner of a plastics business, watched electricity costs take a toll on his neighbors in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Two fellow entrepreneurs, who used steam to clean rags, finally decided to get off the electric grid and worked out a cogeneration system (or CHP, i.e., "combined heat and power") that uses natural gas to produce electrical and thermal power.
More than 60 years later, those early experiments in alternative energy were lurking somewhere in Silverzweig's mind as he spearheaded the $1.5 million cogen project at the Brevoort East, a 26-story, 325-unit cooperative at 20 East 9th Street in Greenwich Village.
10 Property Management Companies Have Accepted NYC's Carbon Challenge
Written by Bill Morris on February 11, 2014
A few days before Christmas, as part of Michael Bloomberg's six-year-old PlaNYC, the outgoing mayor rolled out the New York City Carbon Challenge, an ambitious effort to get the city's three million units of multifamily housing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent over the next 10 years.
Co-ops and condos are a big part of this mix. Their 400,000 units make up about 16 percent of the city's multifamily housing — and residential buildings account for more than one-third of the city's greenhouse gas emissions.
Salt in Short Supply as Second Storm of Week Taxes Co-op / Condo Resources
Written by Tom Soter on February 05, 2014
As the second storm of the week hit New York City and its environs, some managers say calcium chloride, or sidewalk salt, is in short supply. "We are running out," said Pamela DeLorme, president of Delkap Management, based in Howard Beach, Queens. "We bought a few thousand bags before the season began, but with the frequent storms, the substance is now in short supply." Delkap obtained about 2,000 bags of salt two weeks ago.
Co-op Wins $30,000 Legal-Fee Judgment in "Disability Dog" Case
Written by Frank Lovece on January 31, 2014
Manhattan's East River Housing has been awarded $30,087.29 in legal fees from a shareholder who sued the cooperative after the board ordered the removal of dog he'd kept in violation of a no-pet policy — and despite the shareholder's after-the-fact claim of disability.
Fixing Things when an Invoice Goes Unpaid Takes Patience on Both Sides
Written by Ronda Kaysen on January 23, 2014
For the most part, the bill-paying process is a streamlined machine with dozens of employees working in the management office to make sure vendors' bills are processed and paid correctly. But with scores of co-op and condo apartment buildings and hundreds of vendors, there is always room for error. On occasion, a bill intended for one property is accidentally paid for by its neighbor with a similar street address. In these cases, property managers simply have one building reimburse the other. But when the wrong vendor is paid — perhaps a check went to Superior Cleaning instead of Superior Plumbing — the resolution is trickier.
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