GREAT NECK

Prompt response limits damage from freak weather-related blaze.

Kenwood Gardens in Great Neck gets a deft makeover of its common areas.

New COVID relief bill would remove Trump’s $10,000 cap.

Seth Kobay went from a garment factory to a real-estate empire.

Mortgage refi and hallway redo are part of  “a beautiful thing.”

You never forget being a teacher, says Marion Green, and what you learn doing the job could serve you well if, for instance, you became the president of an 80-unit self-managed condominium called Cameo Plaza in Great Neck, Long Island, and your board decided to refurbish and upgrade the lobby and public spaces.

Floodwaters are rising, and so are concerns about safety. While Governor Andrew Cuomo builds breakwater parks and otherwise sets aside land to protect Nw York City's coastline, co-op and condo boards are taking their own steps to protect themselves. 

“I think you have to be proactive,” I. Ira Litt, former co-op board president of One Kensington Gate, in Great Neck, Long Island, says of flooding, whether from natural disaster or simply a heavy rain. “If it happens once, it’s too much.”

Hoarding is a mental illness, and condo and co-op boards need to treat hoarders with the same care and understanding as they would anyone with a mental-health issue. But that doesn't mean you ignore the safety, hygiene and vermin problems that hoarders bring about. Here are some tips.

It is almost a mantra with Fred Rudd, the president of Rudd Realty. "You must have a balanced budget," he says firmly, noting that many co-op boards and condo associations make the mistake of trying to balance the budget by raiding the reserves. "Because of that, when it comes to a rainy day, they don't have adequate funds to deal with the problems as they arise."

The Blair House – at least its lobby and hallways – had possibly seen better days, but it was hard to tell. “Dark and dreary” is how one observer described them, with decades-old furniture crowding the lobby and dimly lit bulbs illuminating the long hallways at the 42-unit Great Neck, Long Island, co-op. “We felt it was time for a change,” recalls Naomi Schurr, a board member and chair of the five-person lobby committee. A refinancing provided the money and a shareholder who had recently redesigned her apartment provided the savior: Tina Tilzer, president of Art & Interiors, a redesign firm.