NEW YORK CITY

A couple of weeks ago, StreetEasy compiled some stats showing that, not surprisingly, sales of co-ops and condos tend to slow down in winter and rev up in spring. StreetEasy analyst Alan Lightfeldt calls February the turning point between winter and the busy spring season. But although sales were expected to be on the slow side last month, there were just 3,175 condo units available in February, down 2.4% from January — a record low for the borough. Lightfeldt adds that although there is no anticipated dip in prices, price growth will likely slow slightly in March, as spring sellers begin to flood the market with new units. The listings websites forecasts that prices will rise by 3.9% in 2015, compared with a 7.1% growth rate in 2014.

A day after an explosion and fire in the East Village leveled three buildings, we are learning that at least two people are missing, 20 people were injured (3 of them critically), and at least 80 have been displaced. DNAinfo reports that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and other agencies are taking a closer look at contractor Dilber Kukic. The Bronx-based general contractor, who survived the explosion, performed work at 121 Second Avenue in the past year. He was also "already under the scrutiny of Manhattan prosecutors in an unrelated case. He was arrested last month for an alleged role in a widespread bribery scandal involving city inspectors." In an exclusive interview Thursday, Kukic told DNAinfo New York "that he and the son of the [building's] owner had just opened the basement door to check a gas odor when the room blew up, knocking them off their feet and sending debris raining down on them." Kukic added that he carried Michael Hrynenko, who was seriously injured, outside. Kukic suffered burns and was treated for smoke inhalation. His firm reportedly had finished plumbing and partition wall work at 121 Second Avenue six months ago, but Kukic added that his firm hadn't worked on the basement. When DNAinfo asked him in a second interview about his arrest February, Kukic reportedly hung up the phone. 

When it comes to making capital improvements, co-op and condo boards understand perhaps better than anyone else that timing is everything. A major project, such as replacing the elevators — especially when you have only one — requires a lot of planning, a lot of coordination, a lot of money, and a lot of damage control. When a building's elevator is out of service, residents complain — and rightfully so. But when you have to not only spend a lot of money that might make shareholders and unit-owners feel a little nervous and take the elevator offline so that work can begin… well, residents are probably going to complain some more.

There are steps a board can take, however, to reduce inconvenience and keep tempers from flaring up too much.

Neighbor-to-neighbor noise complaints are almost always tricky for co-op and condo boards. Ideally, boards have to find a way to resolve the problem without resorting to time-consuming and expensive litigation. Not all noise complaints, however, are created equal.

When the neighbor making noise is clomping up and down the apartment in heavy shoes at midnight, the solution can be as simple as enforcing existing rules. Most co-ops have a rule that a certain percentage of floor space outside of kitchens, closets, and bathrooms — typically 80 percent — must be covered with rugs, carpets, or other materials that reduce noise. When the neighbor making noise has made it a habit of playing loud music at 3 A.M., the board can also point to house rules and encourage compromise.

But what happens when the neighbor who's made the complaint works from home, and the neighbor making noise is simply practicing the piano (or other musical instrument)?

Early last week, we introduced you to two people who represent a new breed of board member. The first is Josh Fox, who has been on the board of the 206-unit condominium at 340 East 23rd Street for the entire seven-year life of the building, and president for the last three. The second is Michael Herzog, who is president of the 68-unit co-op at 257-291 Cedarhurst Avenue in Cedarhurst, and has been actively involved in the affairs of the garden apartment house for more than three decades. Fox and Herzog are take-charge guys who have made money-saving into an art form. But how? 

The stakes are high in the dog-eat-dog world of New York City real estate, and competition is fierce enough as it is. You still have to play by the rules, though; and according to the Corcoran Group, a reportedly well-funded real estate tech startup company isn't playing fair. According to the Daily News, the real estate behemoth says that startup Compass is "aggressively poaching its agents and stealing valuable information from its proprietary databases." Oh, yes. Corcoran is suing, saying Compass has "coordinated [a] multi-front assault of unfair competition on two of its most profitable offices over the last year." Corcoran also claims that "some of the defecting agents have hijacked its proprietary systems, including its 'Cadillac of listings databases.'" Both sides told the Daily News that they could not comment on ongoing litigation. Only in New York.

Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, most (if not all) New Yorkers can agree on one thing: the cost of living here is too high. And late last week, the Republican-led Senate did something about it. According to Capital, it approved legislation to set a two percent cap on property tax increases in the five boroughs, similar to the statewide two percent cap that exempts New York City. The bill was sponsored by Republican Senator Andrew Lanza of Staten Island, who said, "We're driving families away [at] unprecedented rates [with] unbridled increases in the property tax rate, especially when you add that together with the New York City income tax and the taxes that are imposed on just about everything that moves, breathes or exists in the city of New York."

A READER ASKS: I'm on the board of a midsize co-op in Queens. About six months ago, we started getting complaints from residents about one of the couples in the buildings, who have been shareholders for about a decade. The couple had been arguing loudly and it was becoming an issue — although police have never been called about domestic disturbances. Late last week, the wife let us know that she was filing for divorce. Although she was calm at first, she became very upset and told us that her soon-to-be ex-husband was moving out and we were to let the doorman know not to let him in. The rest of the board feels like she said this last part in the heat of the moment, but I think we should take the necessary steps to protect ourselves should this breakup turn nasty. Other than talk to our attorney, what else can we do, if anything at all? 

Tram-Thuy Nguyen, 37, died in Bellevue Hospital after being fatally struck by a sheet of plywood that was ripped away by high winds from a condo construction site where St. Vincent's Hospital used to be. The incident happened just days after plexiglass fell onto two parked cars from One57, and just a few weeks after a falling piece of drywall seriously injured a construction worker inside a luxury TriBeCa apartment building. Nguyen's death has been described as a freak accident, but Community Board 2 chair, Tobi Bergman, told DNAinfo that "there are indeed freak accidents in the world that may be unavoidable." The board is therefore reportedly calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of Buildings (DOB) to "create a program, similar to the Vision Zero traffic safety initiative, that would shine a light on construction accidents around the city." According to DNAinfo, the mayor's office did not directly address the resolution, but quoted de Blasio spokesperson Wiley Norvel in an e-mail saying: "There is no higher priority for the Department of Buildings, or this administration, than safety. That’s why [DOB] Commissioner [Rick] Chandler is spearheading changes that will improve compliance at building sites to protect workers and the public."

A defensive board might be tempted to write off an angry disruption at the annual meeting as an aberration — especially when a dissident claims that board members are getting paid off by someone. It shouldn't. The disruption may be a warning sign of a more serious problem and, like all warning signs, it is not meant to make a board stop everything it is doing but, rather, to slow down, take note, and investigate.