NEW YORK CITY

It is the place from which the "guardian of the gates" performs his assigned duties: greeting, announcing, and then directing visitors to their destinations; accepting and storing packages and dry cleaning for later pickup; and opening and closing the front door for residents and guests. It is a special place that few consciously notice but which plays a crucial role in the ebb and flow of a building's life. It is the concierge desk, a little-discussed yet vital station in a building's lobby that must fit with the structure's historic style even as it incorporates new technology for a new era.

Times — and needs — change. What should you be concerned about when redesigning your concierge desk?

Water costs in New York City and across the country are skyrocketing. With the new water rates kicking in this year, the combined cost of water plus sewer usage is slightly more than 1.29 cents per gallon. Still much cheaper than bottled water, but it means your teenager's daily 20-minute shower costs $95 per year in water alone, not including the cost of heating it.

As a board director trying to reduce expenses in your building, where should you look to save water dollars? 

Spring may be allegedly around the corner, but the snow is still coming — an inch here, three there, falling on top of all the other snow this relentless winter has sent our way. Depending on where you live, snow may still be accumulated on rooftops and, unfortunately for one shareholder in a small brownstone co-op, terraces. The shareholder tells Ronda Kaysen in this week's "Ask Real Estate" column in The New York Times that his unit has a terrace directly above his neighbor’s bedroom ceiling. "The house rules and the proprietary lease require me to keep my terrace free from snow, but the rules do not explain where I should put the snow," he writes. Kaysen explains that when your apartment comes with a terrace, the burden of shoveling falls on your shoulders. Indeed, most co-ops and condominiums require residents with private balconies or terraces to shovel the snow and clear the ice that accumulates there. "While the rules are loud and clear about what to clean up, they are typically silent about how to clean up," Kaysen says. Even if your terrace doesn't face the street and sidewalk below and your downstairs neighbors give you the green light to knock the snow to the garden, it's not a good idea. Injure anyone with falling snow and you open yourself up to a lawsuit, explains real estate lawyer Steven R. Wagner. A better solution? Shovel it into a large container and let it melt in the shower. Them's the breaks, but look at it the bright side: you have a terrace you can enjoy once the weather lets us all thaw out a bit.

It was a hot September night and almost everyone from my 25-unit building was in my pristine, newly renovated apartment. Multicolored ribbons dangled from hundreds of helium balloons that hugged the freshly painted ceiling. Platters of food were spread out on the purposefully pitted, reclaimed-wood dining table. Glimpses of the polished butcher-block kitchen island peeked out from under piles of plastic glasses and bottles of soda and wine. The new wide-plank, natural-oak floor was being pounded by more than 60 pairs of shoes that had not been left in the hall.

A READER ASKS: I live in a midsize co-op in Brooklyn. We have a huge pigeon problem. There are pigeon droppings everywhere. It's not just unsightly; there's so much of it now that I'm concerned about it becoming a health hazard. As far as anyone can tell, nobody in the building seems to be feeding them — we do have a policy in place against doing so. But is there anything the building can do to fix this problem and make the pigeons go away? 

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, having a 212 area code used to mean you lived in Manhattan. That was long before 646 came to ruin everything forever. According the Daily News, 212 has "become a status symbol and social signifier — and a pop culture mainstay," citing a Seinfeld reference. You don't get more New York or more pop culture than Seinfeld, right? But that's the area code… and based on that area code, and whatever cachet it still boasts today, new development expert Andrew Gerringer of the Marketing Directors is calling 212 Fifth Avenue — site of a condo conversion — a "magical address." The Fifth Avenue part certainly doesn't hurt, but, really? Is 212 a magical address just because the area code used to be (and arguably still is) a big deal? Joe Sitt, chairman and CEO of Thor Equities, one of the developers involved in the conversion, insists the "212 moniker will be an unstoppable branding tool, both for locals and international buyers." He adds, "Honestly, the address was 50 percent of the reason I bought the building." Whatever you have to do to generate buzz and get people excited. Considering that the soon-to-be condo is "less than a block from the tony Whitman condominium, at 21 E. 26th St., where Jennifer Lopez recently snagged a $20 million penthouse, and across the park from One Madison, the glitzy curtain glass tower that Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen call home," we can guesstimate that sales at 212 won't be a problem. 

Photo by Christopher Bride for Property Shark.

Just a little more than a month ago, a penthouse at One57 sold for $100 million, setting a new city record. But just as many real estate experts predicted, condo sales slowed down — and winter hasn't helped any. Only 310 Manhattan condos went into contract in January, representing a 6.3 percent decline in pending sales from December and the lowest monthly total in three years. Median time on market for condos jumped from 19 days in December to 82 days, the longest time on market since February 2013.

The last thing residents need is a sudden shutdown of heat on a cold winter night. The condition of heating system mechanisms should be addressed well before the cold weather sets in so that everything is ready to go when winter begins. But things happen.

Here's a look at some potential trouble spots, and how to stay on top of things to prevent headaches in wintertime. 

For New Yorkers with cars, the most sought-after location in a metropolitan co-op or condo is the coveted parking space. In return for their payments, however, shareholders expect a well-maintained facility. For outdoor lots, weather is a major concern. They’re the typically the last area to be cleared of snow. Constant exposure to environmental damage — water, salt, grit, and seasonal temperature change are among the culprits — means even the cleanest, best-loved lot has to be resurfaced and repainted with lines and numbers on a regular basis. Some buildings tackle this task in-house; others outsource it.

It happens to the best of us. We take off a piece of jewelry, put it down, and it seems to find the gateway to Narnia or wherever it is our socks go after we do laundry. In Brickunderground's latest Ask an Expert column, someone writes in about two missing gold bracelets. "I don't wear them often and don't always put them away after I wear them." Uh-oh. Despite searching the apartment top to bottom, the bracelets have yet to resurface — and then it gets really awkward. "I don't want to make false accusations, but … the super and the exterminator, who comes once a month, have access to my home." Brickundeground's experts offer solid advice: "without concrete evidence of theft, it's a bad idea to point fingers." One expert, a tenants' rights lawyer with Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph, points out that anything could have happened: "you [could have] lost [the bracelets], misplaced them, or a guest [could have taken] off with them." One way around this issue is to purchase additional coverage for jewelry. Jeff Schneider, president of insurance firm Gotham Brokerage, explains that having this additional coverage "allows you to avoid making an accusation of theft which might not be accurate." Other suggestions include getting a nanny cam, which feels a little Big Brother but might be what you need to set your mind at ease, or locking up all valuables in a drawer or small safe.