RIVERDALE

Briar Oaks board in Riverdale is always thinking about the future.

Proposal would require posting of a policy, fines for breaking any ban.

Co-op board uses refinanced mortgage to pay for a rooftop park.

One co-op advocate labels proposed city and state laws “absurd.”

New program helps co-ops and condos find summer replacement workers.

Here’s a story about a woman only cat lovers could love.

The co-op's pool was quite literally slip, slidin' away.

The 142-unit co-op, at 2575 Palisade Avenue in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, is a paradise of sorts — at least according to Harry Amer, a resident since 1980 and board president since 1982. "Everybody has a beautiful view of the Hudson River and the Palisades," says Amer. "There are no buildings to the west of us, [just] a greenbelt, the trees, and Metro North train rails. Other than that, you feel like you're more in the country than in New York City."

Yet the seven-member board found it had trouble in paradise — trouble with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for pool.

Trip-and-fall cases are the bane of all buildings, co-ops and condos most definitely included. And while you can't foresee every circumstance that might cause a resident or a visitor, including first responders, to fall and hurt themselves, there are steps a prudent board can take to minimize the risk. As Habitat has written, for instance, you can make sure your floor drains are clear and uncluttered, to prevent flooding when sprinklers go off, and you can choose not to hold meetings in an unfinished commercial space.

Our latest suggestion, based on a real-life trip-and-fall court case: If you have ramp at your door, make sure it has handrails on both sides. Because believe it or not, here's what can happen.

Updated Oct. 3 — When the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) shut down the gas in one of the three Skyview-on-the-Hudson buildings, in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, the co-op had to spend over $100,000 in upgrades before getting service returned after nearly two weeks. The co-op found it more cost- and time-effective to preemptively replace the hose connection behind the stove in every unit rather than find which ones had leaks.

Sept. 16, 2009 — New York City hasn't been hit as hard by bankruptcies and mortgage foreclosures as other parts of the country, but this recession has been taking its toll. So it was no great shock when a shareholder at a 77-unit, red-brick co-op in Riverdale, The Bronx, started falling behind on his monthly maintenance payments.

What is remarkable is how the board turned one shareholder's misfortune into a bonanza for the entire co-op.