July 1, 2009 — In April on Habitatmag.com, Tom Soter broke the story of condo owners at Manhattan's famed, partially converted Plaza Hotel being hit by an $8.3 million "mechanic's lien." It was placed by a subcontractor against developer Elad Properties, a.k.a. El-Ad Properties — which in a separate building, says a condo-board president, has consistently ignored orders by the New York State Attorney General's office to correct a similar situation.

Here is an update, along with a primer on mechanic's liens and what boards can do about them. Read More »

June 29, 2009 — Whether you're confirming your building's tax-refund status or its list of open code violations yourself as checks-and-balance diligence, ascertaining that a vendor is licensed, or checking out a prospective buyer's background, you can save time and effort by using our selective list of linked, online resources. Read More »

June 22, 2009 — When he first got word that part of a terra cotta cornice had crashed to the sidewalk at 315 West 106th Street, David Brauner, president of that building's co-op board, flashed back to May 16, 1979. That's when a chunk of lintel infamously broke off from a building nearby, killing Barnard College freshman Grace Gold and setting into motion Local Law 11/98, mandating regular inspections of building façades.

"I did think back to that particular incident, both by virtue of our proximity to Barnard and my general familiarity," Brauner reflects. "My immediate reaction was, 'Thank God it was late and no one was on the street.'"

Then came the hard part: Deciding to remove, repair or replace the cornice. Because this wasn't just any cornice — this was a cornice on one of the first 16 or 17 buildings designed by one of New York's greatest architects, Rosario Candela, who would go on to fame in the late 1920s and 1930s for "a series of buildings that dominate the peak of apartment-house design in American history," wrote The New York Times architecture critic Christopher Gray, citing "elevated concepts of layout, amenities, spaciousness and luxury [that] set a new standard for the way rich people should live in multiple dwellings." Read More »

June 26, 2009 — Lime scale buildup! Even if you don't know what it is, doesn't it still sound scary?

Your super and any other staffer who works with your building's water heater is certainly familiar with it: It's the solid, scaly residue of calcium carbonate, a.k.a. lime, one of the minerals in piped water. When that water is heated, it undergoes a chemical reaction and lime "precipitates" in your equipment, gumming it up and wearing it out — even eventually releasing dissolved corrosive gases that can increase the electrical conductivity of water. (We actually don't know why that's a bad thing, but we're assured it is.) A new line of water heaters from Lochinvar — the 90-year-old, Tennessee-based water-heater manufacturer, not the hero of Sir Walter Scott's epic poem Marmion — may, however, help eliminate that problem. Read More »

The National Association of Housing Cooperatives is offering a discount of more then one-third off the cost of its six-hour "Roles, Risks & Rewards: The 3Rs for Co-op Boards" training course. Normally $1,500, it's priced at $975 through August 1 registration, after which boards have up to a year to schedule a one-on-one course with an NAHC instructor and up to 10 participants. Read More »

The Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums will host a workshop on Wednesday, July 15, at 7 p.m., to help acquaint co-op and condo treasurers with both the basics of the position and the latest laws and financial procedures of which they should be aware. CNYC treasurer Mark Shernicoff, a partner at the Manhattan CPA firm Zucker & Shernicoff, heads the workshop. Registrants will be contacted with the location of the event. Read More »