I'm working on a HABITAT story about the practical aspects of putting in a playground -- as well as what house rules should be written for that. I'd love to speak with a couple of board members with experience in this, which would be of great help to fellow board members who may be thinking about installing a playground. Please contact me at flovece@habitatmag.com to arrange a few minutes to speak -- I'm on deadline now.

We are a 150 unit coop with a live-in Super and a maintenance staff of 4, ideally. I was wondering how other coops manage time off as everyone is entitled to some time off and vacation. Does your Super have off on the weekends, or during the week? As of late the shareholders have been upset that the new Super gets weekends off and feel that since he lives in the building, he should be here on the weekends.

How do your buildings handle this and what works best for you.

I purchased my co-op a little over a year ago and have an ongoing noise problem with the sublet tenants above me. They take care of their grandchild 8-12 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. The child runs & jumps constantly back and forth in the apt. and there is no carpeting in the apt.
I have written the board & mgt. about the problem numerous times; quoting the specific clauses in both the house rules and proprietary lease that apply to this problem.
Since I complained, the grandparents have begun to bang on the walls and purposely drop heavy objects on the floor at all hours...including 1 AM, 2AM and 4AM. To date, nothing has been done.
I was told by both the board & mgt. at our last meeting that it is not a board problem nor a mgt. problem.
I must be misinformed. I thought that part of the duties of both the board & mgt. was to enforce both the house rules & proprietary lease. Am I wrong?

Unbelievable as I find it. This BOD in secret, as no shareholders were notified of a discussion on this topic, or it was by invitation only, it seems. Also possible self dealing since a board member is pushing for it.it's possible that the BOD person wants this change since a complaint may have been made against them, and justifiable so.
The BOD wants to allow children to ride bicycle's with a parents in the indoor garage structure , that is extremely tight and hard for vehiche drivers to even back up in, I am a avid bicyclist, beleive in bicycles, and believe they are great for children, However they do not belong at all in the garage. No ifs or buts. For 21 years there was a sign stating no playing in the garage. They, the BOD said insurance would cover it if their was a problem. I doubt they talked to an insurance persin. I told them in no uncertin terms , on video and digital audio that they are liable , personally since it they have been warned, I guess i need the contact info of the insurance company. So i can place a registered letter. Hopefully there are city of yonkers laws that handle this ,, and wait there is more

A bunch of items were changed I wasn't getting my bills ,etc. The ticket was on a car that was only registered at the coop. This was one of his new rules, so he got everybody info. II had put that car on a trailer and scrapped the Reg. it off and turned the plates in 3 years before the ticket was written. I had the plate receipt, so I it was thrown out. It also was a late ticket so it doubled, I never got the first. I knew right away it was his doing in retailation for a self dealing complaint i wrote. Most like ly it was a fried that retired of friend that worked in the office. i didnt folloe up on it then, since i figured they would dig deep. However with some other charges i am filing to DA i am enclosing that. I had a feeling this was going to haopen since he is a total sleeve ball , i know him from outside the bldg. Also received late audited financial reports, 2 days after board meeting. I may have been only one, just have to prove it, i still have the envelope with postmark and pinney -bowes code. i had put all kinds of alert fuinctions on my banking since i knew this guys knew this guys trailler trash game. Would that type of targeted criminal actions fall under the type of case where the BOD pres had to sell his place to pay the restitution. michaelson case or something

I am the Board President for The Chocolate Factory Condos in Brooklyn, NY. Nouveau had been our prior elevator service company. Due to their failure to file a NYC DOB 2011 Affirmation of correction more than one year late to the DOB. This resulted in a $3,000 fine. Nouveau has not responded to requests for reimbursement for these fines. This is routine procedure and their failure to file on our behalf was a failure of service.

If you are using Nouveau, I recommend triple checking that they have complied with DOB filings and obtain third party proof. I certainly cannot recommend them as a service provider because of this costly oversight.

DONT be mislead by the title of Con Edison's Rebate Program. Their Commercial & Industrial Energy Rebate Program applies to Multifamily buildings with greater than 75 units. The amount of money they have for energy related projects is incredible. Minimum requirements: Firm Rate Gas Customer and pay into the SBC (Systems Benefit Charge)..this is on your monthly statement. Dont engage in any energy related project without checking first to see what kind of money is out there...its bad business.

Management companies know there are incentives/rebates available, yet may not be aware of the specifics. DONT leave any of your money on the table...its bad business.

We found a solution for second hand smoke without banning smoking in our building.

We've been fighting a second hand smoke problem in our coop for years. 2 heavy smokers on one floor have caused the hallway to smell all the time and smoke has seeped into other apartments. We brought in consultants who suggested sealing openings between apartments and improving our air flow from the hallway through kitchen and bath vents in the apartments. None of this worked.
We finally found a consulting engineer who had experience with smoke issues in apartment buildings. One of the findings of the engineer was that every time our elevators would travel up or down our the vacuum in the elevator shaft would cause air to be drawn into the hallways from the apartments bringing the smoke into the hallway. Regular door seals were not enough. An acoustical door seal kit, which incorporates a sealing gasket all around the door and a drop down seal at the base needed to be installed to ensure that nothing exits the apartment through the door. This also required replacing the door thresholds. In addition, all the openings on the common walls between apartments needed to be sealed with an acoustical sealer. The regular foam sealants were not good enough. The sealing between apartments was necessary since, if the door was sealed, the smoke would be sucked through a common wall and end up in the neighboring apartment and hallway. We found a locksmith that had experience with the door seal kits and charged about $600 each. The smokers were required to pay for the work.
The hallway is now smoke odor free and you can now smell the normal cooking odors.

Does anyone have any experience with Bright Power in NYC? They are offering solar panel installations for larger buildings. Terms are enticing.

is there any requirement nowadays to show financial stability if purchasing shares that were sold to a private party at conversion. i know the unsold shares holder definition has changed with the wind.
This board member, who didnt have the money for over 10 years to purchase his apartment, propritary lease was ignored by board and father bought 2 apartments and 2 board seats. shareholder/father never occupied either. Proprietary lease par 14 states"AND".
so i found out the son, bought a unsold shares apartment, but i doubt he has any money to put up to guarantee mainanence to coop.
To top it off , he was asking a owner /occupier trying to sell , how flexible they were in price, but he wanted to rent it out, not occupy it. The board member said that he has to own it for 2 years before he can rent it Which is something they just must of made up,that definetely is not in the prop lease or by -laws, but neither was the secret cumultive voting change, which they just ignore when i write questioninging, as does the AG , so its a good racket the AG created for these rent controlled apartment bldg owners.
Where is ira glass when you need him? Hate to give it to the commercial papers
I am hoping that they are supposed to have in escrow 10 years, but his father is treasuer,so that will be fixed.