A new law has opened the door for owners of certain large mixed-income housing developments to partially convert to condominiums in order to protect at-risk affordable housing units in New York City.   Read the article…………………………….

A dozen building workers at a luxury condo tower in the Financial District, where units sell for up to $20 million, have said they are preparing for a rare strike after months of failed negotiations with the developer-controlled board.   Read the article…………………………….

In their unending drive to reduce energy consumption and costs, most residents of New York City co-ops and condos, including the boards that govern their buildings, have pursued two linked strategies: improve the efficiency of all building systems and appliances, and eliminate waste whenever possible.    Read the article…………………………….

Multiple owners of condominiums in a luxury tower on Billionaires’ Row in New York City have charged the developers with “deliberate and far-reaching fraud” after they concealed significant flaws, including “thousands” of severe fractures on the concrete exterior.   Read the article…………………………….

The condo board at 432 Park Avenue claims the skyscraper’s developers failed to disclose the extent of damage that has resulted in flooding and impacted the value of their multimillion-dollar properties.    Read the article…………………………….

What a difference a year makes. Last April, middle-class co-op and condo residents — especially those living in garden complexes — cheered when city council member Linda Lee introduced Intro 772, a bill designed to soften the sting of the city’s climate law, Local Law 97.   Read the article…………………………….

If you’re on a New York City co-op or condo board, or the owner of a rental building or townhouse, it’s time to have your parapet inspected.  Almost all NYC properties need to have their parapets checked for unsafe conditions under Local Law 126, the same law that mandates parking garage inspections.   Read the article…………………………….

Buyers at 432 Park Avenue are suing the developers over construction defects — again. Owners at the Billionaires’ Row tower filed another lawsuit against Macklowe Properties and CIM Group on Friday, alleging the developers concealed cracks in the building’s facade from buyers and city inspectors, Crain’s New York reported.    Read the article…………………………….

A new voice has joined the growing chorus calling for reform of New York City’s inequitable and unloved system of levying property taxes. This new voice claims that the owners of high-end co-ops and condos are benefitting unfairly at the expense of less well-off New Yorkers.  Read the article…………………………….

These Wall Streeters would trade anything for a good night sleep.  Residents at a Financial District condo building have had their lives upended after a neighboring building installed emergency generators right beneath their windows — tormenting them with constant ear-shattering that sent some fleeing the state. For three long weeks, the three massive commercial generators have been sputtering black smoke against the now-stained facade of 101 Wall Street, whose neighboring 500-unit luxury building is utilizing the obnoxious power sources after ...

Over the years, the various condo boards at a small converted loft building commissioned several facade engineering studies. All of them discovered noticeable cracking and recommended remediation. Each board apparently believed that a long-standing brick building was safe, and they apparently were unwilling to pay for repairs that were not absolutely necessary, and so they never moved forward with the suggested fixes.   Read the article…………………………….

They’re steaming mad about these hot plates. Residents of the ritzy historic Upper West Side condo, the Apthorp, have been without gas for months — and they’re furious at building management for giving them paltry electric cookers to cope, The Post has learned. Read the article…………………………….“I have this beautiful apartment. All I want to do is make scrambled eggs in the morning!” fumed one resident, who paid nearly $4 million for his opulent abode. “It’s ridiculous!”

Even though a flurry of fines was increasing compliance with mandatory curbside organics collection, Mayor Eric Adams has suddenly reversed course, announcing that the Department of Sanitation will stop issuing fines to most buildings that fail to obey the law until next year.   Read the article…………………………….

The Bemus Point Village Board has said no to joining a lawsuit that the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association is set to file against the state Department of Environmental Conservation later this month. Since announcing the CLPOA’s intent to sue the DEC during a public meeting in mid-March, Jim Wehfritz, CLPOA director, has attended town and village board meetings around Chautauqua Lake trying to line up support. So far, only the town of Ellery and the Builders Exchange of the ...

Q: I was considering buying a co-op on the Upper East Side with a private back yard that was included in the offering plan. The seller and I agreed on the price, but then the co-op board introduced a licensing agreement that imposed a monthly charge equal to 18 shares to use the yard — though the buyer would not get those shares. The board also imposed rules regarding how and when the back yard could be used. Potential buyers ...

Buyers of New York City co-ops and condos are frozen on the sidelines, waiting to assess the economic fallout of President Trump’s ever-evolving tariffs on imported goods. Meanwhile, with mortgage rates likely to rise, city rents remain at record high levels. For buyers and renters alike, it’s a lose-lose scenario.   Read the article…………………………….

The Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association is having a hard time finding local government backing for a lawsuit it plans to file challenging the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act.  Read the article…………………………….

The brown bin has New Yorkers paying green and seeing red. Since mandatory recycling of organic waste went into effect citywide on April 1, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has issued nearly 2,000 tickets to building owners, including co-op and condo boards, who have failed to comply with the new law, Gothamist reports.    Read the article…………………………….

Q: A one-bedroom condo apartment in Manhattan has an asking price of $399,000, needs significant renovation and has a $1,941 monthly common charge. Two other apartments in the building are also for sale; they’re comparable in size, on a higher floor, have already been renovated, have asking prices of $620,000 or more — and yet have lower common charges of about $1,750. Why the discrepancy? And what goes into calculating common charges?     Read the Q&A………………………………..

For 60 of his 64 years, Patrick Luzzi has lived in the red brick house in Yonkers, New York, where he was raised. His parents bought the two-family home, just north of the Bronx, in 1962 and Luzzi moved back in to take care of them before they both died. But the retired accountant doesn’t want to stay. Like many older homeowners, he’d like to downsize to a single-story home that he can comfortably age in. But after nearly two ...

New Yorkers — including residents of co-ops and condos — could lose out on nearly $2 billion in promised federal grants for environmental and clean-energy projects if President Donald Trump continues to withhold payments from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, according to a report by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Crain’s reports.   Read the article…………………………….

At long last, New York City co-op and condo boards can stop worrying about the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).  The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an “interim final rule” that exempts U.S. companies and U.S. individuals from the law’s required reporting of their beneficial ownership information.    Read the article…………………………….

NYPD Inspector William Gallagher told the West Side Tennis Club, which operates the stadium, and its concert partner, Tiebreaker Productions, that the local homeowners association is refusing to allow police to close private streets around the venue due to complaints about noise, disruptions and safety concerns.   Read the article…………………………….

The robots are coming! The robots are coming! New York City’s arcane, unfair and unloved property tax system is about the get help from a new source: artificial intelligence. The Department of Finance has partnered with technology firm C3 AI for a six-month pilot program that will explore using AI to calculate the assessed value of the city’s residential condo properties,    Read the article…………………………….

A new report prepared by the non-partisan Center for an Urban Future contains a stunning revelation: dozens of New York City building owners say they’ll pay fines rather than installing expensive building retrofits that would bring them in compliance with the city’s climate law, Local Law 97.   Read the article…………………………….

When the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, its numerous green incentives encouraged many co-op and condo boards that compliance with the city’s building emissions law, Local Law 97, might be within reach after all.   Read the article…………………………….

For co-op and condo boards struggling to meet the May 1 filing deadline for their buildings’ 2024 carbon emissions, help is on the way. On Monday, March 3, the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) launched the compliance reporting portal for Local Law 97. This online portal, known as the Building Energy Analysis Manager, allows owners of buildings covered by the law to submit their required compliance reports for the calendar year 2024.    Read the article…………………………….

Q: The board at our homeowners association (HOA) on Long Island has decided unilaterally to take out a seven-figure loan to revamp the recreational facilities. To repay it, the board is diverting our annual assessments away from their intended purpose of funding reserves. Our governing documents do not require the board to seek approval before borrowing, and do not put limits on how much the board can borrow. What can residents do?   Read the Q&A………………………………..

It’s back. Again. After being batted back and forth by various courts for weeks, the on-again, off-again Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is back in effect. Most co-op boards and many condo boards have until March 21 to file beneficial ownership information with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).   Read the article…………………………….

Q: Our homeowners association on Long Island has decided unilaterally to take out a seven-figure loan to revamp the recreational facilities. To repay it, the board is diverting our annual assessments away from their intended purpose of funding reserves to repair crumbling roads and curbs. We haven’t asked for these projects, and did not receive anything in writing about them.    Read the Q&A………………………………..

New York City could lose up to 19,300 homes in the next 15 years due to flooding from high tides and storms — more than the toll of 2012’s Hurricane Sandy — estimates a forthcoming report by the Regional Plan Association (RPA), The City reports. Another 24,300 units within the five boroughs could be substantially damaged by a major storm in that time frame. The region encompassing Westchester County and Long Island could lose tens of thousands more units of ...

After a routine facade inspection mandated by the Facade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP), the board at a condo on the Upper East Side budgeted $550,000 for repairs on the front of the building. But once work began, the board was hit with an unexpected and unwelcome surprise. As a result, what had been a half-million-dollar project mushroomed into more than twice that.   Read the article…………………………….

With the May 1 filing deadline for Local Law 97 looming, a coalition of co-op and condo representatives is urging the city council to reduce or waive late filing fees. Representatives of over 300,000 co-op shareholders and condo owners have signed a letter asking that “crushing” late fees — calculated at $.50 per square foot per month — be waived through the end of the year and scaled back. “Late filing fees must be amended to a reasonable and non-punitive ...

In the labyrinth of our legal system, changes to a law can reverberate outward to impact areas not originally intended. Such is the possibility with recent changes—and changes to those changes—to the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Hal Coopersmith, a principal with NYC-based law firm Coopersmith and Coopersmith specializing in co-op and condominium law, explains the current legal status of the CTA and how it may apply to co-op and condominium properties:    Read the article…………………………….

Q: At an eight-unit condo building in Brooklyn, the sponsor failed to pay the homeowners association dues for unsold units, as required under law, and he stopped responding to emails and calls after he transferred control of the building to the board. The dues are about $30,000, plus interest. Other than filing a lawsuit, and incurring more expense, is there a way to get the sponsor to pay the dues with interest?    Read the Q&A………………………………..

There are run-of-the-mill lawsuits over construction defects in condo buildings. And there is the the lawsuit unfolding at the four-tower Gramercy Square Condominiums.  The condo board has filed a lawsuit accusing the condominium’s original developers, Clipper Equity’s David Bistricer and Chetrit Group’s Meyer Chetrit, of creating defective condo units, The Real Deal reports. The board also alleges that Bistricer and Chetrit, along with two other named defendants, misappropriated up to $800,000 in condominium funds. As a result, the board is ...

Many co-op and condo boards are beginning to grasp that the best way to reduce their buildings’ carbon emissions and bring them in compliance with Local Law 97 is to abandon fossil fuels and install electric-powered building systems. But that shift, predicated on the transition toward a green electric grid, has just hit a three-word speed bump.   Read the article…………………………….

Fears of an electric vehicle fire have sparked the homeowners association at a luxury condominium complex to place a moratorium on any new EVs parking in the building’s underground garage.  Residents of the Park Place Condominiums voted in November to ban the vehicles from parking in their deeded spots out of concerns the vehicles’ high-voltage lithium-ion batteries, if damaged, could heat up, combust and spread flames into the building.     Read the article…………………………….

It’s a reminder of the challenges faced by boards at landmarked buildings: a facade inspection at a 48-unit prewar co-op in Greenwich Village revealed rusted steel supports for the building’s terra cotta cornice, which was virtually balancing like a seesaw above Broadway. In addition, the eroding historic frieze of winged torches, decorative flowers and lion heads was in critical condition.    Read the article…………………………….

Q: We live in a condo building in Manhattan with fewer than 10 units. The last Local Law 11 inspection found that our facade needs significant repair and maintenance, which could cost $300,000 or more. The condo board has determined that an assessment will be charged to all owners to pay for the work. Obviously, this will be a hardship for everyone.     Read the Q&A………………………………..

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s the philosophy of New York City co-op advocates who have introduced legislation for the third time in an effort to forever immunize co-ops from future landlord-tenant laws.   Read the article…………………………….

Q: I live in a condominium in Passaic County, N.J., where the board recently authorized the replacement of all the balcony railings in our building. Was this a safety issue? A cosmetic fix? No one seems to know, and the board is not providing more information. The job was estimated to last three months, but it’s been seven months and the work continues.   Read the Q&A………………………………..

The first occurred at the Kings Grant Condominiums, where a cooking fire began in an appliance. Luckily, crews were able to contain the flames to the appliance and prevent further damage.   Read the article…………………………….

There’s one less thing for New York City’s condo and co-op boards to do this year, at least for now: They don’t yet need to comply with a new federal law meant to target money laundering.  The Corporate Transparency Act, which would require U.S. condo and co-op boards to disclose some information about building owners to the federal government, was put on pause again on Dec. 27th amid an ongoing lawsuit claiming the act is unconstitutional.     Read the article…………………………….

Crews arrived to find flames shooting out of the roof, and the cold temperatures and strong winds are making it hard for firefighters to battle the blaze.    Read the article…………………………….

As a New York City real estate professional for over 14 years, representing both buyers and sellers, I have seen a decided shift in the landscape over the past few years as condos have become increasingly more desirable than cooperatives.    Read the article…………………………….

Q: I own a condominium in an eight-unit building in Brooklyn. Our sponsor did not pay the homeowners association dues for unsold units, as required under law, and he stopped responding to emails and calls after he transferred control of the building to the board. The dues are about $30,000, plus interest. We are a small building, so this amount is substantial. Other than filing a lawsuit, and incurring more expense, is there a way to get the sponsor to ...

Three firefighters were injured while battling flames of a condominium fire on Long Island.  Video shows heavy flames as the fire broke out on Vista Drive around 10:20 p.m. on Christmas Day.  NewsCopter 7 was over the scene as firefighters returned after debris left from the fire rekindled on Thursday morning.    Read the article…………………………….

As Donald Trump prepares to move back into the White House, New York’s co-op and condo residents are faced with the possibility of rising inflation and mortgage rates, higher construction and renovation costs and, on the up side, a reduction of property taxes.   Read the article…………………………….

A Forest Hills homeowners group has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the operators of Forest Hills Stadium due to the “harms caused” by the yearly concert series at the stadium.  Forest Hills Garden Corp (FHGC), a homeowners association whose members live by the venue, has filed a motion against West Side Tennis Club (WSTC), which owns the stadium and leases the venue to concert operators. The motion aims to immediately prohibit WSTC from licensing, authorizing, or allowing ...