NJ Cooperator Winter 2020

Winter 2020 NJCOOPERATOR.COM Wuhan, China. Drawing on what we know about how tuberculosis—another deadly airborne disease—is spread, Dr. Edward Nardel, an infec- tious disease expert affiliated with Harvard University, suggested recently in an interview for The Harvard Gazette that air condi- tioning use across the southern U.S. may well be a factor in that region’s surge of COVID-19 cases over the summer. But while continued on page 14 A lot can be said about 2020, but this was certainly a year that forced people around the world to reexamine our pro- cesses and protocols around health, safe- ty, and security—not just personally, but collectively, especially in our homes and communities as we face a series of threats novel to this generation. Not only is there a potentially deadly virus rampaging around the globe, but there is also uneasi- ness in many American communities as a result of spikes in crime, social unrest, economic uncertainty, political upheaval, and an ever-growing sense of COVID fa- tigue. Multifamily buildings and associations like condos, co-ops, and HOAs must fac- tor in multiple layers of protection and communication as they face these chal- lenges, taking into consideration their particular size, structure, and systems; their budgets and financial constraints; their population and demographics; and their existing policies. Rather than be- come overwhelmed by all the variables, savvy boards and managers are taking a good look at the measures they have in place to help protect their residents and their properties, and are coming up with a combination of cutting-edge technol- ogy, increased manpower, innovative training, and a dose of optimism—an es- sential element to overcoming most any challenge, be it virtual or viral, human or environmental. Accelerating Existing Plans Much of the analysis of residential communities’ response to the coronavirus pandemic has pointed less to a 180-de- gree spin and more of a redirection that was already underway for many. House- holds moving away from dense urban ar- COVID-19 has caused more far-ranging, persistent anxiety than any other event in recent history. It has affected our jobs, our living situations, and the way we interact with others, and it’s not done with us yet. Scientists and public health experts are still refining their understanding of the way the virus spreads, but one thing they have determined for certain is that the novel coronavirus spreads through the air—especially within en- closed spaces—and does so far more easily indoors than outdoors or via surface contact. “Outside is better than inside” has become a refrain among health experts. Depend- ing on the climate where we live and the time of year, most of us can go outside safely on most days. We can maintain social distancing to provide protection from infection. We can wear a mask. But what happens when the weather is just too hot, or air quality too poor, for outdoor activities or open windows? And what about now, as we enter the winter season with temperatures dropping and rain and snow impeding our time to safely open windows and stay outdoors? Among the seemingly endless questions we all have about the virus is how it behaves in more or less enclosed spaces when heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment is running to either heat or cool those spaces. HVAC and COVID-19 Transmission of the novel coronavirus is thought to happen mainly through large droplets expelled from a carrier’s mouth and nose during coughing, sneezing, or talk- ing. Evidence also suggests that at least some cases of COVID-19 occur via airborne transmission. That happens when virus particles contained in smaller droplets don’t quickly settle out and fall to the ground within six feet of the carrier who expelled them, and instead hang in the air and drift around on currents—posing a threat to anyone who happens to walk through one of those currents. Airborne transmission is thought to have been a factor in the coronavirus’s spread among members of a vocal choir in Washington state, through an apartment building in Hong Kong, and in a restaurant in It’s a common bit for comedians and TV sitcoms: making fun of the ‘condo police’—those neighbors who take it upon themselves to enforce the rules set up by your condominium association or co-op corporation to regulate communi- ty living. They are sticklers for detail: Is your mailbox at the right height? Do you have contraband plantings in your flow- erbeds? Are your window treatments ap- proved in terms of both color and con- figuration? Funny or not (and depending on how you feel about having to get approval to repaint your shutters, it may not be), in reality, co-ops and condos have rules— lots of them—and for good reason. Suc- cessful community living requires struc- ture. Some regulations appear in your governing documents—the bylaws, usu- ally—while others are found in less for- mal documents outlining ‘house rules.’ In any event, the question is how these rules are enforced, and who does the en- forcing. Defining Rules & Regulations Mark Hakim is an attorney special- izing in co-op and condominium law with the firm of Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenburg & Atlas, based in New York City. “The house rules in a co-op or condominium are rules and regulations promulgated by the board, and amend- ed from time to time,” he says. “They’re intended for the general welfare of the residents of the building. They include— but are certainly not limited to—pets, sublets, smoking, use of the hallways and common areas, carpeting, windows, plantings, noise, and other quality of life matters. “In co-ops, a breach of the house rules is generally a breach of the proprietary lease, permitting the board to treat it as such,” Hakim continues. “In a condo- minium, one would need to review the bylaws to see what rights the board may have. In both, how each is drafted and whether the lease and/or bylaws permit fines will determine what the board may do, short of drastic measures.” “The board has the ability to make Securing Air Quality in the COVID-19 Era HVAC, HEPA Filters, and UV Disinfection BY A J SIDRANSKY Examining Safety in Multifamily Properties How Communities Respond to Today’s Threats BY DARCEY GERSTEIN Living by the Rules Making—and Enforcing— House Rules BY A J SIDRANSKY 205 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY 10016 • CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED continued on page 18 continued on page 16