Page 16 - CooperatorNews New Jersey Spring 2021

16 COOPERATORNEWS NEW JERSEY —SPRING 2021 NJ.COOPERATORNEWS.COM Knowledge and Experience. Always, in All Ways. Our team of highly qualified and experienced Engineers and Architects have made us the “go-to” Highrise Experts for more than 23 years. Capital Reserve Reportsapital Reserve Reports C Facade Inspection and Restoration Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Design Domestic/Heating Water Riser Evaluations Balcony Repair and Reconstruction Flat Roof Inspections, Repair and Flat Roof Inspections, Repair and Replacement Lobby Renovation and Design Parking Garage Repair Water Infiltration Window, Flashing and PTAC Replacement Forensic Investigation & Litigation Forensic Investigation & Litigation Support Building Condition Reports/Planning (646) 292.3515 350 7th Avenue, Suite 2000 New York, NY 10001 682 Highway 202/206 Bridgewater, NJ 08807 (800) 839.7740 ATTENTION BUILDING OWNERS AND MANAGERS Maintenance of any masonry/concrete mid to high rise building is CRUCIAL From parking decks, to balconies, to brick pointing, window caulking, parapet walls, and roof structures, simple maintenance and inspection is IMPERATIVE to keep your investment DRY and STRUCTURALLY SOUND. Water intrusion can cause: • Structural damage • Damage claims from tenants and owners • Mold issues and lawsuits • Safety issues, e.g., falling masonry & Restoration Inc, of Jersey City, NJ, successfully completing over $200,000,000 of restoration work in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. H2O Pro operates only in New Jersey and we pledge to you that if you trust us to oversee exterior repairs to your buildings we will treat them as if they were our own. Choosing the right contractor is extremely important! Who are we? Call Toll Free: 844-774-6776 Small maintenance issues can become large capital projects. We work with you or your architect/engineer, to establish a repair plan that keeps your investment safe and sound without breaking your budget. “We wanted to give our attendees an experience that’s familiar, but that also takes advantage of the convenience, flexibility, and versatility of an online format over an on-site event,” says Rob- bins. “With our virtual format, attendees can participate at their leisure, at what- ever pace they like; they can come for a couple of hours in the morning, and then come back for a half-hour in the after- noon for a seminar they want to catch, without having to exit and re-enter a physical venue. They can go anywhere in the virtual exhibit hall almost instan- taneously, and pop in and out whenever something of interest to them is going on, whether it be a seminar, a product demo, or a roundtable discussion.” And, adds Robbins, “being freed from the constraints of physical space and all the challenges that go with it—things like noise, coordinating foot traffic, equipment set-up, and so forth—we can offer twice the number of seminars we’re able to offer at our on-site events.” The Virtual Expo is accessible from any desktop, laptop, or mobile device, enabling attendees to interact with ex- hibitors in real time, sit in on more than a dozen educational webinars, and net- work—or just chat—with peers from co-op, condo, and HOA communities all over the region. Just like Cooperator Events’ in-person shows, the New Jersey Virtual Expo is FREE to attend; simply visit nj.yrexpos.com to register. You’ll get a confirmation email with a clickable link that will activate on the day of the show, giving you unlimited, on-demand access to the webinars, exhibitor booths, and everything else the event offers. Exhibitors and panelists are being added to the Virtual Expo roster all the time, so stay tuned for more information and announcements as the big day gets closer. We look forward to seeing you— virtually—at the show! n hind featureless masks; no more smiles from the porter when he came to deliver a package to your apartment. The mental and emotional stress foisted upon literally millions of people in what many would agree was often al- ready a stressful environment has frayed nerves, shortened tempers, and in some cases ignited conflict between neighbors and between residents of co-ops and condos, their boards, and their manage- ment agents and staff. The stress has extended to the small- est of things. One manager reported that when the board of a building she manages decided to ban domestic help- ers from entering the property, she re- ceived a call from an irate shareholder. The shareholder told her in no uncer- tain terms that she “hadn’t picked up a vacuum in 50 years—and wasn’t about to start now!” Another reported that he had to set up support groups for the staff in his building because the stress of trav- eling to and from the building and the nervous behavior of the residents were causing pervasive, chronic feelings of fear and despair. The truth is that never before had property managers and their client com- munities faced a crisis of this type, pre- senting itself in this way. It seemed part science fiction, part war story—except the enemy wasn’t an alien invasion (at least, not exactly) or a foreign occupying army. It was an invisible, incurable mi- crobe that often brought suffering, and could easily bring death. The zombie apocalypse had arrived. Pandemonium “I’m no longer managing an apart- ment building,” says Daniel Wollman, CEO of Gumley Haft, a residential prop- erty management firm located in New York City. “Instead, I’m managing a pan- demic. Once it hit, construction projects ceased. We closed service entrances. We required new elevator procedures: one family or two individuals in the cab at a time. We severely limited access for deliveries, guests, domestic help, etc. It was a stark contrast to day-to-day func- tions before the pandemic when so much was happening all the time—deliveries, renovations, etc. Building ops severely changed.” What Wollman and his staff did in their offices and with their time when not on site at client properties changed, too. “We needed PPE, constantly,” he says. “It was hard to get initially. We had to convert our office conference room into a storage area. We also had to send many of our office employees to work from home, which took time to get used to as well. In addition, we needed to make sure that everyone on our vari- MANAGEMENT... continued from page 1 NEW JERSEY’S BIGGEST continued from page 1 “We wanted to give our attendees an experience that’s familiar, but that also takes advantage of the convenience, fl exibility, and versatility of an on- line format over an on-site event.” —Yale Robbins