Page 3 - NJ Cooperator Summer 2020

NJCOOPERATOR.COM THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR — SUMMER 2020 3 Yale Robbins Publisher Henry Robbins Executive Vice President Joanna DiPaola Associate Publisher Hannah Fons Senior Editor Darcey Gerstein Associate Editor Pat Gale Associate Editor Shirly Korchak Art Director Anne Anastasi Production Manager Victor Marcos Traffi c Coordinator Alan J. Sidransky Staff Writer Fred Marks Director of Sales The New Jersey Cooperator is published quarterly by Yale Robbins Publications, LLC, 205 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016, (212) 683-5700. President: Yale Robbins, Executive Vice President: Henry Robbins. Subscriptions are available free by request to co-op and condo board members and homeowner associations. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The New Jersey Cooperator, 205 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016. ©Yale Robbins Publications, LLC 2020. All rights reserved. FREE Subscriptions for Board Members, Property Managers and Real Estate Decision Makers. To Subscribe, please visit us at: njcooperator.com/subscribe TABLE OF CONTENTS R EOPENING OUR OMMUNITY Y C . . . . . . . . . . 1 As states and municipalities make moves to reopen their economies after weeks of quarantine torpor, the boards and management of multifamily communities nationwide are contemplating what their own reopenings are going to look like. The board of a smaller, self-managed urban walk-up building obviously has di erent concerns than the board of a sprawling suburban association with multiple shared amenities and entry points. H ELPING UT IN THE GE OF ORONAVIRUS O A C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Whether you’re living in a co-op apartment building in Manhattan, a condo on Chicago’s Gold Coast, or a townhouse community or HOA in New Jersey, Reno, or Florida, issues of legality and liability are always a concern for owners, board members, and management. And that’s especially true in these procurement, to dealing with interpersonal confl icts and communication—not just with boards and resi- challenging times, as American homeowners in detached single-family units, townhomes, and apart- ments alike confront a crisis for which the vast majority of us have no prior experience or frame of reference. V ULNERABLE ESIDENTS R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Multifamily residential buildings provide both privacy and community. Privacy, because a recluse in a dense urban area can have almost anything delivered to his door and thus never have to leave the sanctuary of his apartment; and community, because a single retiree in an active adult community in New Jersey can enjoy the company of his or her peers, as well as the benefi ts of supportive services and social activities. Population density is what makes co-ops, HOAs and condos ideal living spaces for anyone—including, and perhaps especially, the most vulnerable residents. M ANAGING ELIVERIES D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 While there are strong arguments to be made about the less-than-great impact the internet has had on our lives and the world, few would disagree that it’s made a lot of things a whole lot more acces- sible to a lot more people -- especially at the moment, when the coronavirus pandemic has made regu- lar brick-and-mortar shopping inconvenient at best, impossible or dangerous at worst. A VOIDING ROFESSIONAL URNOUT P B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The duties of a property manager are multiple and multifaceted. Starting the day before dawn, and remaining on-call throughout the night and even on weekends, managers have to deal with a dizzying array of duties—everything from the physical upkeep of the property to sta management and vendor dents, but with vendors, service providers, and municipal personnel, too. S TAFF AFETY S 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 With few exceptions, most multifamily buildings or communities have at least one or two sta mem- bers (and sometimes many more) who maintain the safety, security, cleanliness, mechanical operations, and day-to-day functions that residents and visitors rely on—and as the coronavirus pandemic has gripped the country, the importance of the hard work those frontline employees do every day has become even clearer. I NDUSTRY ULSE P . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Q UESTIONS & A NSWERS . . . . . . . . . 5 M ARKETPLACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19