Problem Solved! For Co-ops and Condos

A Brooklyn co-op trusted its new electronic payment system to keep the bills in order. Then the superintendent got access, started browsing old invoices, and noticed something that didn’t add up. What he discovered raised uncomfortable questions about who was watching the money. Avi Zanjirian, partner at Czarnowski and Beer, shares the story and explains what it reveals about how buildings handle your maintenance dollars. You’ll come away knowing who should have eyes on invoices, what dollar threshold makes sense for board sign-off, and the questions every board should ask a management company, especially a new one, before the next payment goes out. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview. 

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

A small drip behind a toilet can turn into a seven-figure insurance claim, and carriers are paying attention. Nadav Schnall, CEO and co-founder of ProSentry, spent years as a property manager taking the call nobody wants at 2 a.m., and now he builds the technology meant to stop it. In this episode, he explains why insurers are watching water damage more closely than ever and what that could mean for your own policy. Board members will come away knowing where to start, what monitoring costs, and why his company's sensors never touch your building’s network. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

A Midtown co-op decided to begin to monitor shareholder insurance, but right away they found something unsettling: the governing documents never required anyone to carry a policy. Some owners were covered, others weren't, and the building had no power to insist. Kara Ryan, director of compliance for homeowners insurance monitoring at Mackoul Risk Solutions, walks board members through the case, as well as a Long Island HOA where owners held the wrong policy type and had no structural coverage at all. You'll hear why enforcement so often falls through the cracks, who ends up exposed when it does, and the one thing to check first. Habitat's Emily Myers conducts the interview. 

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

A routine facade project turned into a $1.6 million garage overhaul at a Queens condo, and the board never saw the biggest surprise coming. Michel Monteiro, senior project engineer at Cowley Engineering, walks through what happened once crews started working on the concrete. He explains why the worst damage was not where anyone expected, how the board paid for the work, and how phasing the repairs kept 150 parking spaces from sparking a resident revolt. Monteiro also shares the warning signs every board member should know and the testing that can head off a dangerous discovery. Habitat's Emily Myers conducts the interview.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

A Local Law 11 facade inspection at a pre-war Upper East Side co-op looked like a routine, modestly budgeted job. Then the leaks entered the picture. Luke Pantaleo, partner at RAND Engineering and Architecture, shares how this 52-unit building's plans changed again and again, why finding the source of a leak is far harder than it sounds, and how the board's tough decisions affected shareholders. He explains why tracking down a leak is so tricky in century-old solid-wall construction, and what he would do differently if his team could start over. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview. 

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

New condo buildings can look flawless on the surface, but that polish sometimes hides problems that only become obvious once people have already moved in. In this episode, Joseph Cosentino, managing director and head of mechanical engineering at FSI Architecture, explains forensic audits, the deep investigations boards call for when something isn't adding up. Cosentino explains how his team pieces together what really happened during construction, comparing design documents and offering plans against what they find walking from the building's mechanical rooms to rooftops. He shares what tends to get overlooked, how these investigations connect to litigation against developers, and what timelines and costs actually look like. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

Getting people to run for a co-op or condo board is harder than it sounds, and one Brooklyn condo's experience shows just how much a broken process can hold a building back. Corinne Arnold and Will Kwan, managing partners at EZ Election Solutions, talk about what it really takes to turn apathy into engagement, from the subtle red flags that make a candidate risky to the surprisingly simple fixes that get more people to step up. They also unpack why quorum trouble is rarely just about disinterest, and how the right systems can change that before a meeting even starts. Whether you've sat through an election that dragged on for weeks or wondered why your building's board always seems to have empty seats, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at what separates a smooth election from a stalled one. Habitat's Emily Myers conducts the interview. 

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

Laundry rooms rarely make headlines, but when machines break down or vendors go quiet, they become the most talked-about amenity in the building. In this episode, Sandra DiLollo, sales manager at Automatic Industries, walks through what boards need to know before switching laundry vendors. She explains why timing matters so much, how vend pricing gets set, and what happens to the room during a changeover. DiLollo also breaks down the service guarantees that separate a good vendor from a frustrating one, and why boards should decide upfront whether they want the amenity to generate revenue or simply keep residents happy. Habitat's Emily Myers conducts the interview.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

A 1960s condo on Manhattan's East Side was staring down carbon fines that would climb past $250,000 a year — until its board decided to act. Michael Scorrano, managing director and founder of the EN-POWER GROUP, a Verdantas Company, walks through how they swapped an aging, gas-fired heating and cooling system for electric chillers and heat pumps, all without disturbing a single shareholder's apartment. He breaks down how the building tackled its fuel switch and what other boards can learn, from the surprising mechanical hiccup that slowed things down mid-project to the rebate programs that helped offset the cost. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview. 

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!

Luggage carts have a way of disappearing in doorman buildings, tucked into hallways and forgotten until someone else needs one and can't find it anywhere. It's the kind of small, everyday annoyance most residents just shrug off. On this episode of Problem Solved, Jerry Kestenbaum, founder and CEO of Aware Buildings, explains how one frustrated building turned that minor mystery into something much bigger: a real-time tracking system built on Bluetooth beacons and a clever wearable device. What started as a way to locate carts quickly evolved into something bigger, as staff found their own creative uses for the system. Kestenbaum walks through real installation costs, the surprising ways one building repurposed the system to monitor cleaning staff coverage, and where the technology is headed next: tracking service contractors to confirm they're actually showing up and doing the work they're paid for. Habitat's Carol Ott conducts the interview.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!