August 2019

By Ira Meister
President and CEO – Matthew Adam Properties, Inc.

Over the past decade, New York City has become more vigilant in enforcing building elevator codes and requiring additional safety steps.

Several factors have come into play including widely publicized elevator accidents, a movement by the Department of Buildings (DOB) to upgrade codes and inspections, and increased awareness by residents about elevator safety and demands for assurance they will have a safe, unimpeded ride.

There is less tolerance of elevator problems, particularly in older buildings. Breakdowns, which force residents to climb stairs, and poor elevator service can have a negative impact on a property’s value.  Formerly, the expected useful life of an elevator system was 25 years, but that had been reduced to 18-20 years as buildings want to take advantage of new solid-state computerized technology, comply with the increased DOB safety requirements and satisfy residents’ requirements for safe, reliable service.

New building codes that became effective in 2009 completely revamped the inspection and testing procedures for elevator and escalators. The revised codes required annual rather than bi-annual inspections, frequent tests and third-party witnesses.

As part of the continuing DOB program to improve elevator safety, the city in recent years instituted several new requirements. The first, which went into effect on January 1, 2016, involves brake maintenance.  The new regulation requires annual maintenance and inspection of the brake system by a licensed elevator repair company.  This includes all the hardware components of the brake system as well as any devices and/or controller software to monitor the system.  Records must be kept of the maintenance performed and a metal tag must be placed on the controller indicating the company that performed the maintenance and the date of service.  Needed repairs must be made and tested prior to attaching the metal tag to indicate the elevator has passed inspection.

A second change, which may have been motivated by an accident in 2011 when the elevator suddenly lurched up with the door open fatally trapping the victim between the car and the wall. The new regulation requires an upgrade in the door-contact monitoring. This involves installing software/hardware to the existing controller.  In effect, the requirement calls for an additional safety feature that would prohibit the elevator from moving until the hallway and cab doors are firmly closed. This is a significant upgrade over the previous regulations and for the most part involves all elevators installed prior to 2000. The estimated cost would be approximately $15,000 to $20,000 per elevator depending on the work and controller required. The regulation applies only to automatic doors, not those manually operated. The change must be completed by January 1, 2020 and requires a permit from the DOB and certification of work completed satisfactorily by a third-party licensed elevator consulting company.

The final new regulation, effective in 2025, involves the replacement of single-plunger machine brakes for traction elevators with a dual-plunger system adding a second level of back-up prevention. About 10 percent of the elevators in the metropolitan area are involved. The equipment grips the elevator suspension ropes to stop the elevator in the event of a mechanical or electrical failure. If there is unintended movement in the up direction or if the elevator leaves the floor unintentionally with the door opened, this acts as a vital safety device.

Elevators involved are primarily Armor or Westinghouse systems installed in low rise buildings of six or seven floors and from the 1960s and 1970s.

Many would need to be replaced, if they haven’t already as the life span for such elevators is normally 25 years. The cost to upgrade the units to comply with the code would be about $15,000 for the new brake and about the same for the rope gripper.  Thus, serious consideration should be given to replacing the machine. Indicative of the changes in technology are recent rules from the Fire Department requiring new signage in the main lobby of a building. The new code requires that signs must indicate the location of the mainline disconnect switches for that elevator.  The rule is necessary as new elevator equipment technology and building design allow for controllers of different elevators to be in remote motor rooms.  Previously, the machines and controllers for each elevator were in the same room or adjacent to the hoistway. 

By Ira Meister
President and CEO – Matthew Adam Properties, Inc.

It’s something on the minds of most co-op or condo buyers.  What can they do to make their home fit their needs and living style?  Some renovate before moving in, while others wait. Either way, the road to a successful renovation is filled with barriers and potholes, particularly in New York City with its strict regulations and board requirements.

While requiring perseverance and planning, it is possible to bring a quality renovation in on time and within budget. To do so requires having a clear understanding of what is wanted, working with the right people, anticipating what is needed and a bit of luck.

Working with David Katz of Katz Architecture, a design/management/consulting firm who has more than 20 years of experience in apartment renovations, we have created a list of 10 steps that a homeowner should follow to try to ensure a smooth project without breaking the bank.

Top 10 Tips

1. Make sure what you want is possible. For example, can a bedroom be added legally as there are requirements for space between the window in a bedroom and an adjoining wall? Can a bathroom be added, the kitchen moved or two apartments combined?
2. Have the drawings for the project as complete as possible to avoid costly change orders and overruns and to show compliance with the building’s alteration agreement. Change orders, even seemingly minor ones involving the type of flooring or counter tops, can greatly jack up the cost.
3. Renovations by nature are unpredictable so it would be unusual not to find some surprises: hidden structural columns, pipes in unexpected places, long-forgotten wall finishes, the occasional extra pocket of space. Do your homework and speak to the super, make probes in the walls, find out if anyone in the building did what you want to do. These steps can prevent a number of costly shockers. But even the best foresight and preparation can’t preempt every problematic find. It is wise to assume a contingency of five percent of the construction cost to deal with the hidden situations.
4. Assemble the right team, including the architect, contractor and subcontractors and make certain to vet them thoroughly through references and seeing their work on completed projects. When soliciting and reviewing bids make certain the contractors have experience in the type of work you need as well as being familiar with city codes. You don’t want someone learning on your job.
5. Have a realistic schedule, including allotting sufficient time for the building to have an engineer and architect review the plans. Some high-end buildings have black-out periods when construction is not allowed. Failure to incorporate these dates and times, if applicable, can cause serious delays and added expense.
6. Understand what plans need to be filed and permits/approvals obtained. While the professionals hired should know this, knowledge of this by the homeowner helps prevent missteps that can cause significant delays and I repeat, delays cost money.
7. If the project is undertaken while the family is living in the apartment, they should consider moving out if the work is complex and requires moving walls or demolition. It is uncomfortable and unhealthy to live in a place with dust and debris and having the workmen work around the family’s living space can add time to the project and in the long run cost more than having a temporary residence.
8. Almost any renovation involving construction will cause noise and possible annoyance for neighbors. One way to try to forestall problems is to work though the building management to communicate with neighbors to explain the scope of the project, what they can expect and to listen to their concerns.
9. If the project is filed with the Department of Buildings, period inspections are required. The general contractor needs to maintain a schedule of these inspections.  One good method is to hold periodic job meetings with the contactor and subcontractors as well as the design people to be certain all are on the same page and the inspections are being conducted.
10. When the project is completed make certain all required inspections are completed and certificates are obtained before releasing the final payment. Certification requirements for a completed job can lapse after time causing additional paperwork, expense and delay when the apartment is sold.

Following the above steps is no guarantee that Murphy’s Law will not apply at some point, but they provide a sound methodology to avoid the pitfalls that have hampered numerous apartment rentals.

Important Notes:

• Have a contingency of five percent of the construction cost for hidden situations.
• Assemble the right team including the architect, contractor and subcontractors.
• When the project is completed make certain all required inspections are completed and certificates obtained before releasing the final payment.

By Marianne Schaefer
for Habitat Magazine

A Co-op’s Long Flooding Nightmare Is Over

For years, a rainstorm meant one thing for the 235-unit York River House: the city’s inadequate storm drains would fill up, and the basement would flood. “It didn’t even have to be a torrential rainstorm,” says Jacqueline Stein, president of the co-op board. “Just a large rainstorm would flood the basement of our building. Depending on the weather, this could happen more than once a week, but it definitely happened multiple times a year.”

The York River House basement houses a laundry room, gym, playroom, bicycle storage, mechanical rooms, and a storage room. “When the water entered the basement, we had to shut down the elevators,” says the co-op’s property manager, Ira Meister, president of Matthew Adam Properties. “We had to shut down the boiler, and we had to move cars around in the garage. People were not able to use the facilities, such as the laundry room, sometimes for a week or so. It was very bad. Sometimes it was a few inches of water, sometimes a couple of feet, and I think this happened ever since the building was built in 1960.”

Board and management tried for years to get the city to fix the problem. City inspectors came and inspected, city workers came and seemed to do some work, but the water kept coming in.

The board hired plumbers, but nobody found a solution to keep the water out.

The staff at the 18-story building, located a block from the East River, had developed a time-consuming protocol. They constantly monitored the weather forecast, they employed alternative damming and draining methods, and they had equipment to clean up after storms.

Then one day, Meister happened to meet a crew from a private, New Jersey-based company called Municipal Water and Sewer. Workers agreed to visit York River House, and they discovered that, in addition to sitting in a low-lying area, the building had a drain that was inadequately pitched. The board brought in an engineer from Jack Green Associates, and the retrofit began.

The drain was reconfigured. The basement floor was opened up, and two large tanks were installed. Ejection pumps now force any water that accumulates in the tanks out into the city’s storm-drainage system, while backflow-preventer valves keep water from the sewers from entering the building. Problem solved.

The job cost about $300,000, which was paid out of the reserve fund. In addition to obviating constant outlays for post-storm clean-ups, the new system led to a reduction in insurance premiums. A win-win-win for the co-op.

According to Meister, similar systems are often installed in new buildings to avoid flooding, but such retrofits are rare in the basements of existing buildings. Adds Stein, “This solution involved a lot of work and was expensive. They had to go through the concrete [basement floor] in several areas. But we have not had a problem since.”

Many other buildings in this seaboard city are not so lucky. The city’s outdated infrastructure all too often cannot absorb heavy rainfall, and the problem is exacerbated by global warming and the rising sea levels that come with it. Costa Constantinides, chairman of the city council’s Committee on Environmental Protection and a major proponent of the new Climate Mobilization Act, recently told The New York Times: “Floods that are smaller but far more frequent than the catastrophic ones brought on by Hurricane Sandy are already overwhelming sewers, sluicing pollution into waterways, and damaging neighborhoods.”

PRINCIPAL PLAYERS :

ENGINEER: Jack Green Associates. CONTRACTOR: New York Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. PROPERTY MANAGER: Matthew Adam Properties.