Page 6 - New England Condominium April 2022

6 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM
-APRIL 2022
NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM
comports with the procedural and aesthetic
parameters of the association.
After that, in order to really maximize
the space while staying within the rules and
regs, it’s usually best to work with a profes-
sional.
“Everybody has a wish list,” says von
Brincken, “but a professional experienced
with HOAs will be able to work within the
parameters of the association’s rules. Even if
the space is not large, there are ways to cre-
ate private areas for different functions—for
dining, for relaxing, or a place for the grand-
children to play.” She notes that a patch of
lawn or a small patio can be turned into an
inviting, intimate environment through the
use of attractive containers, furniture, and
paving materials.
New Jersey attorney Anne Ward of law
firm Ehrlich, Petriello, Gudin, Plaza & Reed
in Newark reinforces the importance of re-
viewing your governing docs before shovel-
ing any dirt. “All unit owners are subject to
the rules and regulations governing the con-
dominium property, and they are assumed
to have knowledge of those rules,” she says.
These may include limits on the height, col-
or, or number of plantings in public-facing
areas of units, or restrictions on making any
structural changes to limited common ele-
ments at all.
Additionally, says Ward, “Under the
New Jersey Condominium Act, …[w]hile
all owners are entitled to ‘use’ common el-
ements, they are not entitled to unilaterally
exert control over a common interest to the
exclusion of other owners of the association.
In fact,” she continues, “... unit owners are
specifically prohibited from altering a com-
mon element.”
Laws in various municipalities may also
limit one’s choices in terms of landscaping.
Carol Anastasio, a licensed horticultur-
ist and landscape designer who also serves
on her co-op board in Manhattan, explains
that in New York City, a tree is not allowed
to touch a residential building at any point.
Therefore, she says, the types of trees and
where they are planted must take into con-
sideration the size of the tree at its full ma-
turity, and also the “developmental prun-
ing—that’s in order to get it to grow the right
way—and the maintenance pruning—which
is to help reduce the likelihood of [limb] fail-
ure or conflict with the infrastructure. A lot
of money is spent on just making sure trees
don’t hit buildings.”
A Tree Grows in Manhattan
For many multifamily buildings in New
York and other big cities, a street tree and
its two-by-two-foot bed might be the clos-
est one gets to “landscaping” in front of their
home. But trees in parks or on public side-
walks or roads can’t be pruned by just any-
one, and messing with or injuring a tree or
its bed can have severe consequences in the
city.
“No one is allowed to perform any work Program (FISP). The co-op’s size and age
on a tree unless they are employed by the have meant that its four residential build-
Parks Department, are under a pruning or ings have had sidewalk bridging up for half
removal contract with Parks, or possess an a decade while it continues to remediate
official Tree Work Permit with expressed structural issues uncovered by FISP, which
consent from our Forestry Division,” says has been “the worst friend to trees,” as An-
arborist Sam Bishop, Director of Education astasio puts it.
for Trees New York. “It is illegal and punish-
able by law for citizens to remove, kill, or up is in an outdoor area above Seward Park’s
damage a street or park tree, whether inten-
tionally or accidentally.”
Trees New York has a Certified Citizen did that landscape design,” she laments, “just
Pruners program that trains lay arborists thought about putting trees in planters—not
to do light pruning on small tree branches whether it’s the right tree in the right place.
that can be reached from the ground. Anas-
tasio and the rest of the Seward Park Coop-
erative board [full disclosure: this author is and eventually strangle themselves and die.
also a director there] recently brought this Almost any of the trees that are in failing
initiative to their shareholders to get them condition are those trees; the rest of the trees
involved in the care of the 280 trees on or on the property are doing great.”
adjacent to the co-op’s 13-acre property.
They already have shareholder-led groups
that plant daffodils and other suitable bulbs have a certified plant expert among their
(i.e., those that won’t interfere with the soil, membership, it is helpful to consult with
compete for the tree’s nutrients, or grow pros who are used to dealing with the some-
too close to the trunk) in the tree pits each times laborious decision-making process
spring, which brings together the commu-
nity’s multigenerational demographic and structure.
adds color and texture to their Lower East
Side neighborhood.
Anastasio can cite the number of trees committees to make use of limited outdoor
on her co-op’s property because she also areas. Even the smallest spaces can be de-
recently commissioned arbor services com-
pany Bartlett Tree Experts to tag and catalog accommodate different populations—a
them according to their type, age, size, con-
dition, and care needs—something that had tivities like reading or meditating; a breeze-
never been done in the co-op’s 65-year his-
tory. “It was probably the first time that there play; planters and shrubs can separate areas
has ever been an intensive understanding of and provide visual interest. Especially since
what our living infrastructure is,” she says. the coronavirus pandemic, many of their cli-
“So by doing the tree inventory, we have a ents are now looking at the dead space on
snapshot of the health of every single tree their property and thinking about revamp-
on the property at this moment in time. ing it to accommodate today’s needs.
And then they could be assessed as to—do
they need special kinds of pruning? Do they ing the importance of selecting what they
need nutrients? Do they have enough space call “bulletproof plants” that can survive and
around their root collar, which is that flare at thrive in the harsh New York environment.
the base of a tree? Are there any diseases or They point out that street-level plantings face
pests that are attacking the tree? What’s the the likelihood of being picked at, dumped
pH and other soil conditions? And is a tree on, or otherwise violated, by people, pets, or
dangerous?—which is always the number pests. Pollution also dictates which types of
one thing—such as: Is it dying? Is it tilting? plants will do well, and factors like rodent
Is it growing into your foundation? Does it control also need to be considered.
need to be removed?, et cetera.”
Anastasio explains that Bartlett “puts a turning an underused space into one with
little brass tag on every tree and assigns a aesthetic and natural appeal is one of the
number to it, which then gets geolocated on easiest ways for a co-op or condo to add a
a map. And so you have a map of every tree popular, valuable amenity—particularly for
on your property, and they get rated for vari-
ous conditions, so you can then work out a for ways to compete with all the shiny new
long-term plan. We’re unique, because we’re developments. In a double-win, it can also
13 acres and have 280 trees on our prop-
erty—some of which are among the most ment—a consideration that has more and
beautiful of their species in all of Manhat-
tan.”
Anastasio goes on to reveal that “a whole money—to install a bird feeder or a polli-
mess of trees were just totally decimated by nator house, for example. If you crave more
Local Law 11”—the requirement of all city nature, allow nature to come to you.
buildings over six stories to undergo in-
spections and repairs every five years, also
known as the Façade Inspection and Safety
Another tree “fail” that Anastasio brings
garage that was renovated about 20 years
ago after the garage collapsed. “Whoever
So you have overstory trees in small cement
planters. Their roots go around and around
Size Doesn’t Matter
Since not all boards are lucky enough to
characteristic of this type of governance
QG Floral & Landscape in New York
City frequently collaborates with boards and
signed in a way to maximize usability and
shady alcove can be designed for passive ac-
way can be paved for more active games and
The pros at QG echo colleagues in stress-
With the right plan and the right choices,
smaller or older buildings that are looking
have positive implications for the environ-
more importance to home buyers in all
markets. You don’t need much space—or
n
Darcey Gerstein is Associate Editor and a
Staff Writer for New England Condominium.
CREATIVE...
continued from page 1
tions. Do existing uses stay where they
are? We look at finishes, and at artwork
and furniture, and question residents for
updates. Do we need to change base ma-
terials? Another big impact is lighting—
that has a huge impact on how the space
functions and looks.”
Tackling the Problem
Marilyn Sygrove is an interior de-
signer and principal of Manhattan-based
Sygrove Associates Design Group and
works with all types of residential com-
munities throughout New York and New
Jersey. She breaks down the categories to
be considered for refreshing and upgrad-
ing public and common areas into the
following: paint, wall coverings, uphol-
stery, artwork, and lighting.
“A board can never go wrong with a
fresh coat of paint in any of their public
spaces,” says Sygrove. “If there presently
is wall covering on the walls, then a fresh
coat of paint on the ceilings, doors and
doorframes, and any previously painted
trim will do wonders. And a new paint
job also gives you the opportunity to
tweak—or radically change—paint colors
at the same time.”
And even if your wall coverings are
looking seriously beat-up, that doesn’t
necessarily mean they have to be com-
pletely replaced. “When it comes to wall
covering,” Sygrove continues, “we’ve seen
filthy vinyl wall covering that has tears,
or seams spreading that look atrocious.
There is at least one company that we
know of that will come in and completely
clean the existing wall covering and glue
back open seams. A board may want to
set up a schedule to do this type of rou-
tine maintenance every few years.” And,
she adds, “If there is leftover wall mate-
rial hidden away in the basement, they
can actually use that to do undetectable
patches. If they don’t have any additional
material, it can likely be replicated—but
a designer’s assistance may be needed to
get that done. Generally, manufacturers
have minimums to produce wall cover-
ing that’s not one of their running lines,
so you would need to inquire about that.”
When it comes to lobby or other com-
mon area furniture, Sygrove says, uphol-
stery can be professionally deep-cleaned,
or replaced on a select few pieces in a
new, more cleanable, durable fabric.
“This one lift can make a world of differ-
ence,” she says, also noting that “it may
also be time to edit your artwork—for a
modest amount of money, replacement
art or mirrors can be found. Even refram-
ing attractive existing art will be impact-
ful to a common space.”
Lighting, as mentioned previously,
may be the most important component
in making a common area feel inviting—
or oppressive. Inadequate or poorly-
A LITTLE WORK
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