NY property managers take wait-and-see attitude over reopening

New York

LAST Monday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that come May 19, restaurants, stores, museums, offices, health clubs and barbershops in New York City will be permitted to operate at full capacity for the first time since restrictions were put in place more than a year ago to stem the spread of Covid-19.

It is great news, of course, and many want to celebrate. That desire explains the load of calls already fielded by the property manager at the Dime, a rental building in Brooklyn, from tenants eager to book the Havemeyer Lounge on the building's 22nd floor for dance parties.

But many in the real estate management business do not seem to be tossing all their concerns away and joining the festivities just yet.

"Most of our buildings have amenity spaces, and if they're closed now they'll open at limited capacity," said Michael Rogoff, president of the property management firm AKAM, which oversees 270 rentals, condos and co-ops in New York City.

"But I can't imagine any residential building rushing to loosen Covid rules and opening up 100 per cent. When you're dealing with people's homes and there's no economic advantage to relaxing protocols, I don't think it's going to happen," he added.

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"It's about people and their families feeling safe."

John Janangelo, executive managing director of Douglas Elliman Property Management, put it even more strongly.

"Just because someone says the city is reopening doesn't mean buildings are going to go along with it," he said. "I haven't been getting frantic calls from clients saying they really need to open up their buildings."

"Boards are not going to react quickly to this," he added, whose firm advises some 400 residential properties in New York City.

"They're going to be thinking things like 'What happens if we decide to open the gym fully and someone gets sick?' I can tell you that in my building, no one wants to change anything yet."

Even in co-ops and condos whose board members agree that it is high time for a little change - to see the inside of the gym or lounge or game room once again - there is a lot to consider.

"We have to decide what's best for each property," said Burton Wallack, president of Wallack Management.

"There are different-size elevators and different-size amenity spaces. If the gym is small, boards may decide that they still want to limit it to one person at a time or one family."

The size of the staff in the 80 buildings that his company manages is also a factor, he said, "because we'll have to keep up with the cleaning of fitness rooms and community rooms".

For many landlords and management companies, the pressing questions used to be: "How do we get residents to keep their masks on in the lobby?" and "How frequently do we need to sanitise the doorknobs?" These days, they are more likely to ask, "How do we get the staff vaccinated?" and "Can we force the staff to get vaccinated?"

Wallack Management has sent notes to doormen and porters asking them to get the shots. Mr Janangelo has tapped some doctors on co-op boards to address questions and concerns of employees in their buildings.

"We've made a big push to educate our building staff about the vaccine and to make sure they're being provided with research from the CDC and the Department of Health because there's a lot of misinformation out there," said Robbie Janowitz, senior vice-president of Orsid New York, a residential property management firm.

"We're not strong-arming them," he added, "but we want them to make decisions based on facts."

Orsid has had group meetings and one-on-one conversations to offer support to building employees, who, for whatever reason, are skittish about rolling up their sleeves. Further, thanks to a family connection, Mr Janowitz has been able to get logistical support from B'nai Jeshurun, a synagogue in Manhattan.

"Someone here started a programme to arrange vaccines for vulnerable members of our congregation and within the wider community," said Leah Silver, a B'nai Jeshurun member who is also Mr Janowitz's cousin by marriage.

The result: a dedicated text line to book vaccine appointments for staff members of Orsid buildings.

For its part, Local 32BJ of the Service Workers International Union, which represents building service workers, "has encouraged employers to find incentives that will encourage and make it easier for employees to get the Covid-19 vaccines", said Kyle Bragg, 32BJ's president.

"We don't think mandates work as well as incentives."

In March, Mr Cuomo signed legislation giving public and private employees four hours of excused leave per injection - leave that could not be charged against any other time off the employee had earned or accrued. Some buildings are, reportedly, offering staff members a US$100 to US$200 vaccine bonus.

The decline in Covid-19 cases and the increasing rate of vaccinations undoubtedly influenced the governor's decision to open the city.

"But the virus is not gone," said Mr Wallack, of Wallack Management. Accordingly, certain pandemic protocols will be sticking around.

"I'm sure that some buildings like not having delivery people roam the halls and may continue with their policy of not allowing them beyond the lobby," said Steven D Sladkus, a real estate lawyer.

At 50 West, a condo in the Manhattan financial district, the staff has been sterilising the pens that visitors use to sign in, "and we may have them keep doing that", said Seth Coston, director of residential asset management and operations for Time Equities, which developed and manages 50 West.

The Upper East Side co-op where Sharon Fahy is the president of the co-op board plans to continue temperature checks "until we're in a safer spot", she said. Ms Fahy is an associate broker at the real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens.

The building will also continue a requirement that shareholders' housekeepers fill out Covid-19 employee self-certification forms when they first return to work in the building.

Clorox, Zep and Lysol will also still be in heavy rotation. Some buildings are even doubling down. The superintendent of one Upper East Side co-op said the building staff was actually disinfecting more often now than at the beginning of the pandemic because although only 30 per cent of the residents were in the building last year, many who left for second homes have since returned to the city.

It is about public health, of course. It is about not letting our guard down. But it is also about home comfort.

"We have gotten into a rhythm of running the building in a certain way," said Nicholas Silvers, a founding partner of Tavros Holdings, one of the developers of the Dime.

"Most of our tenants are reassured by it and depend on our diligence." NYTIMES