Media Mentions

The Czarnowski & Beer team works with digital and print media to share relevant information about the company and industry best practices with interested audiences.

If you are a member of the media and would like to get in touch with our communications team, contact info@czarbeer.com.

2026

Missed Affidavit Nearly Costs Co-op $60,000 Tax Abatement

When this small Manhattan co-op was presented with its annual budget, the board immediately spotted a red flag. Cost increases were expected, but this time their projected expenses had jumped far beyond the norm. Unsure of what was driving the spike, the board turned to Avi Zanjirian, a partner at the accounting firm Czarnowski & Beer. Read more…

Regulatory Changes Trip Up Co-ops

A Manhattan co-op was able to recover lost savings after a change in state law caused them to lose their Cooperative and Condominium Tax Abatement, which was due to a lack of compliance with the new requirement to pay prevailing wages to staff and file an affidavit with the city. (Print: The $60,000 Oversight). Read more…

2025

The Co-op That Lost Its Tax Break — and How It Got It Back

When a small Manhattan co-op suddenly saw its budget spike, rising costs weren’t the culprit — it was an administrative filing error. Turns out the co-op had lost its co-op tax abatement worth $60,000 because its management company had missed the rule regarding prevailing wage requirements. Avi Zanjirian, partner at Czarnowski & Beer walks us through how the board discovered the oversight, fixed the problem, and ultimately got the abatement reinstated. Habitat’s Emily Myers conducts the interview. Read more…

The Art of the Assessment: Raising Funds Without Raising Tempers

Assessments are not a new idea to raise money, but figuring out how to implement them and how they should be structured can be challenging. Some residents can afford a one-time hit, while others will find that an unexpected assessment can cripple them financially. The goal for any board when imposing assessments should be to create one that is fair, transparent, and manageable for residents while meeting the building’s financial needs. Read more…

2024

Condo Board Takes Action to Rectify Commercial Owner’s Underpayment

It’s not uncommon for buildings with mixed residential and retail space to find the commercial owner isn’t contributing adequately to the shared expenses of the building. The board then finds itself doing assessments for residential owners while the commercial owner’s monthly payments stay flat. This recently became a problem at a 15-unit condop on West 3rd St. Avi Zanjirian, CPA and partner at accountancy firm Czarnowski & Beer played a crucial role in correcting the imbalance. Read more…

How A Small Condo Tackled A Shared Expense Problem

It’s not uncommon for condos with commercial space to find the owner of that space isn’t contributing adequately to the shared expenses of the building. The board then finds itself doing assessments for residential owners while the commercial owner’s monthly payments stay flat. The question is, how to get out of this situation without discord or a lawsuit? Avi Zanjirian, CPA and partner at Czarnowski & Beer shares how a 15-unit condo-op on Manhattan’s West 3rd Street accomplished this. Habitat Magazine’s Emily Myers interviews Avi Zanjirian. Read more…

Tough Transition

It’s not uncommon for boards to run into problems when they decide to hire a third-party management company to replace the sponsor who converted the building and who has been managing it for many years. As time goes by and sponsors sell off their units, they can gradually lose interest in managing the property, and that includes maintaining proper books and records and providing them to boards. Read more…

Asleep at the Switch

When it comes to managing co-op and condo finances, boards can’t afford to be complacent — yet, some are. Take the case of one New York co-op, which found itself owing $300,000 in real estate taxes and water and sewage bills due to negligent management. Avi Zanjirian, a partner at the accounting firm Czarnowski & Beer, is here to tell the cautionary tale. Avi Zanjirian is interviewed by Paula Chin of Habitat Magazine. Read more…

2023

Building Finances: Ignorance Is Not An Option

The situation. We took over a co-op in 2021 and were asked to do its financial statements for 2020 and 2019. The co-op’s longtime accountant had retired in 2018, and the board failed to hire a new one. Getting information about those two years was impossible. I wasn’t able to get management reports. I tried to reach the accountant about the annual tax deduction letters but couldn’t. When I called the city to find out how much the co-op’s real estate taxes were, they told me the building hadn’t paid its taxes for a year and half. As it turned out, the managing agent had not been doing monthly reports, and it was unclear what the board did or didn’t know. There was no oversight. Read more…

Problem Solved: Cleaning Up a Co-op’s Financial Mess

Changing of the guard. We can always learn from mistakes, and hopefully other boards can learn from what happened here. We were engaged by a co-op board in early 2021 to do their 2019 and 2020 financial statements. Their accountant had retired after the 2018 audit, and my understanding was that the accountant, the managing agent and the board had been there for many years. Read more…

2022

Three Keys to a Successful Hybrid Annual Meeting

Some boards still prefer to hold their annual meetings in person, and a handful choose to hold hybrid meetings — allowing participation in person and virtually. This last group faces special challenges. To help meet them, a new webinar has been put together by Avi Zanjirian, a partner at the accounting firm Czarnowski & Beer, and Adi Regev, group product manager at Zoom. Read more…

Penny-Wise But Pound Foolish – How to Prioritize Maintenance Projects & Reduce Risk

Deferring maintenance and repair work may be tempting in the short run to save money or avoid an unpopular assessment, but disasters can happen when crucial projects are put off for too long. Watch this webinar recording to learn more about the risks and liabilities boards court by deferring needed maintenance, the steps boards can take to avoid those potential catastrophes, and how to ensure that reserves are adequately funded and properly allocated. Watch now…

2021

Effective Budgeting Ensuring Your Property is Financially Sound

Board members have a fiduciary responsibility to the cooperative or condominium association they serve. Understanding the budgeting process can go a long way in fulfilling that duty. Watch this webinar recording to learn the answers to more annual budget frequently asked questions, as well as some guidelines to ensure your property is financially sound. Watch now…

Invisible Threats – Protecting Your Community’s Information from Hacks & Cyber Fraud

Data breaches at property management companies have exposed hundreds of co-op and condo residents’ most sensitive information – including social security numbers and home addresses – raising questions about liability, confidentiality, and who gets access to a community’s private information. Join this expert panel for an in-depth look at how your board-management team can be proactive in protecting your own data and information. Watch now…

Do it Right, Make it Better – Enhancing Your Annual Virtual Meetings

As hard as it’s been, the challenges of navigating the pandemic have inspired many boards and managers to get creative and figure out smarter, better ways to conduct the crucial business of running their communities – including annual meetings. This informative webinar will highlight how effective boards have achieved that success…as well as offering some cautionary tales. Watch now…

Tax Time – Filing, Paying, and the Income Tax Implications of Working Remotely

2020 is a year that none of us will ever forget. With income tax filing season around the corner, we would like to familiarize everyone with how working remotely might impact our personal as well as business income tax this year. Although we won’t be able to offer specific income tax advice, you will come away with an understanding of the most important aspects to discuss with your tax advisor. Watch now…

2020

Protect & Defend – Fortifying Your Building’s Financial Plans in the Ongoing Pandemic

As co-op and condo administrators work to draft and ratify their 2021 budgets, there will be some difficult decisions to be made – and the stakes have rarely been higher. View this in-depth panel discussion to get professional guidance and advice on how to navigate the maze of these decisions, get a better handle on potential budgetary pitfalls, and keep your financial ship from swamping under YOUR watch. Watch now…

Capital Contributions

Making sure your building’s finances present well can be challenging in the best of times. But doing so in the COVID-19 era adds a layer of complexity. Read more…

2016

The Seven Steps After You’ve Read the Monthly Management Report

Habitat Magazine gets the low down on “The Seven Steps After You’ve Read the Monthly Management Report” from a variety of competent professionals. Read more…

Reading the Management Report: the More Eyeballs, the Merrier?

Habitat Magazine reveals how legal/financial problems are solved by NYC cooperatives and condominiums. Read more…

Keeping Legal Costs Down

From time to time, an association or co-op must consult with an attorney about things like lease negotiations, dispute settlements and contract reviews. It’s important to have a qualified attorney or law firm on your side but that doesn’t mean a board-management team can’t save money on those notoriously steep legal fees. Read more…

Can it Wait?

With the economy moving back toward a more robust state, building administrators are still looking for ways to save money in an increasingly competitive real estate market. Read more…

2015

Planning for the Future

Some boards may not realize that many of those fires might have been preventable in the first place had board members made the smart investments, and took the time to plan. Read more…

How to Upgrade Your Building’s Retail Space to Market Rate

Habitat Magazine shares “How to Upgrade Your Building’s Retail Space to Market Rate.” Read more…

Argo Real Estate’s Annual Treasurer’s Breakfast

2014

Budgeting and the Bottom Line

A well-defined, well-written budget is a powerful financial tool allowing funds to be saved and/or allocated for specific costs and projects; budgeting is a way to estimate expenses and allow for those funds to be available when needed. Read more…

Steps a Co-op or Condo Board Can Take To Protect Your Building’s Funds

Habitat Magazine illuminates the “Steps a Co-op or Condo Board Can Take To Protect Your Building’s Funds.” Read more…

Bank on It!

Administrators need to keep their operating funds both safe and accessible, and also take care of their reserve and operating funds. Read more…

2013

At Press Time

How to Create a Five-Year Capital-Improvement Plan

The first step when creating a capital plan? Define a capital expense. Many people think of it as something that’s not recurring. Read more…

Argo Real Estate held its third annual Treasurer’s Breakfast at The University Club in Midtown Manhattan.

Argo Real Estate held its third annual Treasurer’s Breakfast at The University Club in Midtown Manhattan. Nearly two dozen attendees gathered for a discussion on the essential elements of the budget process. Read more…

Should Co-op / Condo Boards Create a Five-Year Capital-Improvement Plan?

Why go to the trouble — and possible liability — of crafting a plan? After all, long-range planning is never easy. Given such unpredictable recent history as 2007’s economic downturn and the costly rebuilding from super-storm Sandy, projecting a capital-expenses budget even five years out seems more a matter of crystal balls than of silicon chips. Read more…

Tax-Abatement Assessment: What to Do When Not Everyone Gets Abated?

By 2014-2015, the abatement phase-out for non-owner-occupied apartments will be over. But there is still something else to consider before then: What should co-ops do about that assessment that has traditionally been levied — the one that is equal to the abatement? Read more…

Losing on Tax Abatement when NYC Falsely Calls You Not Primary Resident

Out of the 536,746 condo and co-op units in the city, about 366,000 unit-owners are eligible for the tax abatement, reports the city. The rest are excluded for a variety of reasons. Out of that number, the Department of Finance labeled 120,000 as occupied by “non-primary” residents. Read more…

2012

By the Book

Unless you have a degree in accounting, your first board meeting could come as a bit of a shock. In other words, you’ve got to know what’s in the books and reports of the corporation. Read more…

Inventory Control

Regardless of whether you live in a co-op or a condo, or whether your community is a small, self-managed one or a sprawling development with hundreds of units managed by a professional property management company, there is or very well should be a system of checks and balances in place to help the administrative side of the operation run smoothly. Read more…