Teri Karush Rogers

BrickUnderground is taking a brief hiatus this week, but we leave you with this glance at the shape of things to come, assembled with the help of our amazing expert panel. From pet rules to bed bugs to renovations, here are our predictions for the New Year:

So far more than 1,400 of you have responded to BrickUnderground's holiday tipping poll since we posted it just after Thanksgiving. The results have been fairly consistent--and somewhat lower than we would have thought for a city of attended buildings.  

In a nutshell:

In an UrbanBaby.com discussion about whether brownstones are as safe as apartments, security stirs less concern than “rats, random street guys peeing on your doorstep, shoveling snow, keeping up with building codes (and associated fines), dealing with the city bureaucracy.”   Of course, notes one owner, “if you can afford a brownstone, you can hire a guy who works in a nearby apt building who will do all outside garbage, sweeping, hosing, snow for $100/month.

Q.  I live in a condo with construction defects.  It has been a little over 3 years, and the condo board has been in discussion with the sponsor and developer about these problems, but nothing has been legally and officially filed with them. Is it too late for me to file something against the sponsor on my own?

A.  That depends, in part, on what sort of defects you are talking about, say our experts.