If you’re clever, you may be able to sneak a dog into High Rise Society. (See, Just Visiting.) But no matter what the board or the bylaws say, you can’t have a fox or a hyena or a komodo dragon. Nor a lion or a tiger or a mongoose. But now you'll be able to have a say on what animsls should be pets -- and which are too wild to live in your apartment. Read more »

“Can I talk to you?” the super asked over his cell phone.

“Sure,” I said, waiting for him to say something.

“No, not on the phone. It’s too risky.”

“Huh?” I thought he was kidding, but realized he wasn’t.

“You didn’t shred these,” he looked at me accusatorily as he handed over a fistful of rumpled pages he’d pulled from my trash.

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There’s nothing you can do if the sponsor doesn’t obey the rules because it’s exempt from most of them. (See: Having It All.) But what if its representative doesn’t come to board meetings? Is there any recourse? Read more »

Members of High Rise Society are ever resourceful. No matter what their political persuasion on the outside, on the inside they are liberal to a fault when it comes to believing in the power of government at home to order the behavior of their neighbors, but libertarians who want to keep government at a distance when it comes to them. This is especially true when it comes to renting out their apartments. How do they do it? Read more »

In the real world everyone wants to be a celebrity, even if only for 15 minutes, so they can get special treatment and make a mint by posing nude for Playboy or Playgiirl. It’s no different in High Rise Society, where regular folks aspire to become Super Chiefs, a status that requires keeping your clothes on, but entitles you to sell or sublet your apartment without getting board approval or paying any fees or flip taxes. What am I talking about? Read more »