Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2010 Co-op City Times
Vol. 45 No. 7
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Councilman Seabrook indicted on federal charges; pleads not guilty BY DEREK ALGER City Councilman Larry Seabrook, who represents Co-op City in the 12th district, pled not guilty this week after being indicted on thirteen counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook, a three-term councilman and former state senator, pled not guilty to charges unsealed in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday and was released on $500,000 bond. According to the indictment, it is alleged Seabrook tried to cheat the city of at least $2.5 million in council discretionary funds, funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to his girlfriend and relatives, and spending $10,000 on a written report that was only six pages long. Seabrook also allegedly diverted more
than $1 million in taxpayer money to family and friends, as well as shaking down a Yankee stadium boiler subcontractor for $50,000, prosecutors charged. “The conduct alleged in the indictment ranges from the ambitious to the nearly silly,” the New York Times reported, noting that charges ranged from reaching out to an associate to help with the awarding of the boiler contract to altering a $7 receipt for a bagel sandwich and diet soda so Seabrook could be reimbursed $177 for the purchase. The indictment also alleged Seabrook submitted four separate receipts for gas from the same station pump within a span of 45 minutes for expenses “that he had (Continued on page 5)
After Connecticut plant explosion, Riverbay reviews its own plant safety systems BY BILL STUTTIG The day after a deadly gas explosion that killed five workers and injured 12 at a power plant under construction in Middletown, Connecticut, senior management, power plant and Public Safety officials met to review safety and fire prevention systems and procedures already in place at Riverbay’s co-generation plant. The meeting was attended by Herb Freedman, Principal for Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc.; Riverbay’s General Manager Vernon Cooper; Power Plant Director Brian Reardon; Riverbay’s Safety Director Kevin Keenan; Chief Frank Apollo, commanding officer of the Department of Public Safety; Lieutenant Jeffrey Bowman of the Department of Public Safety; Riverbay Risk Management Director Ron Caesar and Board Director Bill Gordon. Reardon reviewed many of the programs in place to prevent a devastating accident like the one that occurred in Connecticut over the weekend.
According to Reardon, each component of the plant is equipped with automated systems designed to instantly detect and shut down operations in the case of a problem such as a gas leak or fire. Fire control systems include a main alarm panel and emergency shut off switch which is located in the main control room and monitored around the clock, seven days a week. This main system monitors and can instantly shut down the plant’s gas turbines, gas compressors, steam turbines, and fuel oil tanks. In addition, Readon said, each of these components separately have automated built-in fire detection and suppression systems. In the gas turbines, if a fire is sensed, two 100 lb. tanks of CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas are discharged to fill the compartments. If a fire is still detected by the sensors after two minutes, two more tanks of CO2 gas are again discharged.
25¢
Major milestone reached as co-generation plant produces 100% of community’s full power load plus extra for export BY BILL STUTTIG The preparation for the co-generation plant’s final commissioning passed another major milestone this past Tuesday as the plant, for an extended period of time, produced all the power needed to supply Co-op City with its electrical power, plus additional power that was sent out to Con Edison as a test of the plant’s exporting capabilities. While the preparation of the plant has made great progress over the past four weeks, producing the majority of the community’s electrical needs on an-around the clock basis, this is the first time that the plant produced power in excess of what the community warrants for the purpose of exporting it to
Con Edison and distribution throughout the electrical grid for potential sale to other utilities. Power Plant Director Brian Reardon explained about Tuesday’s test run: “For the first time, we ran for an extended period covering all of Riverbay’s load, plus some export power.” The-cogeneration plant, when operating at full capacity, is estimated to save the shareholders an approximate $1.5 million in energy costs per month plus any revenue that can be realized from the sale of excess power that the plant has the capacity to produce and export to the power grid. (Continued on page 5)
Open Board meeting rescheduled for Tuesday due to inclement weather this week BY ROZAAN BOONE With news of the approaching blizzard that was expected to dump more than a foot of snow in the New York area, the Open Board meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled and will now be held on Tuesday, February 16.
The meeting will take place in Room 31 of the Bartow Community Center and it is the first Open Board meeting of the new year where shareholders will be able to see the Board at work first-hand, and (Continued on page 3)
(Continued on page 2)
Riverbay Holiday closings Riverbay’s administrative offices will be closed on Monday, February 15, in observance of Presidents’ Day. Shareholders may contact their local CSO for services and the Co-op City Public Safety Department at (718) 671-3050, and 9-1-1 for emergencies. (See page 6 for Co-op City Times deadline notice).
Storm clean-up…A Riverbay snow plow finishes cleaning the Bartow Shopping Mall on the morning after a massive East Coast snowstorm dumped approximately 12 inches of snow on Co-op City and the rest of the Bronx. Donovan Plummer, Director of Buildings and Grounds reported that a full staff worked throughout the storm doing their best to keep sidewalks and pathways clear. Crews worked until 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and then returned at 5 a.m. Thursday to finish the clean-up. Photo by Bill Stuttig