Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2011 Co-op City Times
Vol. 46 No. 11
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Gloria Wise Community Center to remain in Little Yellow Schoolhouse until end of school year BY BILL STUTTIG Legal representation for both Riverbay and the Gloria Wise Community Center (GWCC) came to an agreement this week which will allow the day care and after school program operated at the Little Yellow Schoolhouse to remain there through the end of June in lieu of GWCC not further appealing a court decision terminating its lease of the property from Riverbay. According to Michael Munns, Riverbay’s chief in-house counsel, the two sides negotiated the agreement earlier this week which allows youth programs currently housed at the Riverbayowned building to continue to operate through the end of the school year. In a memo to the Riverbay Board of Directors this week, Herb Freedman, principal of Marion Scott Real Estate Inc, managing agent for Co-op City,
informed the Board of the agreement stating: “The Gloria Wise Group has agreed to waive their right to appeal and surrender possession in exchange for time. Their school year ends June 30th, 2011, when we would get possession.” Fred Lewis, Executive Director of the Gloria Wise Community Center, told the Co-op City Times this week that above all else, he did not want the kids and parents served by the center’s programs to be disrupted before the school year ends. He added that it is still his hope to negotiate a fair lease with Riverbay to continue operating within Co-op City in space that is suitable for the programs operated through GWCC. Lewis acknowledged that he expressed his desire to negotiate a new lease with Riverbay in a letter sent to Riverbay Board President Helen Atkins
Petition period for 2011 Riverbay board election begins Monday BY ROZAAN BOONE Shareholders who are interested in running for a seat on the Riverbay Board may begin picking up their qualifying petitions on Monday, March 14 through Monday, March 28 when all signed petitions are due back to the Riverbay Legal Department by 5 p.m. Petitions will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday from the Riverbay receptionist at the Administrative Desk in the Bartow Community Center, located at 2049 Bartow Community Center, Bronx, N.Y. After 5 p.m. and on the weekends, the petitions can be picked up at the Public Safety window in the Bartow Center. All petitions must be picked up and signed for by the prospective candidates, not by any representative, friend or family member. The Riverbay Board voted on February 23rd to approve Resolution 11-16 setting the date of this year’s annual shareholders
meeting, in accordance with the Riverbay Corporation By-Laws, Article II, Section 1, which stipulates that the meeting be held in the month of May on a date set by the Board of Directors. At the meeting, Board President Helen Atkins appointed Director Bill Gordon to once again chair this year’s Election Committee and Directors Othelia Jones and Francine Jones to serve as co-chairs, and, by consensus vote, their appointments were approved by the Board. “All potential candidates, when they pick up their petitions, will be issued a copy of the 2011 Election Rules,” said Director Gordon. “The committee urges the potential candidates to read the rules carefully. Also, seventy-five certifiable signatures is the minimum required to become a candidate, so we suggest that you collect at least double that to insure (Continued on page 4)
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Computer glitch causes some loss of discount in laundry rooms; Coinmach to make up discount BY ROZAAN BOONE A problem with the computer chip in some of the card readers in the community’s laundry rooms resulted in the loss of the discounted wash on Tuesday, March 8. Discounts are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the cost per load is $1.00 for the 20 lb. washer and $1.75 for the use of a 30 lb. washer. On all other days, the cost for the 20 lb. wash is $1.25 and for a 30 lb. wash, $2.00. Riverbay’s General Manager Vernon Cooper said earlier this week: “I spoke with Mr. David Tulkop about this glitch in their computer programming and stressed the importance of his company correcting as soon as possible so that the cooperators of Riverbay can continue to enjoy the use of their laundry rooms in the manner in which it was intended. We will stay on top of the situation and will keep the share-
25¢
holders informed of our progress in this regard.” According to Tulkop, Coinmach’s Area Vice President of Northeast Operations, the malfunction did not occur on every machine, only on some machines in every building, and seemed to have been isolated to the older card readers. Once the problem was detected last Friday, Coinmach contacted the manufacturer of the card readers on Monday and immediately began working to fix the readers. Technicians canvassed the laundry rooms, adjusting the date on the machines and completed the job by Wednesday, in time for the next discount day on Thursday. “Once the problem has been rectified, (Continued on page 4)
SET YOUR CLOCK ONE HOUR AHEAD THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 13 AT 2:00 A.M.
Laundry room plumbing upgrade in Buildings 20 & 21 this week Upgrade work to the plumbing system to improve laundry service in the triple core buildings will be done in Building 20 on Monday and Tuesday, March 14 & 15, respectively, before moving on to Building 21 on Wednesday and Thursday, March 16 & 17. The upgrade work is being done to help prevent water from backing up into the drain lines on the washers during the rinse cycle. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank shareholders for their patience as we work to improve service in their laundry rooms. —R iver b a y m a na gem en t
Einstein Senior Center could be closed by state budget cuts BY JIM ROBERTS The Einstein Senior Center is on a list of 105 senior centers citywide that could be closed due to budget cuts that are part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan to eliminate a $10 billion state budget gap. The Bartow and Dreiser Centers will remain open under the proposed list from the city. The state budget is due to be passed by April 1, and, unless other city, state or federal dollars are found, the decision about closing Einstein Center could happen in approximately three weeks. New York City’s Department For the Aging (DFTA) will lose $25 million in federal money that passes through the state under Governor Cuomo’s budget because that money, which has traditionally been used for seniors, is being diverted to pay for child welfare services that otherwise would be cut in the state budget. The $25 million chopped from the Governor’s budget pays for about onethird of the senior centers that New York
City operates, and DFTA plans to close one-third of the centers in each community district center all across New York City. State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto has called on Governor Cuomo to restore all the federal Title XX funding to the state Executive Budget. “Title XX funding has traditionally been used by our cities to fund senior centers, and I am calling on the Governor to restore that money,” Benedetto said in a press release. “I am particularly concerned about JASA Throggs Neck, JASA Einstein in Co-op City, and the Pilot Cove senior center. These centers provide crucial services and companionship to hundreds of seniors in my district. “Everyone realizes the fiscal problems that our state is facing, and I’m working with my colleagues to address those concerns. However, it is very short sighted to make (Continued on page 4)