Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2012 Co-op City Times
Vol. 47 No. 22
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Save water by reducing waste, save money BY JIM ROBERTS Co-op City will be paying more than one million dollars in higher water bills next year because of New York City’s water rate hike, but cooperators can reduce that amount by saving water and reducing the increase by lowering water usage. According to Riverbay Finance Director Peter Merola, the 7% increase in NewYork City water and sewer rates in the coming fiscal year will cost shareholders in Co-op City an additional $1.2 million. Last year, Co-op City’s water and sewage bill from New York City was $17 million. There are many easy ways to stop water waste that everyone can help with. Making sure that taps are turned off all the way so water doesn’t drip all day, and getting a leaking or running toilet fixed right away, will make a big difference in how much water is used each day by the 50,000 residents of Co-op City. For example, a steady drip faucet can waste 180 gallons of water each day, at a
cost of $1.63. Even a slow drip faucet will produce 36 gallons of wasted water in a day. A fully opened faucet that runs all day long wastes more than 3,600 gallons of water in one day at a cost of $32.53. And a half-open faucet pours 1,620 gallons of water “down the drain,” at a cost of $14.64. A constantly running toilet can waste 6,000 gallons per day at a cost of $54.22. A leaking toilet can waste nearly 250 gallons, or $2.26 worth of water each day, and even a trickling toilet can produce 30 gallons a day. There are many simple ways that each cooperator can cut the community’s annual water bill and save everyone money each day. Short showers save 5 to 7 gallons of water every minute, and filling the tub only halfway can save 10 to 15 gallons of water. Water-saving showerheads and (Continued on page 4)
Missing 8 year old returned safely thanks to CCPD BY ROZAAN BOONE Quick action and superb investigative skills of the officers of the Co-op City Public Safety Department resulted in the safe return of a missing 8 year old girl to her mother in Co-op City on Wednesday night, May 30. According to the police report, the mother said that she left her 8 year old
daughter in her apartment and went to the laundry room. Upon her return, she found the child gone. When the call came into the stationhouse, Sgt. Nat Diaz, the supervisor on duty at the time, said that he ran outside and joined the other supervisors, (Continued on page 2)
Like the nation, Co-op City population is aging, according to Census BY JIM ROBERTS The U.S. population is aging as the “Baby Boom” generation of the post World War II and 1950s era approaches retirement age. And according to the 2010 federal Census report, the same trend is occurring here in Co-op City. Census figures for the 10475 zip code area – the great majority of which counts Co-op City – show that the median age of local residents has increased 10.10% to 45.8 years from 41.6 years over the tenyear period from 2000 to 2010. This means there are just as many people living here who are older than the median age as there are those who are younger. The largest gain in age category of the population over the past ten years occurred in the 60-64 range, growing by 36%, from 2,082 to 2,839 in 2010. The largest decline came in the 35-39 range,
falling 23.6% from 3,015 in 2000 to 2,303 in 2010. The population of 5-9 years of age fell by 21.8%, from 2,369 in 2000 to 1,851 in 2010. The other age groups that rose the most were: 65-69 years (up 30.5%); 8084 years (up 25.4%); 50-54 years (up 25.2%); and 45-49 years (up 25%). The Co-op City area male population grew by 7% over the ten-year period, increasing to 17,258 in 2010 from the 2000 figure of 16,118. The female population grew by a slightly higher percentage, increasing by 7.76% to 23,673 in 2010 from 21,968 in 2000. The largest male population increases by age came in the 60-64 years range (up 32.6%) and 80-84 years (up 32.3%). The largest decreases came in the 35-39 years (Continued on page 2)
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Open Board Meeting Wednesday; Newly elected Board Directors to be sworn in BY ROZAAN BOONE This Wednesday, June 6, an open Board meeting will be held at which the five recently elected Board members will be sworn in and begin serving their 3year terms, and executive Board officers for the 2012-2013 year will be elected. The Open Board meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Room 31 of the Bartow Community Center, and all shareholders are invited to attend and witness the 2012 Board election winners take their oath of office. The five candidates who were elected by the shareholders of Co-op City to represent them on the Riverbay Board of Directors this year are Othelia Jones, Khalil Abdul-Wahhab, Francine Reva Jones, Evelyn M. Turner and Al Shapiro. Turner is a newcomer to the Board, while the other four are incumbent Directors who won re-election. These five individuals will receive the oath of office from Riverbay’s General Counsel Jeffrey Buss on Wednesday during the open Board meeting. The meeting will begin with the approval of the agenda, followed by the presentation of a plaque to outgoing
Board Director William “Bill” Gordon who did not win re-election. Gordon served as Treasurer of the Riverbay Board during the 2011-2012 year. He was also chair of the Garage and Buildings and Grounds Committees and co-chair of the Cooperator Appeals Committee. The 2012 Election Committee will give its report before the reading of the emergency resolution for the seating of the newly elected Directors. The new Directors will take their oath of office and the new Board will then proceed with the election of officers for the 2012-2013 year. The final item on the agenda is the election of the chairperson of the Board’s Audit Committee. Last week, after the recount of the results from the May 16th Board election, the 2012 Election Committee, chaired by Director Eleanor Bailey and co-chaired by Director Evelyn Santiago, certified the results confirming the winners of the election— Othelia Jones in first place with 2,854 votes, Khalil Abdul-Wahhab in second (Continued on page 2)
Co-op City continues fight against ‘selective’ enforcement of state requirements for abatement work BY DEREK ALGER Co-op City is moving forward in trying to eliminate the requirement to perform unnecessary and costly abatement testing and air monitoring work as
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto has introduced such legislation at the state level, after meeting with former (Continued on page 4)
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto (left) and former Assemblyman Stephen Kaufman (right) were in Co-op City this week meeting with Board President Helen Atkins (second from right) to discuss legislation introduced by Benedetto in the state assembly to eliminate the requirement for the costly asbestos abatement work in Co-op City. They were joined by Director Tony Illis, who has consistently protested this requirement imposed on Co-op City which costs shareholders $4M a year. Photo by Jim Roberts