Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2014 Co-op City Times
Vol. 49 No. 33
Loose concrete found at 4 buildings
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Mall at Bay Plaza opens up with much celebration of economic growth and concern about traffic
Bridging to be erected as precautionary measure Reported spalling concrete on 4 buildings have resulted in an intensified effort to inspect and remove loose or chipped balcony concrete as the housing company hastens efforts to erect bridging as a safety precaution. “The safety of our cooperators is our paramount concern and we are working expeditiously to address these issues,” said Riverbay Board President Cleve Taylor. Earlier this month, the Riverbay Construction Department was notified by the Cooperator Services Office (CSO) that residents of Building 26 had expressed concerns about indications of loose concrete on some of the balconies in the building. In a memo to the Riverbay Board of Directors dated Aug. 6, Anthony Rasulo, Riverbay’s Director of Construction, noted that his department immediately responded and initial inspections found loose concrete on some balconies in the G, A & B lines of the building. “In light of what we discovered in Building 26, we performed similar visual inspections to three other buildings which, like Building 26, BY ROZAAN BOONE
Elected officials, including Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Councilman Andy King and Assemblyman Mike Benedetto, joined Macy’s executives at cutting the ribbon on the new department store Thursday morning. Photo by Bill Stuttig
The old movie line “build it and they will come” never proved to be more true than on Thursday when the 780,000 square foot Mall at Bay Plaza and its anchor, the new Macy’s department store, opened up with two separate cereBY BILL STUTTIG
monies an hour apart early Thursday morning while hundreds lined up outside the new entrance to be among the first see and shop in the new stores. But the concerns of the community
Riverbay Employee Appreciation Day slated for Friday, Aug. 22 (Continued on page 4)
Riverbay offices to be closed at 4 p.m.
BY ROZAAN BOONE The Riverbay Board has approved an Employee Appreciation Day for the 1,000 loyal employees of the Riverbay Corporation which will be held this coming Friday, August 22, 12 to 6 p.m., on the Little League fields. In a memo to all employees distributed last week, Riverbay Board President Cleve Taylor stated: “More times than not, corporations tend to view employee appreciation as more of a novelty than a beneficial practice. We are aware that the link between employee recognition, appreciation, engagement, retention and business success is well documented. Making our employees feel appreciated is more than just employer generosity or good will…It is good business sense. A little appreciation goes a long way, as does employee dissatisfaction, which has a definite impact on customer service and productivity.” The celebration will feature a live DJ, food, a carnival booth with games and an airbrush tattoo artist. To ensure that emergency services to cooperators will not be interrupted, while administrative staff will be
allowed to leave work at 12 p.m. on Aug. 22 to attend the celebration, Riverbay Operations personnel will rotate staff to maintain sufficient coverage to respond to emergency maintenance issues. In addition, the Administrative Offices will remain open for business until 4 p.m. with a skeleton Management staff available to oversee the daily operations, as is normally the case during a holiday work schedule. “During our Employee Appreciation Day, we hope to see the glow on our employee’s faces that comes with them knowing that their achievements are recognized, appreciated and celebrated,” said President Taylor. “We are in the process of reshaping the culture here at Riverbay. Transforming it into a ‘recognition-rich culture,’ where employee appreciation is part of our regular routine, and not just something reserved for a single day. Appreciation can be a difference maker, just as silence can. Our message is clear, each member of the Board of Directors…CARES (Communicate, Appreciate, Respect, Employees and Shareholders).”
25¢
had similar work done on their balconies between 2001 and 2003,” stated Rasulo. “They are Building 10A, the G line; Building 21, A, B and C sections, and Building 20 A, B and C sections.” This inspection also found loose concrete on 3 balconies in the G line of Building 10A. While all 3 sections of Building 21 appear to be fine as of now, Rasulo noted that future inspections will be needed. Protective bridging has already been erected at Building 20A as a result of prior discoveries and removal of loose concrete from the balconies is ongoing. In Building 20B, signs of loose concrete were found on 5 balconies in the A & B line balconies, and in Building 20C, 2 balconies in the G line were found to have loose concrete. “In all four buildings, loose concrete was removed where discovered,” said Rasulo, nevertheless, he cautioned, “time is of the essence in getting bridging installed for the safety of cooperators.” In a follow-up memo to the Board (Continued on page 2)
Board approves organizations renting community center room for Saturday a.m. classes At the August 13th meeting, the Riverbay Board approved room rentals up to 12 p.m. in all three community centers – Bartow, Einstein and Dreiser – by certified community organizations for Saturday morning classes beginning next month. Emergency Resolution 14-57 which was introduced by Board Secretary Francine Reva Jones and seconded by the Board’s Second Vice President Leah Graham and Assistant Secretary Linda Berk, states that whereas “the Scheduling Office notifies Co-op City organizations that they may submit requests to reserve rooms during the upcoming year except on Saturdays when community center rooms are reserved for rental by cooperators for social and family affairs; and “Whereas, generally the hours for the Saturday rental of community rooms by cooperators for social and family affairs is in the afternoon hours; … BY ROZAAN BOONE
“…therefore be it resolved that community organizations be allowed to rent the community center rooms as available for Saturday morning classes, as they did in the past; and be it further “Resolved, that the classes will end by 12 noon…” The resolution states that there are many Co-op City organizations that hold instructional classes, such as yoga, zumba, dance and other such activities, in the community centers on weekday evenings, and many cooperators have requested that these instructional classes be held on Saturday morning so that more shareholders may have the opportunity to take advantage of them. On the other hand, because residents may have work and other scheduling conflicts during the week, the instructors of the classes have been unable to reach their optimum clientele. Therefore, opening up the community (Continued on page 2)