Co-op City Times 11/17/12

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Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2012 Co-op City Times

Vol. 47 No. 46

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Holiday parking hours extended by Riverbay Board for visitors this holiday season BY ROZAAN BOONE At this week’s Board meeting held on Wednesday, November 14, the Riverbay Board approved a resolution extending the hours that the holiday parking discount will be available beginning this year. Resolution 12-84, which was submitted by Board Director Raymond Tirado and seconded by Directors Evelyn Santiago, Evelyn Turner, Francine Jones and Andrea Leslie, amends Resolution 10-96 which was also submitted by Director Tirado last year and extends the hours of the holiday parking discount by a total of 10 hours per day. According to Resolution 10-96 which went into effect last year, holiday discount parking would be available to visitors of the community between the hours of 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Christmas Eve, December 24; Christmas Day, December 25; and New Year’s Eve, December 31, every year going forward. This week, the Board voted to extend the discount holiday parking from 5 p.m. to 12 p.m. and instead of ending at 3 a.m., it will now end at 6 a.m. on each of the three holidays. “By extending the hours from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to the Holiday parking program, your friends, families and guests will now be able to extend their visits and

enjoy more of the holiday spirit Co-op City has to offer,” said Director Tirado. “I’m sure the holiday parking program will prove itself as successful as it was from its inception last Holiday season.” As a result, beginning this year and going forward, visitors to Co-op City on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, will only pay $5 for parking between the hours of 12 p.m. and 6 a.m. Before 12 p.m. and after 6 a.m. on those three days, the community’s regular parking rates will be in effect—$5 for up to 3 hours, $10 for up to 6 hours; $15 for up to 12 hours and $27 for up to 24 hours. Beginning on December 1, according to Resolution 12-84, notices informing residents of the special holiday parking rate are to be posted in the community’s 8 parking garages. Visitors taking advantage of the reduced parking rate will pay the garage attendants in cash and receive the stub of a two-part, numbered transient parking ticket with the time, make, model and license plate number of their vehicle recorded. To this ticket, a holiday parking flyer will be attached and kept in the attendant’s booth, and in the event the visitor loses their parking ticket and cannot (Continued on page 4)

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HUD loan explained in detail at management forum BY BILL STUTTIG HUD insurance fee of $2.8 million and an annual HDC/SONYMA insurance fee of The detailed parameters of the proposed $350,000, according to Riverbay Finance HUD guaranteed mortgage were explained Director Peter Merola. to about 50 shareholders who turned out for Riverbay management’s monthly forum Tuesday evening in the Bartow Community Center. Designed as a forum to explain the numerous functions of Riverbay’s Finance Department, literature handed out to the residents in attendance included details of the proposed $621.5 million HUD guaranteed mortgage from Wells Fargo Bank. The handouts were based on highlights from the final commitShareholders addressed questions regarding the ment letter received last week. Using raw numbers to explain terms of the proposed HUD guaranteed loan and other financial matters to a panel of top manthe clear differences between the agement officials comprised of Herb Freedman existing mortgage with New York of Marion Scott Real Estate, Finance Director Community Bank and the proposed Peter Merola, and Budget Director Paul Arroyo. Photo by Bill Stuttig mortgage with Wells Fargo Bank to be guaranteed and insured by HUD, shareholders heard the case that the comMerola, together with Herb Freedman, munity would have its mortgage commitprincipal of Riverbay’s Managing Agent, ments reduced by an average of $10 milMarion Scott Real Estate, Inc., broke lion annually after figuring in the additional costs involved, including an annual (Continued on page 2)

Government seeks 7- to 9-year prison sentence for Seabrook BY JIM ROBERTS Attorneys for the U.S. government urged a federal judge this week to impose a 7 to 9-year prison sentence on former Councilman Larry Seabrook at the hearing to determine his fate in January. In court papers filed on Nov. 13, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York told Judge Deborah Batts that she should “ … impose a sentence that communicates clearly that corruption on the part of trusted public officials will not be tolerated.” Seabrook, 61, will be sentenced by

Federal Judge Deborah Batts on Jan. 8, 2013. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the nine felony counts and possible fines of more than $2 million. The 7- to 9-year sentence being sought falls within sentencing guidelines, prosecutors said. Seabrook was convicted on July 26 on three counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and three counts of wire fraud. He was acquitted on three counts charging an (Continued on page 4)

Thanksgiving deadline notice More than 240 residents came out on Saturday, Nov. 10, to join American Express and the New York Restoration Project in planting the 158 baby trees donated to the Co-op City community by Mayor Bloomberg’s Million Trees Initiative. The trees were planted around the perimeter of the newly restored north sector greenway. This planting represented the final phase of this initiative which has resulted in more than 1,800 trees being planted in Co-op City over the course of the last four years at a cost savings of $1.6-$2 million to the Riverbay Corporation. Families and individuals, including many children, in addition to the Girl Scouts and Brownies, participated in the endeavor last weekend, which also included Riverbay Buildings and Grounds personnel who predug the tree beds and fertilized and mulched the area so as to make it easier for the planters. Light breakfast and boxed lunches were provided to those who came out to help with the tree planting, courtesy of American Express. Riverbay’s Ombudsman Joe Boiko, coordinated this program with the New York Restoration Project. Michelle Sajous, Riverbay’s Director of Community Relations, organized and coordinated the registration and events of the day. Photo courtesy of Riverbay Community Relations Department

Riverbay’s administrative offices will be closed next Thursday and Friday, November 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in observance of Thanksgiving. Because of the holiday shortened work week, all community organizations must submit their club articles before 9 a.m. on Monday, November 19. Material received after this time will not be considered for publication in the Saturday, November 24th issue of the Co-op City Times. Directors’ viewpoints are due before 9 a.m. on Monday, November 19. Please note that the regular business hours of the Co-op City Times are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday. Material for publication may be emailed to cctimes@riverbaycorp.com; faxed to (718) 320-2595 or slipped under the office door at 2049 Bartow Avenue, Rm. 21. Although the administrative offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, shareholders may contact Riverbay at 718-320-3300 and follow the prompts for emergency maintenance, and the Co-op City Public Safety Department at (718) 671-3050, and 9-1-1 for other emergencies. We wish everyone a memorable and safe Thanksgiving holiday.


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