Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2012 Co-op City Times
Vol. 47 No. 49
Saturday, December 8, 2012
25¢
Riverbay sues to stop ‘selective, Open Board meeting next Wednesday in Einstein Center unnecessary’ asbestos treatment office lease; Energy Management and the BY ROZAAN BOONE The Riverbay Board of Directors will Door Replacement Program for Co-op in Co-op City meet in open session on Wednesday, City lobbies. December 12, 7 p.m., in Room 45 of the Einstein Community Center. As is customary, before the Board meeting begins at 7 p.m., cooperators will be able to meet with Riverbay Department Directors and personnel from 6-7 p.m. to discuss issues of concern or to receive answers to their specific questions. The Board meeting will begin promptly at 7 p.m. with the approval of the agenda, followed by the approval of the Minutes of the Board Business Meeting of November 14. The next order of business will be First Readings of several resolutions— GPS Vehicle Tracking System; Renewal of Trivella, Forte, Legal Retainer Agreement; Congressman Eliot Engel’s
After the first readings have been presented, there will be a 30 minute presentation from Cushman & Wakefield about the shopping center. Shareholders will also hear from architect Robert Stahl, followed by architect Ivan Brice, both of whom will be presenting on the lobby door replacement program. “As you all know by now, we closed on our historic refinancing last week after being successful in our efforts to secure a HUD loan guarantee, and one of the projects that we must now embark on is the replacement of our lobby doors,” said Helen Atkins, President of the Riverbay Board. “At Wednesday’s Open Board meeting, we will hear from two architects whose (Continued on page 2)
Public Safety foils ill-advised leaps of faith; four parachutists arrested on Building 24 roof BY BILL STUTTIG Four self-described thrill-seekers were apprehended on the roof of Building 24 right after midnight Tuesday morning, December 4th, just as they were about to parachute off the 33-story tower building onto the Greenway below. The four individuals, between 29 and 32 years old, all make their homes far away from this community, but apparently decided on Co-op City as the perfect place to pull off their stunts. It is widely believed that they had successfully pulled off their parachuting attempts at least two other times in the months prior. Sgt. Carl Wright said that two other unconfirmed reports of parachutists jumping off of Co-op City buildings in the same vicinity a few months prior had put the department on alert for any suspicious overnight activity that could possibly be construed as the beginnings of another attempt. Just after midnight this Tuesday morning, Sgt. Wright and Detective Gary Adams has just finished their shift and were both walking back together to their respective homes in the vicinity of Bellamy Loop as was their usual custom, when they spotted three males standing near the intersection of Bellamy Loop
and Benchley Place underneath an unlit street light. Arousing their suspicions, the two off-duty officers continued to observe from a distance away and they soon noticed each wearing large back packs. Each was larger and wider than the typical back pack that a person might wear, Wright said, and immediately they thought that these individuals were the suspected parachutists. The two officers called in what they observed to the Public Safety dispatcher and asked for other units to stand by in the vicinity. At about the same time, Wright and Adams noticed a woman, standing in front of Building 24 waiting for something. After a few minutes, the officers said a person left the building, and the waiting woman reached the lobby door before it closed, went to the rear door of the building, and then let in her three suspected colleagues. By this time, several Public Safety units had moved into the area. The four suspects went into an elevator and up to the 33rd floor. By now, Wright and Adams were (Continued on page 4)
BY JIM ROBERTS Riverbay Corporation is taking the City of New York and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to court to stop the city from forcing Co-op City shareholders to waste millions of dollars every year for special handling of asbestos that tests prove isn’t necessary. The lawsuit was filed yesterday, December 7, in New York State Supreme Court in Bronx County by attorney Stephen Kaufman on behalf of Riverbay and the shareholders of Co-op City. Kaufman is asking the court to end the expensive asbestos remediation procedures and air testing that the city DEP requires every time flooring tiles are removed from Co-op City apartments. Kaufman told the Co-op City Times
that the campaign to end the unfair treatment of Co-op City by New York City officials has to continue on several fronts in order to have justice prevail. “I think that the community has to unite in its determination to stop this plundering of Co-op City,” Kaufman said. “We have to look at all solutions including legal, political avenues, and the ability of this community to rally around this cause. “We have to energize ourselves and show New York City officials that this is totally unfair and improper. We have to be determined as a community to stop this costly and completely unnecessary asbestos abatement that is costing Co-op City residents millions of wasted dollars (Continued on page 9)
Riverbay Power Plant to be subject of December Management Forum BY ROZAAN BOONE On Tuesday, December 11, the Riverbay Power Plant will deliver their departmental presentation to the community at the fourth monthly management forum scheduled to take place at 7 p.m., in the Einstein Center, Room 45. Riverbay Management implemented these open monthly forums earlier this year to explain to Riverbay shareholders the function and operations of individual Riverbay service departments. In an effort to attract as many shareholders as possible, the forums are all scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. thereby allowing those
who work outside of the community sufficient time to return home and be able to attend. Each forum begins with a presentation by the department head and Management which provides a detailed overview of the respective department, personnel and operations. After the presentation, there is an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions about the department being featured, and to receive first-hand information about each department. Following this segment, the audience (Continued on page 2)
Holiday celebration...Children from the chorus of Co-op City’s Garvey School belted out a series of Christmas Carols as part of the Holiday Celebration and Tree and Menorah Lighting held Wednesday evening in the Dreiser Community Center. More than 500 residents attended and were treated to a full program of songs performed by choruses and dancers from a variety of churches and community organizations throughout Co-op City. Many of the community’s elected leaders and religious leaders offered words reflecting on the true meaning of the holiday season. The Co-op City Girl Scouts performed a celebration of the Kwanzaa traditions; Rev. Milca Plaud, Pastor of Evangelical Church, explained the Three Kings traditions; resident Barbara Rose lit the Menorah and asked for tolerance and end to the persecution of all religions throughout the world and Assemblyman Mike Benedetto was given the honor of lighting the community’s official Christmas tree. The evening was capped off by a visit from Santa who took the time to listen to the wishes of many Co-op City children and then returned to the North Pole to work on making their Christmas wishes come true. Photo by Bill Stuttig