Vol. 57 No. 04
Saturday, January 22, 2022
New York's Eviction Moratorium Has Expired BY BRANDON ORTIZ
New York’s eviction moratorium expired on Saturday, January 15, and landlords statewide are now able to move forward with their eviction cases. The moratorium had been in place for almost two years to help prevent New Yorkers from losing their homes and provide support for individuals dealing with economic hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. during a press conference. The Governor also left room for some optimism as she mentioned a letter she, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker sent to Congress asking for more funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). In the letter, the governors explained why they felt the money was allocated incorrectly. Federal funding for ERAP was distributed based on a state’s total overall population as opposed to the respective state’s demographic of low-income renters, according to the governors’ letter. At last week’s open Board meeting, Riverbay Executive General Manager Bob Klehammer advised shareholders who have fallen behind with their carrying charge payments due to the Covid-19 pandemic of the impending deadline, and urged them to contact the Riverbay Finance department as soon as (Continued on page 3)
At-Home Covid Test Available Free of Charge to Each Household Free N95 Masks coming in February
$1.25
NYS HAF Program Offers Financial Assistance for Co-op Residents Behind on Mortgage/Maintenance Payments BY ROZAAN BOONE
Earlier this month, New York State began accepting applications for the Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF), a $539M federally-funded program aimed All New York homeowners, including co-op owners who are in arrears on their monthly maintenance payments, are eligible to apply provided the home is their primary residence. In addition, an applicant’s household income has to equal or be less than 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI). In the Bronx, for an individual, this equates to approximately $83,550; for a family of two, $95,450; family of three, $107,400; and for a family of four, $119,300. More information on AMI is available at the application portal, https://www.nyhomeownerfund. org/, where eligible homeowners can also complete and submit the application. Applicants must be at least 30 days late on their housing payment, or, if they are up to date with their monthly payments, must be currently unemployed, in which case, they can apply for up to 6 months of future monthly housing payments or maintenance charges. The NYS Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) also encourages homeowners who are in active legal proceedings to apply for the NYS HAF program. (Continued on page 2)
Einstein Loop Bus Stop in Section 5 Reopened, Jan. 20
BY BRANDON ORTIZ
President Joe Biden’s administration has ordered 1 billion athome Covid-19 tests to distribute to the public free of charge and the administration plans to make 400 million N95 masks available for everyone by early February, according to the White House. How Can I Get the Free At-Home Tests? Individuals can go online to covidtests.gov to order their tests now. The sign-up process takes less than three minutes to complete and the website will ask for the individual’s name, email address and residential address. Notably, tests will not be shipped to any businesses. For individuals without internet access, the White House said they are working on establishing a hotline for people to call in their request. (Continued on page 3)
SCRIE Recertification Denial Letters Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and received denial letters can resubmit their application and supporting documents, according to NYC Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), administrator of the program for Mitchell-Lama shareholders. –– Shareholders can either email RiverbayFinance@riverbaycorp.com or come to the reception desk in the Bartow Administrative Building at 2049 sistance completing and/or mailing the application can contact JASA at (718) 320-2066 for an appointment. Gold Street, Rm. 7M, New York, NY 10038.
cations should be resubmitted as soon as possible. For those who qualify for the exemption, it will be retroactive to the cut-off date, December 31, 2021.
On Thursday, January 20, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officially reopened the Einstein Loop Express BxM7 bus stop, having moved the stop from Hutchinson River Parkway East more than a year ago back to Einstein Loop where it was originally. MTA’s Assistant Director of Community Relations Charveys Gonzalez met with Community Board 10 District Manager Matt Cruz, Co-op City shareholder and CB #10 member Stefani Hazell, along with Riverbay Board Directors Rob Saunders and Leslie Peterson, and Riverbay General Manager Noel Ellison, Photos by P.M. Campbell to coordinate the reopening of the bus stop for the convenience of Manhattanbound and returning Express bus commuters, and to advise residents in the nearby buildings not to park in the bus stop. The meeting came after months of advocacy by Board Director Mary Pearson for the bus stop to be properly marked and used so those who continued to park their vehicles in the bus stop will be aware that the stop was a functioning one. Going forward, vehicles parked in the bus stop will be ticketed and/or towed. Also among those present at Thursday’s reopening were Jahmal Yapp, Deputy Chief-of-Staff of Councilman Kevin Riley; Tremaine O’Garro, Constituent Liaison of State Assembly Member Michael Benedetto; and Chief Joseph Riley of Co-op City Public Safety Department. (See pg. 4 for more photos.) ––P.M. Campbell