Co-op City Times 01/30/16

Page 1

Massive snow and wind storm the most challenging in Co-op City’s history Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community.

Vol. 51 No. 5

© Copyright 2016 Co-op City Times

Saturday, January 30, 2016

we cleaned an area up, the wind would A low pressure system off the coast blow the snow right back again. In of Maryland was originally projected to many areas, we had 60 inches of snow deliver between 5 and 8 inches of snow and right near it was clear. I never dealt to the New York City region, a nuisance with anything like that before.” for Co-op City residents and workers, Salazar gave credit to his assistant but nothing that hasn’t been dealt with director, Peter Miranda, Jr., and to the a hundred times before. By dawn on Saturday, that predicted eight inches of snow were already on the ground, and it was clear to everyone, including the more than 40 Riverbay workers and supervisors who came in early to get a head start on the clean-up, that the community and the entire region were now facing a blizzard of historic proportions. “It was the most challenging storm in my long career here at Riverbay,” Riverbay workers rose to the challenge as the depth of said Luis Salazar, Riverbay the snow was greater that the snow plows in many long-time Director of Jan- areas requiring both mechanical and manual labor to itorial Services. “We had a clear the walkways and pathways. hard time getting a handle on the storm throughout the day dozens of porters who stayed overnight, Saturday. Some buildings would have many of them sleeping in their porter hardly any snow in areas and others rooms just to be on hand to begin the would have six feet of snow. As soon as massive clean-up as soon as the storm

25¢

BY BILL STUTTIG

Security committee undergoes interactive simulated firearms training

Eager to experience the Public Safety’s Department’s new interactive simulated firearms training system to see first-hand what law enforcement officers must face in making split-second decisions about whether or not to draw their firearms and to also judge its value as a training device for officers, members of Riverbay’s Security Committee went through the challenging training themselves last Thursday

BY BILL STUTTIG

Co-op City and the New York City region were blanketed by more than 28 inches of snow during last weekend’s Blizzard of 2016, nicknamed Winter Storm Jonas, makPhoto by Noel Ellison ing it the second biggest snowfall in the city’s history.

subsided by early Sunday morning. Riverbay Director of Buildings and Grounds Donovan Plummer reported that he had 34 of the department’s workers on-site during the storm complemented by 8 temporary workers and 11 from the Construction Department who began work at 5 a.m. Saturday, but the winds and the huge amount of snow proved nearly impossible for much of the equipment to handle, particularly the trucks equipped with snow plows. Plummer said that in many locations,

the depth of the snow was greater than the size of the plow. He added that the bobcats proved more effective in clearing snow in some areas, including ramps and pathways. Indirectly compounding the problems for all departments dealing with the storm was the travel ban enforced by New York City which made in difficult for relief workers to reach the community on Saturday afternoon as was originally (Continued on page 2)

evening. “I came away totally impressed,” said Riverbay Security Committee Chairperson and Board Director Junius Williams, one of many security committee members to experience the real-life police work scenarios and put their skills to the test. “The split-second decision-making ability it takes to be a good officer will be (Continued on page 4)

On January 21st, Riverbay Security Committee were trained in Public Safety’s new Simulated Firearms Training System which prepares officers to handle a wide variety of response scenarios, allowing them to gain experience in the most efficient methods for diffusing potentially life-threatening situations. Photo by Bill Stuttig

Grand opening – Jian Huang, the owner of the new Chinese Buffet, stands with Kim Umstead, Riverbay’s Director of Commercial Leasing, moments before Mr. Huang and his staff were set to open the newly expanded Chinese Buffet in the Bartow Shopping Center on Thursday. The opening comes after months of extensive renovation to the space formerly occupied by Seven Seas Restaurant and Palombo Bakery. The two vacant storefronts were offered to Mr. Huang by the Riverbay Board after his lease expired on his old location on Bartow Avenue and he expressed to them a strong desire to continue doing business in Co-op City. The larger space will allow Mr. Huang to expand his offerings, including a larger variety of Asian foods, a soon-to-open Hibachi grill, and a cocktail bar. The old buffet location closed earlier this week and will now be transformed by a new commercial tenant into a restaurant specializing in Latin cuisine. Photo by Bill Stuttig


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.