Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community.
Board passes new two-yearbudget calling for 4.5% carrying charge increase
© Copyright 2015 Co-op City Times
Vol. 50 No. 9
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Bulk cable ballots included on March carrying charge statement Fill out and return ballot with March maintenance payment BY ROZAAN BOONE Co-op City’s 15,372 shareholders should have started receiving their March carrying charge bills which include a ballot to be completed and returned with your March payments so that an official count can be conducted of how many are interested in taking advantage of the Riverbay-Cablevision bulk cable proposal which will save shareholders an estimated $8M during the course of the 5-year agreement. The ballots, which are included in the same envelope as the March carrying charge invoice, were mailed this week and should already be arriving in Co-op City homes. It asks shareholders to indicate by a “yes” or “no” vote whether they want Riverbay to enter into an agreement to lower their Cablevision tv charges by up to $50 per month. Each shareholder’s Riverbay account number is included on the Cablevision ballot to ensure the integrity of the
count. The Riverbay Board, under the leadership of Board President Cleve Taylor, has revisited the Cablevision bulk cable offer as a way to ease the financial burden on shareholders by helping to offset the proposed 4½% carrying charge increase which is slated for this year to raise the funds needed to satisfy the Ramirez vs. Riverbay labor settlement, and to cover the approximately $1M that was spent on cleaning the cooling tower at the Power Plant after the city’s Department of Health reported elevated cases of Legionnaires’ Disease in the Bronx, and the community subsequently having to purchase power from Con Edison during the time that the tower was offline for cleaning. The Cablevision proposal is to have Riverbay Corporation purchase cable services from Cablevision with a retail value of approximately $75, for only (Continued on page 2)
Cable bulk deal “Q&A” broadcast today, Saturday, February 28, at 10 a.m. & 6 p.m., Channel 12 (MATV) and Channel 591 (Cablevision). Tune in and be informed! Extension of Riverbay’s Bookkeeping window hours continue for shareholders’ convenience BY ROZAAN BOONE
In consideration of Riverbay shareholders who work outside of the community and must leave early to travel to their jobs, Riverbay Corporation continues extended hours of the Finance Department’s Bookkeeping window. The Bookkeeping window, which is located in the Riverbay administrative reception area in the Bartow Community Center, 2049 Bartow Avenue, will continue to open at 8 a.m., instead of 9 a.m., on the two busiest days of the month for the Finance Department—the 10th of the month which is the last day for shareholders to pay their maintenance charges without the $50 late fee, and the last business day of the month when maintenance
charges must be paid before legal action commences and a $200 legal fee is assessed. “We are happy to be able to provide the extra hour for the shareholders to remit their payments during the two busiest days of the month,” said Riverbay’s co-Interim General Manager Peter Merola. “This added service comes at no additional cost to the corporation’s shareholders because the Bookkeeping employees agreed to change their work schedule to accommodate the extended hours.” Primarily, shareholders pay their monthly carrying charges by placing their payments in one of the 3 drop (Continued on page 3)
BY BILL STUTTIG
The Riverbay Board of Directors, after more than two months of number crunching and careful consideration of the financial and legal needs of the community and its shareholders – which included two lengthy town hall meetings in mid-February attended by more than 1,000 shareholders com-
25¢
bined – passed a new proposed twoyear budget Wednesday evening for fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17. The new proposed two-year budget, which will now go to the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) for its (Continued on page 13)
The Riverbay Board of Directors discussed, among other things, a new two-year operating budget for Riverbay at its Board business meeting on Wednesday night. The meeting, which concluded with a majority of the Board approving the proposed operating budget, was telecast to the community on Thursday night, the first broadcast of a regular Board business meeting in Co-op City history. Photo by Bill Stuttig
Worker sues Marion Scott, Inc., Rochdale Village in new labor wage case BY JIM ROBERTS
A former worker at Rochdale Village, a Mitchell-Lama cooperative in Queens managed by Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc., has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that she and possibly hundreds of other workers were cheated out of wages by their employer. The allegations in the lawsuit are similar to those that are costing Riverbay Corp. $6.25 million in a legal settlement. Marion Scott, Inc. was also the managing agent for Riverbay Corp. when the illegal labor practices in Co-op City occurred, leading to that settlement in the class action Ramirez vs. Riverbay lawsuit which potentially could have cost Riverbay $40 million
had the case gone to trial. In this new legal action, filed Feb. 2 in federal court in the Eastern District of New York, attorneys for the plaintiff are suing several defendants, including Rochdale Village, Inc.; Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc., Marion Scott and Herbert Freedman. The lawsuit claims the amount sought in this action will exceed $5 million. The new lawsuit alleges Rochdale Village workers were underpaid because their hours were rounded off to benefit the company and that they weren’t paid for work during their designated lunch hours. Rochdale Village also illegally (Continued on page 4
Remember to fill out and return your Cablevision bulk cable ballot with your March carrying charge payment.