Vol. 57 No. 11
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Management Petitions HCR to Allow Shareholders to Submit Annual Income Affidavits Electronically BY ROZAAN BOONE
Riverbay Management is continuing conversation with the state supervisory agency, NYS Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), to allow
for more than 50 years and contributes to climate change. Riverbay General Manager Noel Ellison, in emailed correspondence to HCR’s Asset Manager Patrice Richardson this week, recounted that Riverbay has been working with Capstone Strategy Group, a MWBE vendor, to develop a concompatible with both Riverbay’s and HCR’s networks and data collection systems. Throughout this process, Riverbay has been updating HCR on the project’s progress. In making the case for allowing electronic submittal of the annual Income tabulations, and submittals provided to and from HCR for the housing company, are all done electronically.” He continued: “This clearly helps HCR avoid the multiplicity of issues, errors and waste inherent in dealing with large volumes of paper. It would similarly seem prudent that Co-op City, being the largest residential housing development (Continued on page 5)
$1.25
Riverbay Board Approves Entering Binding Loan Commitment and Locking in Rate to Refinance Co-op City Mortgage BY ROZAAN BOONE
On Wednesday, March 9, the Riverbay Board approved Emergency
loan commitment, to lock in a rate not to exceed 3.1%, to pay the Rate Lock Fee of $3,107,500 from Riverbay’s Reserves, and to encumber corporate property to secure a $621,500,000 mortgage loan from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. According to the resolution, the loan must close on or before May 9, 2022, provided from HUD, and top loss guarantee provided by the New York State Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) and the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC). the Federal Housing Administration’s 223(f) program, which, at that time, was only open to rentals, and not condos and cooperatives, such as Co-op City. After three years of intensive negotiations with HUD to open the program to condos and co-ops, the agency approved Riverbay’s loan application but also required top loss guarantees from both SONYMA and New York City HDC. Since that time, Riverbay Corporation has reduced the outstanding principal to $499,328,316.26, and, according to Emergency Resolution 22-09, “beis a cost effective way to obtain needed capital for repairs while maintaining affordability for its residents.” approved by both the Riverbay Board and the state supervisory agency, NYS Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), and a 10-year Property Condition Needs Assessment (PCNA) Report which was prepared by an intained by Riverbay and Wells Fargo, it was determined that Riverbay needs to address major capital repairs to its 50 year old infrastructure. As reported to the community last December, Management has forecasted a negative $5.3M change in Riverbay’s operating expenses for the remaintinue with the current economic situation, namely higher prices for fuel, supplies and materials that Riverbay uses to deliver services to shareholders, together with supply chain interruptions due to the ongoing pandemic and now
March 2022
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More Free Covid-19 Tests Available
Bronx Bus Redesign Begins June 26
BY BRANDON ORTIZ
BY BRANDON ORTIZ
Families can order their second set of free at-home Covid-19 tests this week, President Biden announced during his State of the Union address. As the U.S. tries to turn the chapter on the pandemic, President Biden and his administration want to ensure that the nation has a stockpile of tests to deal with any possible future surges in Covid-19 cases. How Can I Get The Free At-Home Tests? Is the Signup Process Long? Individuals can go online to covidtests.gov to order their tests. The sign up dividual’s name, email address and residential address. Individuals without internet access can call 1-800-232-0233 to get their free tests. The hotline is open from 8 a.m. to midnight seven days a week and is available in English, Spanish and 150 other languages. How Many Tests Come In A Set? Four at-home Covid tests are included in every set. How Long Will Shipping Take and is Shipping Free? This time around, families can expect to receive their orders sooner, according to White House testing coordinator Tom Inglesby. “As we open up this second round, we are going to be shipping immediately. We have a fairly substantial stock of new tests ready to be shipped, so we expect orders to be delivered quickly,” Inglesby told NPR this week. In general, tests usually ship within 7-12 days of the initial order and are shipped via First Class Package Service for free. (Continued on page 2)
Changes to the Bronx’s local bus service are coming this summer as the MTA tries implementing a new plan to speed up commuting time in the Bronx to enhance service overall. destination signs over the next few months in preparation of the launch. The redesigned Bronx bus plan focuses primarily on Local, Limited and Select Bus Service. Some buses will have certain stops eliminated entirely in (Continued on page 2)
Don’t forget to “Move Your Clocks FORWARD” this Sunday, March 13, at 2 a.m.