Riverbay Election Supplement on pages 29-37
Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2016 Co-op City Times
Candidates debate carrying charges, self-management and dogs at forum in Dreiser
Vol. 51 No. 18
Ten candidates for the Riverbay Board of Directors expressed their views on a range of topics and presented their credentials for election at this year’s first Candidates’ Forum held on April 20 at the Dreiser Auditorium. The second and third forums will be held on May 2 in the Bartow Center and May 4 at the Einstein Center. All the forums are being taped and then will be broadcast to the community for those who are not able to attend the forums. The candidates at Dreiser on April 20 were Kevin Lambright, Frank Belcher, Claudia Sampson, Stanley Frere, Bernard Cylich, Sonia Feliciano, Linda DraxWerner, Marie Smith, Leslie Peterson and Andrea Leslie. Tony Illis was not present. Approximately 50 people in the audience attended the debate. BY JIM ROBERTS
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Asked for their position on term limits for Riverbay Board members, Cylich, Sampson, Leslie and Peterson said they were against them. Frere, Lambright (with some hesitations), Drax-Werner, Smith, Belcher and Feliciano said they were in favor. Cylich pointed out that cooperators would have to vote in a referendum to change the Riverbay bylaws. Responding to a question about what they would change in Co-op City, Frere said he would find out how we are spending our money and change the way we bid and purchase services. Peterson said she would reorganize departments, refine job descriptions, tackle asbestos abatement and enable transfers to a smaller apartment without (Continued on page 2)
Woman indicted for the robbery and assault of 103-year-old Co-op City woman The woman accused of mugging 103-year old Co-op City resident Louise Signore on April 1, was arraigned on Wednesday before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas on an indictment charging BY BILL STUTTIG
second degree robbery, third degree robbery, second degree assault, third degree assault and fourth degree grand larceny. According to a criminal complaint (Continued on page 9)
12 new officers graduated yesterday and begin patrolling Monday Twelve new officers for the Department of Public Safety completed their ten weeks of training this week and graduated yesterday. They will begin patrolling the community as soon as Monday, each working in partnership with a more experienced officer for the first few weeks. Graduation ceremonies were held in Dreiser Auditorium yesterday attended by family and friends of the new officers, several Riverbay Board Directors, Interim General Manager Noel Ellison, Assemblyman Mike Benedetto, Chief Frank Apollo, commander of the Co-op BY BILL STUTTIG
City Police Department (CCPD several department directors of the Riverbay Corporation and Board Directors, among whom were Rod Saunders, Francine Reva Jones, Bill Gordon and Helen Atkins. Other special guests included Co-op City NAACP President Jerome Rice who said that it is his job to educate this community that the police are not your enemies. Assistant Bronx District Attorney Jeanette Rucker reminded the new officers of the importance of filing proper paper work in order to make arrests that result in successful prosecution by her (Continued on page 18)
25¢
Board selects Douglas Elliman firm as new managing agent for Riverbay The Riverbay Board of Directors voted 13 in favor, 1 opposed and 1 recusal by consensus at its meeting on Wednesday, April 27 to instruct Riverbay General Counsel Jeffrey Buss to negotiate a management contract with Douglas Elliman Property Management BY JIM ROBERTS
to act as the managing agent in Co-op City. The Board will then review the proposed contract and vote whether or not to accept it, and forward it to HCR and HUD for their review and approval. (Continued on page 4)
Riverbay Board members discuss their decision regarding the future managing Photo by Jim Roberts agent at Co-op City during a board meeting on April 27.
Heat shutdown scheduled for May 2 May is the time of year when the Riverbay Power Plant shuts down most of the equipment to perform maintenance and get ready for the summer season. The plant will be turning off the heating system on May 2nd; the cogeneration part of the plant will be turned off on May 9th to allow staff to follow the new NYC regulations on
cooling tower maintenance. Additionally, Siemens will be performing a Digital Controls System (DCS) upgrade, which involves upgrades to the software, as well as the hard drives of the system. During this shut-down period, the Power Plant will be performing (Continued on page 4)
Final 2 official Candidates’ Forums to be held this week Sign up to speak between 6:45-7:30 p.m.
This week, shareholders of the Riverbay Corporation will have the opportunity to attend the last 2 remaining official Candidates’ Forums and hear directly from the candidates running for seats in the 2016 Riverbay Board of Directors election. On Monday, May 2, the candidates will debate in room 31 of the Bartow Center, starting at 7:30 p.m. The final forum will be held on Wednesday, May 4, also at 7:30 p.m., in room 45 of the Einstein Center. Shareholders who would like to ask the candidates questions are advised to BY ROZAAN BOONE
come early and sign up between 6:457:30 p.m. Once again this week, the chair of the 2016 Election Committee, Board Secretary Francine Reva Jones, encourages all shareholders to make every effort to come out to the forums and hear what the candidates have to say. “Co-op City is your home and you should be concerned and involved in knowing the candidates who are running to represent you on the Riverbay Board of Directors,” she said. The first Candidates’ Forum was held (Continued on page 10)