Co-op City Fireworks, 9 p.m., Sunday, July 3rd, Greenway 3
Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2016 Co-op City Times
Vol. 51 No. 27
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Senior officials of HUD and HCR tour a revived Co-op City
25¢
President’s Message
Cleve Taylor President
HUD & HCR tour Co-op City this week
Complexity of operations at nation’s largest bastion of affordable housing showcased
General Manager Noel Ellison led more than a dozen high ranking officials from HUD and HCR on a brief tour of Co-op City Wednesday morning. The visit also included a briefing on Co-op City’s recent progress led by President Cleve Taylor and open discussion about the community between Riverbay Board directors and agency officials after the tour. Photo by Bill Stuttig
BY BILL STUTTIG
Answering a long-standing invitation to visit and tour Co-op City and see firsthand the progress that has been made over the last 18 months under self-management, more than a dozen senior officials from
HUD and HCR came to the community on Wednesday morning to be briefed on the extensive progress and take a tour of the facilities which make the community both unique and self-sufficient on (Cont’d on page 4)
Judge makes preliminary ruling in MSI lawsuit
BY JIM ROBERTS
Attorneys for Riverbay and Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc., the former managing agent in
Co-op City, have been ordered to mediate a settlement amount to resolve the claims that MSI (Cont’d on page 27)
On Wednesday, June 29, representatives of the Washington and New York offices of HUD, New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), Wells Fargo and NYC Housing Development Corporation, were on our property for a long-awaited tour and meeting, along with our presumptive managing agent, Douglas Elliman. On behalf of the 50,000 residents of Co-op City, the Riverbay Board of Directors, our executive staff, 27 department directors and our 1,200 employees, I welcome them to Co-op City. I extend a special welcome to our guests from Washington, D.C. I also welcome our other elected officials who have indicated they will be attending or sending representatives, as well as Jim O’Connor,
Welcome, Douglas Elliman Real Estate!
“Riverbay Corporation welcomes Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Jim O’Connor, President, and our new executive general manager, Robert Klehammer, Esq. We are hoping that Douglas Elliman can integrate the gold standards into an affordable housing model such as Co-op City and Robert can add value to our Klehammer property. I would like to see those Park Avenue concepts applied to Co-op City.” —Cleve Taylor, President, Riverbay Board of Directors
(Continued on page 2)
HCR endorses Douglas Elliman firm as new managing agent in Co-op City BY JIM ROBERTS
The state Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) has approved Douglas Elliman Property Management as the new managing agent for Co-op City and accepted the firm’s preliminary management plan and contract signed between Riverbay Corporation and Elliman. Approvals from both Wells Fargo bank and the federal Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) are expected shortly following a meeting and tour held in Co-op City last week. (see related story, page 1). Elliman will take over leadership of the daily operations of Riverbay Corporation beginning on July 1 on a oneyear contract that was approved by the Riverbay Board of Directors at their meeting on June 1. The new Riverbay contract will pay Elliman an annual fee of $550,000 compared to the $1.54 million that the previous managing agent,
Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc., was paid. Elliman will submit its final management plan to the three oversight entities within six months after a thorough onsite review of Riverbay’s policies, procedures and books and records. Elliman has appointed Robert Klehammer as Executive General Manager to serve on-site as the full-time Elliman representative.
CO-OP CITY FIREWORKS NO PARKING Parking on Co-op City Boulevard from Bellamy Loop to Peartree Avenue will not be permitted on Sunday, July 3, 2016 from 8 a.m. until midnight. Vehicles will be summonsed and towed at owner’s expense. In addition, Co-op City Boulevard from Bellamy Loop to Peartree Avenue will be closed to all vehicular traffic from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Enjoy the fireworks show!