Vol. 54 No. 39
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Changes at the polls in store for this year’s election
Annual Bartow parking lot spruce-up The annual spruce-up of the Bartow parking lot was completed this week by Riverbay Parking and Leasing personnel. Parking lines and directional signs were repainted and the lot was cleaned. In addition, T-beam removal work on the roof of Garage 2 is in progress. Restoration work on all other garage roofs has been completed and the roofs have been reopened, resulting in the availability of additional parking spaces.
Locations, scan cards, early voting all new for 2019 It used to be so simple. You went to the Dreiser auditorium, or the Bartow Center, you signed the poll worker’s big, dusty book and you voted. Case closed. See you later. This year, things will be a bit different in some ways and, the NYC Board of Elections hopes, better in others. While the Bartow Center will still be open for voting this year — albeit with a few electoral districts moved out to alleviate overcrowding — the Dreiser auditorium closed
BY JASON CHIREVAS
for repair last year and is scheduled to reopen next year. That leaves a great many Co-op City voters — 19 electoral districts worth, to be exact — in need of a new place to vote. Thanks to some maneuvering by Board of Elections and Riverbay officials, shareholders used to voting in the Dreiser auditorium won’t have too far to go this Election Day. According to Ben Holloway of the city Board of Elections, rooms 4 and 9 in the Dreiser
Photo by Miguel Baez
(Continued on page 2)
FDNY: Parking, double-parking in front of Co-op City buildings needs to stop
People are using false law enforcement plates to do it. People are using fake handicap placards to do it. And people are just parking their cars in the circular driveways outside Co-op City’s largest buildings with no pretense or gambit at all. All of it is illegal and all of it needs to stop. So said the NewYork City Fire Department in a message to Co-op City Safety The FDNY was in touch with Co-op City Director of Safety Anthony Barzelatto last week about the preponderance of cars illegally and Director Anthony Barzelatto last week. “Time is of the essence,” Mr. Barzelatto obstructively parked outside some of the property's larger buildings.
BY JASON CHIREVAS
Caribbean Literary “Lime”
Public Safety Chief Joseph Riley says the NYPD will be cracking down
(Continued on page 4) on the problem with tickets and towing.
$1.25
Photo by Brandon Ortiz
Authors from the Caribbean along with members of the community joined together for a literary “lime,” or hangout, on Friday, Sept. 20, in the Bartow Center. The event featured literature highlighting Caribbean culture from writers Imam Baksh of Guyana, Andrene Bonner of Jamaica, Daniel O’Brien representing Trinidad and Carlette DeLeon of Jamaica. There were plenty of genres of books on hand for purchase, including Island-Fantasy, Caribbean Folklore, Parenting, Non-Fiction, and many more. Guests from Guyana, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, Haiti, and St. Thomas, as well as areas throughout the USA, enjoyed live-reading from authors and Q&A session. At the end of the event, attendees mixed and mingled while enjoying traditional a Caribbean meal and refreshments. (See more pics on page 4) Photos and summary by Toriea McCauseland
Riverbay Telephone Prompts Directory
Changes have been made to the prompts at the main Riverbay switchboard, (718) 320-3300. Please listen carefully as options to contact individual departments have been reassigned. Below is a listing of the new prompts and other telephone numbers to call in order to reach Riverbay departments or vendor. Please note: If you know the extension of the party you are trying to reach, you may dial it between prompts 1 and 2 below.
Riverbay Switchboard (718) 320-3300 – New prompt locations
Press 1 for Public Safety Press 2 for Maintenance, Restorations and Inspections Press 3 for CSO Press 4 for Rent Bookkeeping Press 5 for Parking and Commercial Leasing Press 6 for Residential Sales Press 7 for Co-op City Times Press 8 for Scheduling community room rentals Press 9 to dial by directory Press 0 to hold for the next available operator
Public Safety Emergency: 718-671-3050 MATV – Camera Service Desk: 718-320-3300, ext. 3529 CSC Customer Support (laundry issues): 800-734-8851 Optimum Customer Service: 718-617-3500
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