Co-op City Times 09/30/17

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Shareholders Express Opinions Both For And Against Waterfront Park Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community.

Vol. 52 No. 39

On a beautiful warm early autumn afternoon last Saturday, September 23rd, close to 300 Co-op City residents came to the Co-op City Little League Fields adjacent to the Hutchinson River to listen and express their BY BILL STUTTIG

© Copyright 2017 Co-op City Times

Saturday, September 30, 2017

25¢

opinions on New York City’s offer to build a public park on nearly 1.4 acres of Riverbay-owned land on the riverfront. Of the 300 residents attending, 22 signed up for the chance to offer their point of view on the subject. Opinions

Hundreds of shareholders came to the Co-op City Little League Fields last Saturday morning to hear details on the city’s proposal to build a waterfront park for Co-op City and to offer their opinions on if and how the park should be built. Photos by Bill Stuttig

Riverbay Board First Vice President Bernie Cylich offered the community some perspective on Co-op City’s history of donating land to New York City in exchange for essential services. Director Cylich also detailed the millions of dollars in taxes, charges, and services that the community’s shareholders provide to the city each year.

Riverbay Corporation To Hold Hurricane Relief Drive

At the request of Riverbay Board President Linda Berk, Management is putting the finishing touches on a collection drive to benefit the victims of the three major hurricanes – Harvey, Irma and Maria. The collection drive will begin on Wednesday, October 4 and will run for two weeks until Wednesday, October 18. “While there are a couple of community organizations collecting for this need, there is room for us to do more on behalf of Riverbay Corporation,” said Board President Berk. According to Riverbay’s Assistant Executive General Manager Cary Smith III, collection boxes will be located outside of the Cooperator Service Office (CSO) in the Dreiser and Einstein Centers, as well as outside of Public Safety headquarters in the Bartow Center and in each of the community’s eight garages. There will be three collection boxes at each drop-off site clearly marked with the kind of items to be placed in each. One box will be for unexpired canned/dry foods, the second for personal hygiene/unwrapped paper goods and boxed plastic cutlery and the third box for flashlights, (Continued on page 17)

Disabilities Expo 2017 This Sunday In Dreiser

Over 70 disability service providers are scheduled to attend this year’s Disabilities Expo in Dreiser Auditoriums A, B, and C tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 1 from noon to 6 p.m. Attendees will learn about tools and services for persons with disabilities, friends and families. The event features an Exhibit Hall, art gallery, Gospel concert, lectures, a children’s activity room, a calming room and food tasting. Come and learn valuable information at the many

excellent training sessions, connect with attendees, obtain resources, supplies and advice you need from a wide variety of service providers. The Expo is presented by Co-op City Seventh-day Adventist Church with Riverbay’s Disabilities and Accommodation Committee, chaired by Board Director Andrea Leslie; as well as Riverbay Corporation in collaboration with New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey. Also attending is AHRC New York City.

varied both for and against the city’s proposed park on Riverbay land, with others offering a middle ground view that they would like to see a park, but only if the community can continue to control the land. Others made the point that there are many more high priority issues that the community should be focused on at this time rather than a park. Riverbay Board President Linda Berk began the near two-and-halfhour long town hall meeting with a ten-minute synopsis of the events leading up to the city’s offer to Co-op

City to build a public waterfront park on 1.4 acres of donated vacant waterfront property. President Berk, during her presentation, explained that the issue arose out of a town hall meeting hosted by Mayor Bill de Blasio in the north Bronx outside of Co-op City last November at which she and two other Board Directors – Bernie Cylich and Leslie Peterson – had the opportunity to ask the mayor questions regarding the expenses that Co-op City shareholders incur which are directly

FACTS MATTER Waterfront Park

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For fifty years, this to have a park or not stretch of land was fenced President’s Message will only be made after off and hidden from this input from the commcommunity. For some time, unity. Many shareholdPresident it was used as a dumping ers have approached me ground by Riverbay Corto say they want a park, poration. We are now proposand many have said they do ing that the community connot. A number of sharesiders the use of this waterholders have said they want front property as a park. more information, while With the proposal to others have said they favor develop this land into a the process that the Board city park, there has come a resolution envisions, which lot of emotion, questions involves the community in and misinformation. There shaping the design of whatare some trying to rile up ever community use is made the community to stop this of the land. park before all the facts are presented. Fair Market Value In the end, the decision for a park or As a NYS licensed Real Estate no park will be the decision of all Sales representative, I can speak from shareholders. knowledge regarding Riverbay propThis is the first fact – neither the erty. The 2.28 acres of land in question president, nor the Board gave any land away! The decision on whether (Continued on page 2)

Linda Berk


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