NY Early Voting: October 24 – Nov. 1, 2020 Co-op City’s Early Voting Poll Site: Truman HS Must use back entrance labeled “Exit 21” and proceed to the gym
Vol. 55 No. 43
Smoke detector installations resume
Saturday, October 24, 2020
$1.25
Grand Reopening of Dreiser Auditorium
BY TORIEA McCAUSELAND
After immediately suspending the mandatory smoke detector installation program in March due to the pandemic, the program resumed this week throughout the community to ensure the safety of shareholders and Riverbay staff members. A new New York City building code requirement calling for carbon monoxide detectors in all new and existing multi-family homes, apartment buildings and hotels, as well as a series of fires in Co-op City, influenced the start of the program. In April 2019, Co-op City shareholders started receiving new smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, thanks to a collaboration with the American Red Cross of Greater New York. The project began with Chevron 1 and Tower 35 and then continuing with Tower 33 and Chevron 2B. According to Anthony Barzelatto, Riverbay’s director (Continued on page 2)
A virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour of the state-of-the-art Dreiser Auditorium was held yesterday at 6:30 p.m., followed by performances by The Unique Band NYC and The EZ Soul Band, the first acts to grace the brand new stage. The celebration was broadcast live on the Riverbay Crawler, channel 12 on MATV and channel 591 on Optimum, as well as on Facebook Live. See next week’s Co-op City Times for full coverage. Photo by John Alexander
Management Report
Personal responsibility and residents’ quality-of-life
Living in New York City Management Report and multifamily housing as dense as Co-op City can be trying for some residents in the best of times. During the pandemic, with more people working from home, kids at home engaged in remote learning, and everyone being told to socially distance, what would be a small annoyance in normal times, can become a frustrating problem and lead to conflict with neighbors and complete strangers. We know more people are home. Information that we maintain at the power plant showed that our peak electrical usage on the hottest days of this summer, which generally occur in the late afternoon, required that 22 megawatts of power was needed in the community. In 2019, the peak usage at these times was no more than 18 megawatts. Another consequence of more people being home all the time is, unfortunately, a disturbing increase in quality-of-life complaints to CCPD. I find myself shaking my head more and more at what I am seeing and hearing. Management is here to maintain the buildings and grounds, but we are increasingly being expected to referee and mediate disputes that could be solved by residents taking a deep breath, counting to ten and assuming more personal responsibility as shareholders in a cooperative development. Data from CCPD for the period from March-October this year, compared to the same period in 2019, show some disturbing trends. Noise complaints are up
Bob Klehammer
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SNAP eligibility expanded (see pg. 6)
Absentee ballot applications due October 27 Early Voting in NYC, Oct. 24-Nov.1 BY TORIEA McCAUSELAND
Election Day is quickly approaching and so is the October 27th deadline to apply for absentee ballots due to COVID-19. According to Vote.nyc, applications can be completed online, by email, fax, or snail mail. Voters should, however, be mindful that despite the deadline, the USPS cannot guarantee timely delivery of ballots applied for less than 15 days before an election. All absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than November 3 to count in the election. Voters can bring their completed ballots to polling sites as soon as October 24, during the early voting period. (Continued on page 2)
NY Early Voting Poll Site Schedule
The early voting poll site for Co-op City shareholders is Truman HS located in Education Park, 750 Baychester Avenue, Bronx, NY 10475 (must use back entrance labeled, “Exit 21,” to the gymnasium). All polls are closed on Monday, November 2, for Election Day preparations. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020. During Early Voting, polls are open according to the following schedule: Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, October 25, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday, October 26, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 27, 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. Wednesday, October 28, 12 p.m. – 8 p.m. Thursday, October 29, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday, October 30, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.s Saturday, October 31, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, November 1, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Voters must wear a face mask and observe social distancing while at the poll location. Voters who have received their “Fast Pass Tag” which is bar coded for contactless voting should bring it along when heading to the polls.