Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2016 Co-op City Times
Vol. 51 No. 48
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Board Passes Resolution Raising Riverbay’s Minimum Wage
25¢
Burdensome Co-op City Asbestos Abatement Costs Addressed By Mayor DeBlasio At Townhall Meeting
BY BILL STUTTIG
Approximately 120 Riverbay employees will receive an unexpected but needed raise as of January 1, 2017 as the Riverbay Board of Directors passed a resolution earlier this month to raise the community’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, nearly two years before the new minimum wage becomes mandatory throughout New York State. According to Riverbay’s Finance Director Peter Merola, the resolution will affect approximately 100 to 120 employees, the majority of whom are lobby attendants and the rest being temporary employees hired seasonally to help out the full-time staff when workloads and vacations increase, specifically during the summer months. For most of these employees, the raise is significant, increasing their hourly wage by as much as $2 to $3 per hour and creating for them what is considered a living wage to help them support their families and pay for housing, food and transportation in this increasingly expensive New York metropolitan area. Riverbay Treasurer Deborah Jenkins, who also chairs the Board’s Labor Relations Committee, said that in light of the New York State legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo enacting legislation to increase the minimum wage in the (Continued on page 2)
BY LAURETTA J. JAYSURA
At a townhall meeting held on Monday night in the Bronx, Mayor Bill DeBlasio said that he was aware of the asbestos abatement and air monitoring requirement by the city that costs Co-op City shareholders millions annually and will make sure that Riverbay meets with his senior team to resolve the issue once and for all. The remark was made in response to Riverbay Board President Linda Berk who had a chance to address the mayor at the meeting. She said: “… We know affordable housing is a priority with your administration and we are the most demonstrative example of sustainability and success when it L-R: Board Directors Junius Williams, Leslie Peterson, NYC Mayor Bill DeBlacomes to affordable housing. To con- sio, Board President Linda Berk, First Vice President Bernard Cylich and Photo by Lauretta Jaysura tinue to be affordable, we need the Director Kevin Lambright. for asbestos abatement, and air monitoring work and persupport of the city and city agencies. Currently, Rivermits and filing fees, when there is no proven hazard and bay is required to spend millions on unnecessary asbestos abatement. This subject has been discussed no other buildings with similar floor tiles within the city before and is passed around like a hot potato. We need are being forced to do such work. This is a burdensome for the powers-that-be in City Hall to meet with us to financial requirement that Riverbay has been fighting discuss a waiver.” unsuccessfully for years to rectify, one that successive Co-op City is required to spend slightly more than city administrations have been unwilling to take on. $2M per year when floor tiles are taken up in apartments (Continued on page 4)
Riverbay Board President Appoints Chairpersons Of 2016-2017 Board Committees
Third “Coffee With A Cop” Session Held In Bartow Last Week BY BILL STUTTIG
Riverbay Board President Linda Berk has selected the officers of the Board committees that will be functioning during the 2016-2017 year. Riverbay Board Committees are made up of Board directors and shareholders, and meet during the year to provide policy recommendations for the full Board’s consideration. Except for the Audit Committee, any sitting director may attend the meetings of any committee(s) they wish to. “Board committees are an important part of the work the board does,” said Board President Berk. “I want us to use the committees more than we have in the past. Through the work of the committees, the board should have a mechanism to identify areas that need attention, to motivate thinking of new ideas and to provide recommendations to the board. The value of the committees is that they are made up of shareholders who should be working from a vantage point of experiences as a resident.” This year, Board committees were reorganized to improve efficiency. While some remain under the purview of the Riverbay Board, others were moved under the Riverbay Fund. These include Community Relations, Education and the Youth Committees. Board Treasurer Deborah Jenkins is president of the Riverbay Fund. “Some of the committees, like Youth and Community Relations, were moved under the structure of the Riverbay Fund because their activities and areas of concern were more aligned with the Fund,” explained Board President Berk. “It is more practical to align the committees with the arm of Riverbay that essentially carried out the work of the committee. The thought was that the committees that covered responsibilities under the corporate umbrella should remain under the
Approximately 40 shareholders came to Bartow Community Center Wednesday morning, November 16th, to express concerns and share ideas with the commanders and officers of the Co-op City Public Safety Department. The 90-minute long program entitled Coffee with a Cop was the third such event held in Co-op City – the first being in Section 5 in August and the second in Dreiser Community Center in October. Each featured the participation of approximately a dozen Public Safety supervisors and officers, sitting around a table with a half dozen or so residents listening to concerns and exchanging ideas for improving the community’s quality of life over a cup of coffee and some donuts. Public Safety personnel participating ran the gamut from Chief Frank Apollo, the department’s commander, to patrol supervisors, detectives and several patrol officers assigned to the buildings and public areas of Sections 3 and 4. The coffee and donuts were provided by Dunkin’ Donuts. The idea of holding a Coffee with a Cop program in the evening or on a weekend is also being discussed as a way to give students and working people a chance to speak and express their concerns. “We are extremely happy with the turnout to the Coffee with a Cop events that we held over the past several months,” Chief Apollo explained. “The entire purpose of these events was to continue improving relations and communication with the residents of the community in a relaxed environment. I have stated in the past that some of the most wonderful and important conversations occur between people while having a cup of coffee. At these events, we met old friends and made new ones and we will continue these events next year as well, because this type of communication in policing is priceless.” “We also are looking at having Pizza with a Cop events which will target our youth and hopefully will allow my department to further build bridges with the
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BY ROZAAN BOONE