Co-op City Times 05/18/13

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Riverbay Election Supplement on pages 39-50

Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2013 Co-op City Times

Vol. 48 No. 20

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Candidates address issues at forums BY BILL STUTTIG AND JIM ROBERTS Shareholders were given the chance to address questions and concerns to most of the 15 candidates running for the Riverbay Board of Directors at two candidates’ forums held this past week, the first in Dreiser Community Center on May 8th, and the second on Wednesday, May 13th in Einstein The rules governing the forum were read to the gathering on both evenings by Election Committee Chair Eleanor Bailey just prior to the forums’ commencement. The forums, like the election in general, featured four slates.

The slate calling itself the Progress in Motion Team is comprised of incumbent Directors Helen Atkins and Raymond Tirado, former Director Bill Gordon, and challengers Leslie Peterson and Emanuel Armfield. The slate is running on a platform continuing and maintaining the progress made over the past decade in the community. The second slate, comprised of five candidates calling itself the Team for Change, is running on a platform of returning Co-op City to the charge of a single general manager, opening and (Continued on page 3)

Air conditioning season begins Wednesday, May 22 Air conditioning to Co-op City apartments will begin on Wednesday, May 22 although full cooling effect will not be felt until Friday, May 24. Cooperators are advised to close all windows so as to avoid condensation and to help save on energy costs.

Proposed carrying charge increase 1% in Co-op City, 9.5% in rest of New York BY JIM ROBERTS Nearly one million New York City residents will see their housing costs increase up to 9.5% over the next two years. But Co-op City shareholders face an increase of just 1% in total over the next two years, thanks to the very modest carrying charge increase proposed by Riverbay Corporation. Riverbay submitted a two-year operating budget to the Board of Directors that was approved by the Board through Resolution #13-20 at its March 13 Board meeting. Those budgets contain a carrying charge increase of just 1% to take effect on Oct. 1 of this year and then no carrying charge increase in the second year of the budgets. The budgets cover the fiscal years 2013/14 and 2014/15 running until March 30, 2015. The new 1% carrying charge increase would raise the average carrying charges by $2.05 per room, per month, from the current $205.06 per room, per month to $207.11 per room. The nearly one million New York City

residents who live under the rent control laws face the higher increases because of the ruling by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board last month. Rent stabilized apartments will have their rents raised between 5% and 9.5% for two-year leases and between 3.25% and 6.25% for one-year leases. The very large rent increases approved for New York City residents living under rent control were approved based on the higher costs landlords are paying to operate their buildings. A report released in April by the Rent Guidelines Board showed that costs in rent-stabilized apartment rose 5.9% last year, including a 20% increase in fuel oil costs, a 7% increase in water and sewer bills and a 2.6% increase in property taxes. However, the very low carrying charge proposed by Riverbay Corporation for Co-op City shareholders is possible because Riverbay has limited proposed (Continued on page 2)

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Riverbay Board election this Wednesday $2,500 in voting incentives being offered BY ROZAAN BOONE Shareholders of the Riverbay Corporation will head to the polls this Wednesday, May 22, to choose 5 of the fifteen candidates running in this year’s Board election to represent them on the 2013/2014 Riverbay Board of Directors. Voting will take place in the building lobbies from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. All seventeen shareholders who submitted qualifying petitions to the Riverbay Legal Department before the April 1st deadline indicating their intention to enter the contest were certified by the 2013 Election Committee after the appropriate checks and validations were completed, however, two candidates subsequently withdrew from the race. The fifteen certified candidates in this year’s Board election, in the order and format in which their names will appear on the ballot are: Helen Atkins, William “Bill” Gordon, William Craft, Evelyn Santiago, Andrea Leslie, Raymond Tirado, Emanuel Armfield, Sebastian Ulanga, Dr. Amrendra Singh, Leslie Peterson, Charles Phipps, Bernard Cylich, Lambright, Manny Torres and Frank Belcher. There will be one vote per unit by residents who are shareholders of record as of April 1, 2013. After the polls close at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, the votes will be tallied in Room 31 of the Bartow Community

Center and the preliminary results will be published in the next issue of the Co-op City Times on Saturday, May 25. A recount will be conducted on Thursday, May 30, and the official election results will be published in the Saturday, June 1st Co-op City Times. After the results of the election are certified by the 2013 Election Committee, the top five vote getters will be sworn in on Wednesday, June 5th and begin serving their terms. The Chair of the 2013 Election Committee, Board Director Eleanor Bailey, thanks all of the community’s shareholders who took the time to attend the individual candidates’ meetings held by their building associations, as well as those who attended the two official Candidates’ Forums scheduled by the Election Committee on May 8 at the Dreiser Auditorium B and this past Monday, May 13, in Room 45 of the Einstein Center. “I hope cooperators take the same time to exercise their right to vote on Wednesday when the voting machines will be in their building lobbies for their convenience,” said Director Bailey. “Voting will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. so there is more than enough time for everyone to stop by the voting booths and cast their votes for the candidates of (Continued on page 2)

Notice of Annual Meeting


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