Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2011 Co-op City Times
Vol. 46 No. 40
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Residents join Postal employees at protesting proposed Postal Service cutbacks BY BILL STUTTIG Dozens of Co-op City residents joined with Postal Service workers from throughout the Bronx in staging a march around the Dreiser Shopping Mall Tuesday afternoon to protest proposed drastic cuts to the U.S. Postal Service which would limit access to postal facilities in Co-op City and thou-
sands of other communities like it. Locally, the proposed nationwide cuts will mean the shutting of Co-op City’s two satellite post offices, one in Dreiser Center and one in Einstein Center. But the human cost to the local area will be high as well, as hundreds of (Continued on page 4)
Residents and postal workers march around the Dreiser Shopping Center Tuesday afternoon to call attention to proposals which will shut postal facilities throughout the nation,, including two in Co-op City, and eliminate thousands of Postal Service jobs. Photo by Bill Stuttig
Volunteers needed to plant trees today BY BILL STUTTIG Co-op City residents are reminded that today, Saturday, October 1, beginning at 9 a.m. scores of volunteers from the American Express Corporation are volunteering their time to plant more than 300 donated baby trees around the northern portions of the Greenway and residents are
invited to join them. Riverbay Ombudsman Joe Boiko, who coordinated the donation of the trees from the New York Restoration Project and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Million Trees Initiative, said that able-bodied volunteers (Continued on page 2)
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Board President names Chairpersons of Board Committees for 2011-2012 BY DEREK ALGER Riverbay President Helen Atkins has officially named the chairs and co-chairs for respective Board Committees, which will meet during the year and provide policy recommendations to the full governing body of the corporation. Each year, the President of the Board has to navigate a fine line in balancing different Director’s requests to come up with the individual felt to be the best to chair specific committees. “I realize some Directors have strong preferences and desires about which committees they would like to chair, but the bottom line is there can only be one chairperson for each committee,” Atkins said. No one was surprised when Atkins named Director Tony Illis, who has served on the Board a number of times over the past 25 years, to chair the Security Committee, which he has been a member of during prior stints on the Board. “Being appointed Chairperson of the Security Committee, I think, is a very important responsibility, and one I’m happy to accept,” said Illis. “We need to sit down and get an assessment of what’s happening in Public Safety and what can be done to improve things, and this should
be done on a timely basis. I look forward to the work and challenges ahead to make Public Safety the best department it can possibly be.” Some Directors did not request any committees, but Atkins appointed every Director to chair or co-chair a committee, though a couple declined. The Riverbay President also specifically named Directors to certain committees, even though traditionally, except for the Audit Committee, any Director is free to attend committee meetings. “I have tried to be fair and include every Director on a committee, and I think this has been accomplished,” Atkins stated, “with my selections taking into account what’s best for everyone involved, including Riverbay and ultimately the cooperators, who we are here to represent.” While financial issues remain a crucial issue in this troubling economic climate, Atkins was particularly focused on the Budget, the Audit, and the Construction Committees, opting for experienced Directors to serve as chairperson for each. Former President Othelia Jones was named chair of the Audit Committee, (Continued on page 5)
Notice to shareholders regarding water penetration in apartments We realize that a number of cooperators have experienced water penetration in their apartments due to heavy rain fall, particularly during Hurricane Irene when we had hundreds of new calls from cooperators regarding water leaks, who never had leaks before. If the apartments
affected are in the buildings where the contractor, Proto Construction and Development Corp., are still working, which are Buildings 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8, these conditions have been reported to (Continued on page 5)
Domestic hot water affected on Wednesday and Thursday during seasonal heat changeover BY ROZAAN BOONE Residents will either have no hot water, or limited hot water on Wednesday and Thursday of this coming week as the Riverbay Power Plant begins maintenance and repair work to prepare the cogeneration plant for the heating period. During the heat change-over period which began yesterday, Friday, September 30, with the shut down of air conditioning, the Power Plant has to conduct a complete shut down of the cogeneration plant and the Low Pressure Boiler to perform upgrades and repairs, based on information received from Siemens, other contractors and Riverbay needs.
In a memo to executive management this week, Brian Reardon, Director of the Power Plant, stated that beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 4th, the Gas and Steam Turbines and the High Pressure Boiler will be turned off. During the shut down, programming to the “brains” of the cogeneration plant, the Digital Control System (DCS), will be upgraded with a “Master Plant Logic,” which will assist the operators in control of the cogeneration plant, as well as enhance safety procedures. This phase of the changeover work is expected to take between 12-14 hours to complete. (Continued on page 2)
Tactics training…Public Safety officers went through a series of mock training
exercises last week involving a wide variety of potentially life-threatening situations they could encounter within the close confines of Co-op City’s hallways, stairways and hidden public areas. In this scene, officers acted out a domestic dispute turning violent. The training officers were forced to confront and diffuse the situation while minimizing the danger to themselves and the parties involved. Photo by Bill Stuttig