Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Hosts Town Hall Meeting in Dreiser

BY BRANDON ORTIZ

U.S. Representative Alexandria Oca - monthly town hall meeting in Co-op City’s Dreiser Auditorium with new constituents on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez used the opportunity to introduce herself to new constituents in the 14th Congressional District, provide updates on certain projects and answer questions from the audience.

Assemblyman Michael Benedetto opened the town hall meeting by briefly addressing the audience. “I am very glad that the Congresswoman

BY ROZAAN BOONE

By now, shareholders should have received the annual Windowing the directions included in the mailing, and can be returned by phone, fax, mail or email as per directions included in the package. The deadline to return the completed form is Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

or killed in falls from unguarded windows. It requires owners or managers of multiple dwellings (buildings with 3 or more apartments) to provide and properly install or repair approved window guards on all windows in apartments where a child(ren) 10 years or younger resides or visits, although anyone, for whatever reason, may request window guards, even if there are no young children in the apartment.

Patrons of the restrooms in Riverbay’s parking garages and community centers can now use their cell phones to send a text alert to supervisors in the Riverbay Parking & Leasing department when the facilities need attention.

Utilizing the Restroom Alert management system, each plaque, such as the one depicted here, has a unique “code” used to identify number listed on the plaque for text messages to be directed to, patrons can submit comments or compliments.

For instance, on the plaque depicted here, the bathroom’s unique 4-digit code is “5410.” To submit a service request or compliment, patrons can send a text to “43766” which will be directed to the phones of supervisory personnel in the Parking & Leasing department, along with a message, such as, “5410 needs soap.” Similar messages can be sent for replacement of hand towels, toilet paper, to have the replacement, etc.

Parking & Leasing supervisors will then send staff out to address the request.

Similarly, compliments can be sent to supervisors in order to provide feedback on the quality of services being provided.

(Continued on page 3)

The system is currently being tested by the Parking & Leasing department in bathrooms in the three community centers and all eight garages, with the goal of eventually making the system more widely available in other areas of the department’s operation. Restroom Alert does not disclose the sender’s name or phone number so comments/compliments are completely anonymous. Once a text is sent, the system generates an automatic acknowledgement and apology to the sender. In addition, the system sends a separate text to Parking & Leasing staff and a timer is started with periodic reminders until the issue is resolved. If the condition is not resolved in a timely manner, there is an option to escalate the reminders and warnings up to supervisors. The Restroom Alert system also allows for actionable metrics that helps to hold staff accountable and provides supervisors with up-to-date data to ensure requests are handled in a timely manner.

Calvin Mitchell, one of the supervisors in the Parking & Leasing department who will be working with the Restroom Alert system, said: “Our goal is to provide better services to the communty. Restroom Alertcient means of communication between residents, guests and Riverbay staff.”

(Continued on page 2)

Nearly a year after a malfunctioning space heater

Kathy Hochul signed legislation targeting safety standards for electric heaters.

The bill signed requires electric space heaters to have thermostats and automatic shut-offs. Theytion body recognized and approved by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Twin Parks apartments last year, we worked to help impacted families recover and vowed to never forget the tragedy

“As the weather gets colder once again and we crank up the heat in our homes, this legislation will help prevent future disasters and keep New Yorkers safe as we ensure higher safety standards for all electric space heaters sold in our state.”

The FDNY has shared a number of tips for safe usage of space heaters:

• Turn off space heaters when leaving the room or the apartment

• Turn off space heaters when going to bed

• If the cord is hot, turn off your space heater

• Never leave a space heater unattended

• Make sure your space heater has an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) mark, which means it’s been safely tested

• Don’t plug a space heater into an extension cord, plug it directly into the socket

• Don’t place your space heater on a counter or

• Place your space heater at least three feet from combustibles, such as newspapers, blankets and curtains

The Riverbay Safety Department urges shareholders who do not have a space heater that meets the new legislative requirements to discard/trash the old space heater by cutting the cord and properly disposing of the heater. The safety of shareholders is our top priority.

Ocasio-Cortez ––– (Continued from page 1) turning the town hall back over to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez began her remarks by reviewing the redistricting process that led to Co-op City ending up in Congressional District 14.

As a quick recap, Co-op City was no longer a part of Congressional District 16 after redistricting. Co-op City joined City Island, Pelham, Parkchester, Throggs Neck, Hunts Point, Astoria, College Point and Corona to comprise the new 14th Congressional District.

The Congresswoman then explained that the town hall meetings are scheduled to be a monthly occurrence with the meeting location alternating between pacity to assist people in a myriad of ways.

“A lot of people don’t know that your member of Congress – any member of Congress – can help you with Social Security issues, we can help you with VA issues, with Medicare issues, with immigration issues. Basically, if you have any issue with a federal agency or a federal program, we can help you out with that,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez continued her remarks by detailing what she was working on and listing some of the funding and legislation she helped secure for various initiatives during her previous term. She also provided updates on what Rep. Jamaal Bowman accomplished for the Co-op City community before it transitioned over to the commitment to “overseeing the implementation of what he secured to make sure that handoff is nice and smooth.”

Below is a brief list of what the Congresswoman discussed:

Overall, secured $16 million “in community project funds” for the 14th Congressional District. The funding will support 15 community projects.

One of the local community projects, Jacobi Medical Center’s Stand Up To Violence (SUV) program, received $1.2 million to expand its reach. The SUV program was established as a “violence prevention initiative” to help victims of violent trauma, according to the program’s Facebook page. Secured $1 million in “pedestrian safety improvements” for the intersection of Westchester Square and East Tremont Avenue.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman secured $500,000 to help begin transforming an unused strip of land in Co-op City into a green space. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez assured those in attendance that the funding would not go unaccounted for. “That process is going on and we’re going to make sure that gets moved along and that none of that falls through the cracks,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez assured shareholders.

Following the Congresswoman’s remarks, members of the audience had a chance to ask questions.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez about Co-op City’s transition to greener energy. “Would you support legislation that would assist Co-op City in transitioning into electricity?”

“I toured the power plant a couple of months ago and one of the things that also long term – what long-term infrastructure investments are going to be necessary. In addition to trying to steward some of the investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure along and making sure that we are making the investments necessary to prepare our communities for that, the other thing we want to start looking at right away is how can we steward these community project funds in a way that can also support that transition,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said in response.

“The whole process of supporting an electric conversion is a huge undertaking –it’s not one we shy away from – but it’s a huge undertaking. So, what we’re startare the short-, medium- and long-term steps. Short term, the thing that is easiest

Another audience member, shareholder Diane Windley, asked how the Congresswoman could help Co-op City’s JASA centers “achieve more funding” in an effort to bridge intergenerational gaps in the community.

“When you link generational programming together, it actually has huge outis that we can take a look at community project funds and see if there are ways that we can steer community project funds to programs like those,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez responded.