Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2009 Co-op City Times
Vol. 45 No. 6
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Manufacturer and Riverbay approve vendor for terrace floor covering
Paul Petty of Cover Deck Systems, Inc. mounts a display poster board in the Bartow Center Cooperator Service Office (CSO) as Mike Conte of M&M Improvements, looks on. Shareholders interested in purchasing floor covering for their terraces may contact Cover Deck. Installation will be done by M & M Improvements. Photo by Rozaan Boone
BY ROZAAN BOONE Cooperators who are interested in purchasing floor covering for their terraces to maintain the beauty and preserve the integrity of the coating may now do so from an approved vendor. Previously, shareholders were advised by Sika Corporation, the manu-
facturer of the coating finish on the terraces, that the coating must not be altered in any way or else they will void the warranty. However, as more and more shareholders have been complaining about
Section 5 Teen Center accepting members from other four sections
BY BILL STUTTIG The Section 5 Teen Center, which begins it third year of operation this coming spring, is now reaching out to teens from the other sections of Co-op City. Leo Johnson, the director of the growing and well-structured program since its inception, said that students from three intermediate school that serve Co-op City – I.S. 180, I.S. 181 and I.S. 144 — can inquire about joining the center by contacting their respective school’s parent teacher coordinator. The teen center, which opened in the spring of 2007, was originally meant to serve only the teens of Section 5 because they were thought to be the most underserved youth group in the community and it was believed that taking on the rest of the community’s teens would challenge the center’s capacity. But Johnson said the program, offered through the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center and now
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under the auspices of the Boys and Girls Club of America, changed its policy recently on a limited basis because of the lack of youth programs in the other sections and also because Johnson believes that by having youth from all sections interact on a regular basis, it would help ease many of the tensions arising from geographic rivalries between the sections, rivalries which have plagued the community to varying degrees over the past three decades. The center now serves 374 certified teen members and has the capacity to have 500 members. Programs offered through the Section 5 Teen Center include various arts such as cartoon drawing and dance; sports, for example, basketball, flag football, softball, and weightlifting. There are also several clubs, for instance, cooking, dance, a talk (Continued on page 8)
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Riverbay completes digital upgrade of master antenna BY BILL STUTTIG Riverbay completed digital conversion of its master antenna earlier this week leaving the community prepared when the nation’s broadcasters switch to exclusive use of a digital signal. Rick Schmidt, Riverbay’s Technical Coordinator, said the conversion was completed and thorough testing was done to make sure that the signal is strong and the picture crystal clear. Because local broadcasters will not likely be switching to the exclusive digital broadcast signal until June of this year due to this week’s Congressional vote to push the deadline back from February to June, Schmidt, a former field engineer for Community Home Entertainment (CHE) with more than two decades of experience in the community maintaining the master antenna, said that Riverbay’s master antenna will still be receiving the analog signal and transmitting it to televisions in the community hooked up to the master antenna. When local broadcasters switch to exclusive use of the digital signal, Riverbay will then simply switch the master antenna to digital reception. Last month, Riverbay and Cablevision reached a settlement bringing the community’s master antenna under the control of
Riverbay Corp. in order to ensure shareholders that the conversion to digital television will take place seamlessly with no interruption in service and no cost to the residents. Riverbay Ombudsman Joe Boiko, who has been overseeing the conversion process and keeping residents informed throughout, said that even in the event that the original February 17th conversion deadline remains in effect, Riverbay is prepared to make the switch and ensure residents here uninterrupted service. Shareholders can call (718) 320-3529 where a staff member will be available to take service requests as needed on the MATV system, as well as the community lobby and basement and laundry room cameras. The office staff person manning the phone line for Riverbay in relation to master antenna inquiries is also a former CHE employee with years of experience in handling calls related to the community’s television service. Three informational meetings were held two weeks ago to ease shareholders’ fears about the conversion of the community’s master antenna from analog to digi(Continued on page 4)
Riverbay’s online bidding process attracts large pool of vendors, facilitating public access and resulting in cost savings to residents BY ROZAAN BOONE Since implementing online bidding one year ago to attract a larger pool of vendors/contractors and save money, Riverbay Corporation has registered more than 500 vendors interested in doing business with the corporation. The new bidding procedure is a more convenient process and it is also less costly to the corporation since it reduces the amount of paperwork and overhead expenses involved with purchasing goods and services for Riverbay. “Basically, online bidding augments the activities of the purchasing agents,” said Gail Badger-Morgan, Assistant General Manager, who oversees the Riverbay Purchasing and Inventory Department, among others. “Instead of staff having to continually call vendors, interested parties simply submit their bids online. This is a much more efficient and cost effective way of us doing business. At a time when
we are doing everything we possibly can to save the corporation and shareholders of Riverbay as much money as we can, given today’s economy, this is a great way of conducting business and reaching out to a vast pool of participants.” Gail Badger-Morgan explained that since the online bidding process was implemented last year, Riverbay has also attracted a wider range and variety of vendors/contractors with whom to do business. “There is a registration process and we pre-review their credentials,” said Badger-Morgan. “We have a bid opening date and post a day by which the vendors/contractors must respond. Each participant posts their prices and the program selects the winning vendor. We then examine the product and check the vendor’s references and if we approve of (Continued on page 10)