Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. Vol. 51 No. 49
© Copyright 2016 Co-op City Times
Saturday, December 3, 2016
25¢
Other Significant Co-op City-Related Questions Raised at Last Week’s Mayoral Town Hall The Bronx mayoral town hall meeting hosted by Councilman Andy King last Monday, November 21, resulted in several pertinent questions related to Co-op City being raised by concerned shareholders who were able to address Mayor Bill de Blasio directly. In addition to the issue raised by Riverbay Board President Linda Berk which was reported on in last week’s Co-op City Times related to the exorbitant asbestos abatement and air monitoring costs required by the city when flooring work is done in Co-op City apartments, along with other filing and permitting BY ROZAAN BOONE
Registration Begins Dec. 10 For Renaissance Youth Center’s Music 4 All Program In Co-op City Registration will be held next Saturday, Dec. 10 and the following Saturday, Dec. 17, for the Renaissance Youth Center’s Music 4 All program in Co-op City which will provide significantly discounted music lessons to young people who are shareholders of Co-op City. This program is made possible by the Riverbay Fund. Music 4 All will provide 8 weeks of music lessons for only $25 per child, a discount of more than 50% off the regular cost. “We are so happy to welcome Renaissance Music 4 All to Co-op City!” said Director Deborah Jenkins, President of the Riverbay Fund and Riverbay Board treasurer. “Mr. Bervin Harris’ reputation as a musician, teacher and mentor to young people is well-known throughout NYC. “As the leader of the Riverbay Fund, I feel that it’s very important for us to develop programs and outreach to our youth and community with great deliberation. To this end, we presented to the Fund’s Board (also the corporate Board) a plan to underwrite a portion of the instruction cost so that as many Co-op City youth as possible can take lessons without the cost being prohibitive to parents. The Board gave overwhelming approval and as a result, for 8 weeks of instruction, the cost to parents is only $25!” Registration will take place in room 18 of the Dreiser Center from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 and again on Saturday, Dec. 17. For those who cannot make either of those registration sessions, applications will also be available from the Riverbay Administration Desk in the Bartow Center, as well as online at the Renaissance Youth Center’s website, renaissanceyouth.org. Bervin Harris, co-founder of the Renaissance Youth Center along with Darren Quinlan, said that he hopes to start the program off in Co-op City with at least 100-150 young people. “What’s amazing is the price,” said Mr. Harris. “Eight weeks for $25. I have been teaching music BY ROZAAN BOONE
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fees, which result in an annual expenditure of more than $2M, questions were also posed to the mayor by two other Board members, first vice president of the Board, Bernard Cylich, and Director Leslie Peterson. Mr. Cylich’s question to Mayor de Blasio dealt with skyrocketing water and sewer charges. “After commending the mayor for his courageous stand with President-elect Donald Trump for expressing the conscience of our city and the country, I informed him that our annual water/sewer fees have increased from $6.6M in 2004 to $20M today,” reported First Vice President Cylich. “I reminded Mayor de Blasio that
when he ran for mayor, he characterized those fees as backdoor taxes.” Mr. Cylich went on to explain that for Riverbay, this expense represents twice the amount of what the community’s shelter rent tax is. “The mayor acknowledged that he had characterized those onerous fees as backdoor taxes on city residents, but informed us that the city is proposing to give small homeowners tax credit against their water bills,” First Vice President Cylich said. “However,
44-Year-Old Woman Found Fatally Stabbed Inside Her Building 16A Home (Continued on page 2)
Public Safety officers, called to the second floor of Building 16A on November 26th after a woman reported seeing a trail of blood in an apartment, made the grisly discovery of a 44-year old woman stabbed multiple times in the chest and unresponsive. According to the Public Safety report on the tragedy, officers responded to a frantic call for help from two women in the second floor hallway of the building. One of those women was the mother of the victim who, according to the report, told the officers that she saw a trail of blood in her apartment and ran out in the hallway calling for help. A neighbor came out to comfort her and help her alert Public Safety who responded immediately. The officers entered the apartment and discovered the victim, identified later as 44-year-old Sophia Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony Wednesday, Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m. Lamb—leaning against a couch and unresponsive. An Emergency Medical Service unit was called to Dreiser, Auditorium B the scene by the responding officers along with Free Photo with Santa – NYPD 45th Precinct Detectives and Detectives from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. (See flyer on page 5 for list CCPD’s own unit. Responding EMT’s pronounced of performers) BY BILL STUTTIG
Reminder
Board approves extension of carpet voucher program while better alternatives are being explored (Continued on page 2)
The Riverbay Board of Directors, by a vote of 14 to 1, approved an eight-month extension of the community’s current Carpet Voucher Program while they and management continue to explore better alternatives in terms of pricing and the choice of products available to shareholders. Under the terms of the resolution passed by the Board at this Wednesday evening’s Board business meeting, the existing contract terms with Tri-State Interiors and the Mohawk Portico Program will remain in effect for another eight months. Riverbay’s Special Projects Manager Joe Boiko explained that under the existing program, new shareholder receive a voucher valued between $250 and $350 for bedroom carpeting or flooring produced by Mohawk Industries under its Portico Program from Tri-State Interiors at 2925 Westchester Avenue in the Bronx. Under the terms of this just-passed resolution, Riverbay’s relationship with Tri-State and Mohawk will remain the same for another eight months while other alternatives are jointly explored by the Board BY BILL STUTTIG
and management. One of those alternatives, Mr. Boiko explained, is the possible use of a new flooring material using LVT or Luxurious Vinyl Tiles which could possibly prove to be more cost effective than the community’s original wood flooring because it will better hold up in the common case of water damage caused by convector floods. In the coming weeks, the Board and management will also be looking into a greater array of alternatives when it comes to carpeting brands, styles and types. Under the current program, which will remain in place for another eight months, the Mohawk Portico Program offers two base carpets, a plush which comes in 36 colors that shareholders can choose from—and which is also a ‘green’ product—as well as a Berber, which has 6-8 different color choices. “From here, incoming shareholders can currently upgrade to 3-6 different styles in each category,” said Riverbay’s Director of Special Projects Joe Boiko. (Continued on page 11)