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Volume XIX • Number 6 • February 16 - 22, 2012 •
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Co-ops fear cost of city heating oil mandate By MIAWLING LAM Thousands of Riverdale landlords and co-op owners could be slugged hundreds of dollars in higher maintenance fees under a controversial heating oil conversion mandate. Under the mandatory phase-out, all residential buildings must switch from No. 6 heating oil to at least No. 4—a cleaner, but more expensive oil—by 2015. By 2030, buildings will be legally required to burn only No. 2 heating oil or natural gas. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and environmental activists trumpeted the landmark change and said it would clean the city’s air, but others are worried about the hefty conversion costs. Nearly every building in Riverdale currently burns No. 6 oil. Community Board 8 housing committee chairman Thomas Durham said because the legislation was unfunded, residents could suffer the financial burden of higher maintenance fees. “The expenses will come directly out of the pocket of shareholders,” he said. “The biggest grumbling is that they put this mandate on landlords and shareholders with no financial incentives upfront.”
He said New York State Energy Research and Development Authority ran out of funding for a program that was meant to help buildings convert, while Con Edison’s rebate scheme fails to cover the entire city by the 2015 deadline. To ensure compliance, buildings not only have to replace or convert their boilers, but also foot any tab relating to street work and the purchase of chimney sleeves and heating pipes. In the case of Durham’s building, which converted from No. 6 to a dual system of natural gas and No. 2 oil last summer, their chimney sleeve cost $90,000. The change is set to have such severe implications that Community Board 8 will hold a public forum to discuss the issues at a special meeting on Monday, February 27. The forum, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Manhattanville Health Care Center, will feature a panel of speakers including Steve Caputo from the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, Cameron H. Bard from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and Robert Carrano, the co-op board president of 3875 Waldo Avenue. “This impacts Community Board 8 directly, especially
Kingsbridge, South Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village and Spuyten Duyvil,” Durham said. He added that the mandate couldn’t have come at a worse time, with many buildings still trying to pay fuel costs from last year’s harsh winter. Durham also criticized the city’s decision to pass the law quietly last August—a time when City Council members are on vacation and community boards are not in session. “When this mandate went from a proposal into a written executive order, which is actually mandated now, there was no loud screaming,” he said “It was timed that way so there was no rebuttal because there was nobody here to rebut or to make a lot of noise.” Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums Executive Director Mary Ann Rothman said the short turnaround time for compliance was also a major concern. “We protested, we begged and we pleaded with the city, saying 2012 to 2015 is much too soon to force people to stop burning No. 6 oil,” she said. But she added that if several buildings negotiate as Continued on Page 2
Angry drivers protest arbitrary rules for hated Muni-Meters By MIAWLING LAM Predatory parking ticket practices would be eliminated and traffic enforcement would be fairer, under a new proposal introduced by state legislators. The change, sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, means parking violations would be dismissed immediately if motorists can produce a valid MuniMeter receipt time-stamped before or at the same time as the ticket was issued. Dinowitz said faults in the system meant overzealous traffic agents were currently issuing bogus tickets and law-abiding motorists were being wrongly fined even when they were purchasing time. In separate letters sent to the New York City Police Department and the Department of Finance last week, Dinowitz pleaded for a return to common sense and discretion. He also said constituents, such as Margot Stern, shouldn’t be forced to navigate the daunting judicial system and burdensome appeals process. Stern, a Riverdale resident, was slapped with a parking ticket on Riverdale Avenue at 2:17 p.m, despite having a Muni-Meter
receipt time-stamped 2:16 p.m. in her hand. Though she produced the original ticket, Dinowitz said, an administrative law judge initially found her guilty, and only on appeal was the violation dismissed. “It’s bad enough that too many traffic agents function as predators by issuing many tickets that are unjustified,” he said in a statement. “It’s even more outrageous that there are some parking violations bureau hearing officers who ratify this outrageous behavior by finding innocent motorists guilty of violations when they in fact complied with the law. “A person should not receive a ticket for failing to feed a Muni-Meter when they, in fact, have.” Senior Associate Broker at Exclusive Properties Sotheby’s International Realty Ellen Feld has also been forced to go through the appeals process. The realtor was ticketed on Riverdale Avenue after she accidentally placed her Muni-Meter receipt face down on her dashboard in May last year. “I pled not guilty and I provided the evidence of a photo of the
ticket, but the judge still decided I was guilty because of insufficient evidence,” she said.
Like Stern, Feld was able to have the violation tossed out after an appeal, but not until more
than four months later. “It was just too much aggravaContinued on Page 9
Riverdale real estate agent Ellen Feld was ticketed after she accidentally placed her Muni-Meter receipt face down. She eventually had her guilty ruling overturned after a four-month legal battle.