Programmable and more flexible Shabbos elevators are coming to East River before the end of the year, according to a notice distributed to all apartments this afternoon.
This change has been a frequent request at the annual meeting, and follows a similar adjustment in Hillman.
Cooperators who want the elevator to stop on their floor need to request it in writing to management by December 16. Automatic elevators will be programmed to stop on only the floors where a request has been made, instead of every floor. In addition, non-observant cooperators will be able to press the button for their floor, as they would any other day.
Update: management has posted the request form online.
My thoughts are these: The modifications cost money, right? Well, if you require a special elevator, then kick in. Why should the rest of us subsidize your personal preferences??
On the theme of paying for one’s different use of the elevators, how much more do the cooperators with dogs use the elevators than those of us without dogs? If a dog owner has to walk a dog twice a day, that’s 4 more daily elevator trips (2 up and 2 down) or 120 times more each month on average that a dog owner uses the elevator than do the rest of us.
It would seem that the board could vote to impose a surcharge on dog owners merely to help maintain the elevators, not to mention the costs to clean up ‘accidents.’ Such a surcharge has to account for a proportionate share of the insurance premium that’s allocated to dog bites. Let’s see: more frequent elevator use; additional cleaning costs related only to dogs; and insurance costs to cover the risks of damages from dogs. How about an additional $200 a month assessed to the monthly statements of cooperators who have dogs? That should cover it.
Also, if an dog owner won’t let others board an elevator (and I know of at least one who seemed certain her dog was a danger to us and would not let us board when she was taking her dog out), then such owners have to pay even more for ‘private’ elevator service 120 times month.
Come to think of it, Shabbos elevator use is an almost miniscule cost in comparison to the costs of our dog owners’ use.
@joe_gould:disqus you are very right. That is just elevators. Here is a couple other thoughts of mine. I use the gym. I pay approximately $20 per month for that privilege, as it should be. However, if there were a competing gym in the area, like a NY Sports Club or Vertical Club or something like that, I would happily pay $120 per month for a cleaner, well maintained facility. I have been going to the Co-op gym more than 6 years and not one machine replaced! Not one, and all these get regular use. I want to know where all the money is going from gym dues collection. As to the community room? I don’;t see myself every using that. Children’s playground? I have no children. Why am I to subsidize the people who have children when they don’t want to subsidize my using the gym?
The problematic issue with “different use” is not of cost per se, but of giving preference to one religion over another (or over no religion at all).
Paying for the gym or the playgrounds even though you choose not to use them is a non-starter. Paying for the gym or the playground and having your access to them restricted because of your religion (or race or gender…)–whether you want to use them or not–is a different story altogether.
All cooperators are essentially equal and contribute essentially equal amounts to the maintenance of the property. However, cooperators are regularly excluded from full access to their elevators based on religious beliefs. Under the fair housing act, this could very well be viewed as targeting a single group and excluding the others—something that US legal code in general tends to frown on. You know, equal protection and all that.
As areas that were once ethnic enclaves become more and more diverse, practices that may have violated the law but were overlooked are increasingly being challenged, often in court. Several lawsuits over Shabbos elevators are currently being heard. Improvements or not, we should know what the issues and stakes really are. It could get a LOT more expensive than gyms and dogs.
There was first a letter from the board stating that the Shabbos elevator adjustment was going to cast about $73,000 then the price went down to about $45,000, (sorry I don’t have the letter in front of me.) Why did the price go down so much?
Could we spent that kind of money for an improvement for everyone? Like benches in the lobbies? Now are we on the hook to spend money for other religious considerations?
Unfortunately I have no idea how these things are budgeted. You might want to pose that question to the board at contact@coopvillage.coop. And let us know if you hear back.