All posts by Cooperatively Yours

Petition: Better Bus Service for Grand Street

Cooperator Joseph Hanania has a new petition to improve bus service on Grand Street. Here’s his proposal:

Let’s get improved bus service to the Grand Street Coops! Go to change.org and sign the petition. Then, get your spouse/children/friends to also sign. When we have 400 signatures, we will turn it in to the MTA.

m14aTo: Carmen Bianco, MTA President

14 A service to the dense Grand St. Coops is far from adequate – even while there are three 14 D busses for every one 14 A bus. The difference is especially noticeable when there are service delays on freezing days, and it takes half an hour — or more — for a jammed 14 A bus to arrive.

This can be easily resolved with a more equitable allocation of 14th Street crosstowns, with half – rather than one quarter – running the 14 A route, and the other half remaining on the 14 D route.

At the same time, the 14 D’s route should be extended. Instead of having its eastern terminus at Delancey St., it should continue two blocks south to Grand St., so that it services westbound Grand St. residents. It would cut back to Delancey St. via Columbia St. to resume its current route. This would add approximately 5 blocks to its route – and attract a lot more customers who are otherwise stuck waiting and waiting.

And yes, it is possible to fight City Hall – and win. I led a petition drive to upgrade the East River tennis courts, which were in lamentable shape. We got nearly 1,000 signatures on that one. The result: Councilwoman Rosie Mendez recently got a $500,000 appropriation in the city budget to get the courts resurfaced next year.

A similar petition requested the NYC EDC, which runs the East River ferry, to create a stop at Grand St. This petition garnered 600 signatures – plus the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The EDC is studying putting a ferry stop at Grand St. (You can still add your name.)

By contrast, this petition to improve 14 A bus service should be easier. We are not asking for anything new, merely to improve what is already there.

Sign here!

— Joseph Hanania, hanajoe@aol.com

East River Board President Resigns

This summer, coop board president Lenny Greher resigned from his office. Gary Altman was selected to replace him.

Why were shareholders not notified?

It’s part of a pattern: no financial update since a memo in March; no reply to our open letter in April; and now this.

In June, shareholders pledged to reaffirm the guiding principles of cooperative living: democratic governance, shared responsibility, constant education, and mutual respect.

We seek to improve communication among cooperators and with our board of directors, increase participation in our annual shareholders’ meeting, and help elect board members who demonstrate a commitment to these cooperative principles.

If you support the mission of Cooperatively Yours and want to help us achieve our goals — or if you just want to know what’s going on around here — please sign up here.

Tip Jar

We have a decent email list and this nice website and a Facebook page, all for free. But when we really need to reach out to every cooperator, there are basic printing costs for flyers and notices. Can you help us with a little scratch to keep this group on track? $25? $10? $5? If you like what we’re doing, any little bit will help a lot.

You can make a contribution with your credit card or PayPal account.



Thank you!

East River Park Cleanup — Volunteer Saturday, Sept. 20

Volunteers are needed for cleanup of the embayments in East River Park on Saturday, September 20th from 11:00 to 1:00 as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Day supported by the Ocean Conservancy.

Meet at the Field House on the track side. Work gloves will be provided.

Please note: This is not a project for anyone under 18, or with any physical constraints. Volunteers have to climb a fence and work on uneven and sometimes slippery, craggy rocks. All are encouraged to wear closed-toed shoes and comfortable work clothes, and to bring along water and sunscreen.

Is Your Hot Water Back On?

Things appear to be back in order …

TO: All Residents
East River Housing Corporation
Hillman Housing Corporation

FROM: Harold Jacob, General Manager

RE: HOT WATER RETURNING / JULY 23, 2014

We wanted you to know that hot water is on and throughout the Hillman buildings and will be fully distributed in all of East River by 5pm.

We thank our bioler crew for an outstanding job working throughout the night to make it possible for hot water, including showers to be enjoyed by all at the close of the work day.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Hot Water to Shut Down Tonight at 9:00

From management:

TO: All Residents
East River Housing Corporation
Hillman Housing Corporation

FROM: Harold Jacob, General Manager

RE: 26-HOUR HOT WATER SHUTDOWN / JULY 22, 2014

There will be a 26-hour hot water shutdown on July 22, 2014 beginning at 9 p.m. lasting through July 23, 2014 at 11 p.m.

We need to do maintenance on various valves and pipes, and also to remove some of the old equipment that has been left over from the boiler replacement project.

We will keep you informed. Sorry for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Are you receiving email alerts from management? If not, sign up here.

Arthur Approaches

Not sure what Arthur will bring, but management wants you to know that they’ve learned something since 2012:

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To: All Shareholders
East River Housing Corporation

From: Harold Jacob

Re: Approaching Weather

As the first hurricane of the season, ‘Arthur’ approaches our area, it brings to mind Hurricane Sandy. According to updated reports, we are not expecting much, but nonetheless we are reminded from experience that preparedness is the key.

In East River, should it become necessary, we have stand-by generators to keep the water running and provide emergency lights in the always and stairwells. Also, we will provide charging stations for cell phone use. Please have on-hand the usual items; flashlights, batteries, food, etc. and any necessary medicines you require prior to storm arrival.

For those with balconies or terraces, please clear any plants or loose debris from these areas, which could damage property or hurt passersby.

If you need our Maintenance department for any reason, please telephone 212-677-5744.

Thank you.

Mission Statement — Join Us!

To reaffirm the guiding principles of cooperative living: Democratic Governance, Shared Responsibility, Constant Education, and Mutual Respect.

Abraham Kazan, the father of cooperative housing in the United States (and on Grand Street), charged all members of cooperative communities “to exert their efforts to run this cooperative and make it more useful and more interesting for all who live in these apartments.”

Cooperatively Yours chooses to accept that invitation at East River Coop.

Together, we will work to increase participation in our annual shareholders’ meeting with the goal of engaging cooperators more fully in the ongoing betterment of our community.

We will endeavor to improve communication among cooperators and with our board of directors.

We will help elect candidates for the board of directors who demonstrate a commitment to these cooperative principles.

If you support the mission of Cooperatively Yours and want to help us achieve our goals, please sign on below.

If you are ready to take on a leadership role, please indicate your interest by marking “Floor Captain” (responsible for connecting with your immediate neighbors) or “Section Chief” (managing the volunteers in your column).

 

Who Are We? Why Are We Here?

Cooperatively Yours has been a very loose association of cooperators. Having called two open meetings — one to discuss the lessons of Sandy in 2012, and one this spring to address financial concerns — we have been able to reach out and listen  to a fair number of cooperators. But who are we? And what are we doing here?

A few weeks ago we asked cooperators to share their ideas in a survey. Among other questions, we asked “What kind of activities would you like to see Cooperatrively Yours engage in?” Here were the most relevant answers, with plus signs added to those that were expressed multiple times:

  • Fun activities for families, meetings with local officials, parties. +5
  • Unless we somehow manage to get a new management company and a new Board, the rest is all secondary. +9
  • More transparency in coop decision-making, management, budgeting, and records. More 2-way communication. +18
  • Amenities: roof deck, lobby furniture, more attractive fencing, courtyard wifi. +4
  • Negotiate an end to the No Pet policy. +3
  • Organized system for checking on elderly or disabled people in an emergency.
  • Key storage with security on voluntary basis.
  • Composting. +2
  • I’d like to see a monthly morning event where we clean up trash in the neighborhood or do some other civic minded volunteerism to make our community a nicer place.
  • Utilizing the spaces more efficiently. Our community room could be remodeled to a usable space that could bring in revenue. I didn’t know there was a Men’s Club, Women’s club or storage available to us. +3
  • Provide security guards a way to call up to residents and announce guests. It’s still a big problem that they buzz everyone in without knowing who they are.

At Monday’s open meeting we will begin to consolidate these aspirations into a single mission statement, and ask for cooperators to sign up to help accomplish these goals.