A cool new interactive map online lets you see a bird’s eye view of Manhattan in 1609, the year Henry Hudson sailed into town.
Around the coops, you can see how Corlears’ Hook jutted out even more into the East River.
You can also see clearly why flood protection for the lower east side is so important — much of the land above present-day Delancey Street was low-lying floodplain, and where the ConEd facility is on 14th Street was actually offshore 400 years ago.
You have one more chance to examine and discuss design concepts for pedestrian bridges across the FDR Drive Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm at Grand Street Settlement at 80 Pitt Street (one block north of Delancey).
The concepts presented have sparked debate among cooperators about how much the Delancey Street crossing should or should not be redesigned to create an easier access from Grand Street.
If you haven’t had a chance yet to see the models and hear the project planners talk about the different options, please make some time Tuesday to familiarize yourself with and offer your opinion about the plans.
Later this year, project planners will be proposing a more specific set of recommendations for the waterfront from Montgomery Street to 23rd Street. While public feedback will be a part of that design phase as well, now is the best time to make your voice heard.
As of this afternoon, projections are that Hurricane Joaquin will stay just off the Eastern seaboard, and will be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it nears New York Monday night. Nevertheless, its path has so far been hard to predict, and it’s always better to be prepared.
East River General Manager Harold Jacob sent the following email this evening, highlighting the installation of the coop’s generators behind buildings 2 and 3. These generators were purchased after 2012’s Sandy knocked out power for days, and should provide enough energy to keep the coop’s water pumps running as well as lights in the hallway and stairs in the unlikely event that Joaquin creates the same storm surge.
October 1, 2015
To: East River Cooperators
From: Harold Jacob, General Manager
Re: Hurricane Preparedness
If you happen to have been watching the news or listening to the radio, you have certainly heard of a possibility of a hurricane hitting New York.
New York has been hit by many hurricanes in the past with only minor damage. Only since Hurricane Sandy have we become more proactive and vigilant.
Here are some of the steps that the Board and Management have taken.
We have installed the portable generators that, in case of a blackout, will operate our hallway and stairwell lights, compactor rooms, and water pumps for you to have the water in the apartments.
We have purchased 200 sand bags.
We will open the Community Room (477 FDR Dr./M-Section) for people to be able to charge their telephones.
The Maintenance Department will be fully functional. We are also bringing in additional boiler room and maintenance staff to operate the generators. These are outdoor generators and they are designed for inclement weather operation. We will keep them covered until we need them.
We also kindly ask you to make sure that drains on your balconies/terraces are clean, and if not, please call the Maintenance Department to have it done. Also, please do not leave loose furniture on your balconies/terraces, we do not want them to be blown off. On a personal note, if you need any provisions (water, bread, batteries, etc.), remember, it is your personal responsibility to go shopping. Please do not wait until the last minute, it may be rough for a few days.
I live in the complex and even though it is a holiday I will stay in contact to make sure that any decision to be made, will be made. I am hoping that the storm is overrated. We have prepared for everything based on our past experience, hopefully, that will suffice. We believe we are as prepared as we can be.
The Department of Transit has added No Standing signs to a portion of Cherry Street that will give buses a clearer turn off the FDR access road, but has not given pedestrians a clear, protected crosswalk for getting into Corlears Hook Park.
The new signage eliminates four parking spaces on Cherry Street where buses have to make a tight right turn. But further measures suggested to DOT are not being implemented.
In particular, while a full crosswalk is unlikely without more foot traffic, a sidewalk cut on the park side of the street is necessary for wheelchairs and strollers to cross safely. Persons in wheelchairs currently need to ride in the street to the park entrance halfway up the block, or go all the way up to Jackson Street to find a way across Cherry.
Corlears Hook Park saw a ton of volunteers this weekend digging, weeding, planting and having fun.
Cooperator Michael Marino of Friends of Corlears Hook Park says he has a lot of people to thank:
Citizens Committee for NYC, Partnership For Parks and The Lo-Down for their sponsorship of the event, along with the numerous individual donors that chipped in to help us pay for the plants and supplies.
To the two dozen or so volunteers who came out to help dig holes, plant, weed, mulch, cultivate, rake and water. This work would not be possible without your help.
Here’s video that Michael says “explains why so many backs are hurting today!”
And here’s a full set of photos from Facebook.
Mark your calendar: this year’s annual meeting will be on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:30 pm. It will once again be at PS 134 at East Broadway and Grand Street, in the auditorium.
Candidates for board of directors or house committee must submit a completed candidate application and signed bio with photo to the management office by Friday, October 23 at 4:00 pm.
There are four spots open on the board of directors, and four spots open on the house committee, all for 3-year terms.
Cooperatively Yours will again be making endorsements. If you are planning to run and would like the CY endorsement but have not yet contacted us, please do so right away.
Cooperatively Yours is gearing up for a fall campaign — we’ll again be endorsing candidates for East River board of directors and house committee, enlisting volunteers to contact neighbors about our cooperative proposals, and asking for your votes by proxy or in person at the annual meeting (probably on Dec. 1).
To show your support in the neighborhood, and help us cover the cost of printing flyers that help share our message, we’re offering this new fundraising campaign. Buy a t-shirt or tote bag for $20 each through Booster.com and a percentage of your purchase will go toward our fundraising account. These items are for sale through October 9 only.
The t-shirt comes in all sizes, including youth sizes. The tote bag comes in just one size, but you know you can always use another tote bag, right?
Displaying our logo around the coop will also help let your neighbors know that Cooperatively Yours is not a bunch of rabble-rousing instigators, but a movement of clear-thinking cooperators just like you who are determined to reaffirm the guiding principles of cooperative living: Democratic Governance, Shared Responsibility, Constant Education, and Mutual Respect.
Buy your t-shirt or tote bag today — this fundraising event ends on October 9.
Cooperator Joseph Hanania has opened an online petition at change.org for safer pedestrian access to East River Park from Grand Street.
You can read the full petition and sign it here.
Hanania points out that with three bus lines terminating at Grand & FDR, it’s important to make sure that getting over the FDR to East River Park is more accessible and safer than it is now.
Hanania attended the community workshop on Thursday and was instrumental in encouraging local support of an East River Ferry stop at Grand Street. He writes:
Urban designers have proposed an imaginative solution to resolve this, moving the Delancey overpass south while having two entrances cityside – one on Delancey, the other via a staircase towards Grand. And yet, a vocal minority of local residents are pushing against this – on the grounds that the Grand St. approach lessens the safety of nearby residents by making the area less accessible to ambulances and fire trucks.
We do not believe that the choice is either-or. We also believe that eliminating the Grand Street approach would make the area less safe — not more so. We thus request an approach to the park from Grand St., which would also accommodate emergency access. This would better serve the population of New York City, as well as the immediate community.
If you agree, add your name.
Voting machines are ready in our lobbies for Thursday’s Democratic primary — a rare contest between rival Democratic clubs for the obscure position of judicial delegate and the even more obscure position of alternate judicial delegate.
The two competing slates are supported by the local Harry S. Truman Democratic Club, long the power base of Assemblyman (nee Speaker) Sheldon Silver, and the Downtown Independent Democrats, whose leadership called for Silver’s resignation almost immediately after federal charges were announced against him in January.
Judicial delegates will attend a party convention to select nominees for the New York State Supreme Court. These positions have long been held by party insiders; Silver himself has been a delegate many times in the past.
Both Democratic clubs have mailed or hand-delivered palm cards to our coop over the past week, which you can see below. (Click each picture for a larger image.)
Weeding!
Raking!
Digging!
Cleaning!
Pruning!
Planting!
Friends of Corlears Hook Park has done a remarkable job reviving this beautiful green space right in our backyard. Join the crew for a fall gardening weekend.
Saturday, September 19
Sunday, September 20
11:00 – 3:00 pm
