News

Friends of Corlears Hook Park planning meeting — July 22 at 6:30

Corlears Hook Park logoFriends of Corlears Hook Park will be holding an open group meeting on July 22 from 6:30-7:30pm. Plans for a fall planting event, updates on the dog run and comfort station, and the possibility of partnering with City Arts to bring a mural into the park will all be discussed.

If you have any park issues you would like to address, you may do so at this meeting.

Meeting details:
July 22 from 6:30-7:30pm
Vladeck Houses Tenants Association
328 Madison Street (down the ramp)
Entrance at Gouverneur and Monroe Streets will lead you directly there.

News

E-waste recycling bins have arrived

East River has been late to the e-waste party, but is finally catching up.

 

A law passed in 2010 set January 1, 2015 as the date when curbside disposal of electronics would become illegal. NYC set up a free program for collection from large buildings, which Hillman took advantage of last year. Now East River has joined the program, with at least two bins arriving in the coops in the last few days.

Update: There’s a bin in each building in the back hallway, but the bins are locked. To dispose of your electronics, just leave them next to the locked bin and maintenance will take care of it.

News

Is it Dog Independence Day at East River?

Results are in from our cooperative poll on East River’s pet policy, and the tally is conclusive: just over 75% of cooperators are in favor of adopting a more dog-friendly pet policy.

Dog Poll 2015

So is it Independence Day for dogs? Well it’s not that simple. Our proprietary lease — where East River’s no-pet policy is enshrined — can be amended only by a two-thirds majority of shareholders at the annual meeting.

But such a large affirmative response to our poll should make putting such an amendment on this year’s agenda a priority for the board of directors.

News

Some thoughtful comments on both sides of the dog question

1 Comment

We should have a tally from all votes cast this weekend. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you two notes that were submitted with poll results this week.

The first is from a cooperator who points to the unfairness of letting cooperators who willingly broke the rules get their way:

Dog letter 1 - Jul 2, 2015, 8-24 AM

The second is more sympathetic to dog owners, but asks why some dog owners are so disrespectful of our sidewalks and parks, and also how certain provisions of a potentially new dog policy would work:

Dog letter 2 - Jul 2, 2015, 8-25 AM

I really appreciate these perspectives. In order to figure out the right policy, it’s important to have these conversations.

News

Memo: No water Tuesday in buildings 1 and 2

From: Harold Jacob, General Manager

Re: No Water on June 30, 2015

Dear Cooperators:

The City of New York requires us to clean the water tanks each year. This work has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, from 9:00 A.M. till 9:00 P.M. Both the hot and cold water will be shut.

While cleaning the tanks, we will also do necessary repairs in the laundry room of Building 2, which requires water to be shut. Consequently, both laundry rooms in Building 1 and 2 will be closed during these repairs.

If the work is completed sooner than expected the water will be returned at that time. PLEASE KEEP ALL YOUR FAUCETS IN THE CLOSED POSITION, and make sure you prepare some water for personal use before the shutdown.

If anyone has special needs that should be addressed, please call the Office, we will accommodate, and, if necessary, bathrooms are located in the East River Community Room at 477 FDR Drive.

We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

Thank you.

It’s also worth remembering that whenever the water is shut off in the building, some residue can come through the pipes when they’re turned back on and clog the screens (aerators) in faucets and shower heads. As a result, you may experience low water pressure. Often, you can clean those screens yourself without the need of a plumber.

News

Make your voice heard: Vote in our dog poll

Earlier this month, cooperators met to discuss the ramifications of a settlement with the U.S. Attorney permitting service and support animals at East River, and to debate whether it was time to alter our strict no-pet policy, as Hillman and Seward have done over the past few years.

The result of that meeting was two opposing policy proposals:

  • The first proposal supports the current policy — that is, no dogs allowed — but urges management to enforce that policy in a way that limits the attorney fees have piled up over the past few years ($1.2 million and counting).
  • The second proposal asks for a change in coop policy to let dogs live here in peace, allowing for DNA registration and a formal complaint process that would give management the opportunity to evict dogs that exhibit bad behavior.

Which position more closely resembles yours? Vote with the paper survey distributed to your door, or online right here the poll is now closed, results to be announced shortly.

dog-vote
Click above to vote online.

There’s lots more on this topic on our website — click here for our full dog archive.

News

Three new towers to rise across the East River

Kent Ave towers

The NYT and DNAinfo report that three new towers are set to rise across the East River, just south of the Williamsburgh Bridge.

The architect is ODA New York, and the developer is Eliot Sptizer.

Of course development on the area just north of the bridge is already underway with an ambitious project designed by SHoP Architects.

Our view of Brooklyn is going to be very different in the next couple of years.