Tag Archives: memo

When we get a note from our benevolent overlords, we’ll put it in this bin for posterity.

News

Altman: FDR pedestrian bridge is a matter of life and death!

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Altman memo 9-3-2015 (1)

East River board president Gary Altman thinks a redesigned pedestrian bridge across the FDR Drive would imperil the lives of cooperators, and he wants you to know that he’s burning through his City Hall rolodex to kill the bridge before it kills you.

In a 1000-word essay to cooperators distributed yesterday, Altman says the concepts presented by the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project this summer — including improved access to East River Park from Grand Street — would bring high-speed bicyclists directly into the path of unsuspecting cooperators and block first responders from reaching building 4 in an emergency.

His fears are unwarranted. The proposed approach to Grand Street included stairs to make sure bicyclists use a safer route. And the idea that every inch of the FDR service road is needed for an ambulance to reach building 4 is just silly.

More to the point, the designs presented in July were concepts intended to evoke constructive reactions and criticism from residents. The conversation about the Delancey crossing included ample suggestions about safety, which project planners were eager to hear and incorporate into future plans.

The designers working on protecting our homes from another storm surge are intent on enhancing our relationship to the waterfront at the same time. They are searching deeply for creative solutions to that challenge, and we should be open to finding one with them.

Altman did not attend the ESCRP presentation in July when the concept designs for four FDR Drive pedestrian crossings were shared with interested LES residents, so his mistaken impression of these design options is excusable — but his overreaction to them is not. Why stoke fear among East River’s elderly cooperators? Why issue a Just-Say-No edict to his friends in city government while a productive design process is underway?

The concepts presented this summer were well-intentioned, thought-provoking, and imperfect. Project planners deserve to know the full range of opinion from cooperators — not just Altman’s. Come to next Thursday’s workshop to see the designs for yourself and help shape this important neighborhood project:

Thursday, September 10, 2015
Henry Street Settlement
301 Henry Street
Doors open at 6:30
Presentation begins at 7:00

News

Message from management: We’ve got your back

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A memo from Mr. Jacob yesterday evening covers several items:

August 20, 2015

To: East River Housing Cooperators
Hillman Housing Cooperators

From: Harold Jacob, General Manager

Re: Generators / Winter Preparedness

Dear East River and Hillman Cooperators:

Approximately 5 years ago the Boards approved the purchase of generators in case there was an emergency.

That foresight by the Boards has already paid off. The elevators in 500 A Grand Street Building had not been working properly and were shutting down. After testing the voltage and amperage we found that 500 A Grand Street Building was not receiving enough amount of electricity from Con Edison, the voltage varied from 180 to 220 volts causing the elevators to shut down. Con Edison kept telling us that these were our elevators, so we decided to disconnect the Con Ed’s wires, hook up the generators and, lo and behold, the problem was resolved.

Meanwhile, Con Edison has finally determined that there was a burned line under the street. Now they are trying to locate it and fix it. We are hoping they will succeed soon so we could disconnect our generators and put them back.

As for generators in East River, temporarily we have installed them in strategic locations next to the pump rooms, close to the electric lines, thus in case of an emergency it will take a short time to have them connected, rather than tow them to the locations first and only then be able to hook them up. Similarly we would be able to do it in Hillman and reduce the time needed for connection. After the hurricane season we will remove all the generators from the parks and put them back behind the boiler room.

While it is only the end of August, Management is already preparing for the winter season. We are checking if we have enough salt in stock, that our snow blowers, ploughs and other equipment are functional and operate efficiently. We have carried out some maintenance and repairs in the boiler room. Now we are testing all the equipment to make sure it is ready for lower temperatures in order to avoid the problem we ran into last January when some moisture got into one of the switches and hindered the alternate fuel system to turn on. We are also repairing the sidewalks in order to remove all trip hazards. Hopefully, the weather will be more cooperative this year.

We are constantly examining different technologies to reduce our operational costs, such as co-generation, battery back-ups, etc. To date we have not found any new feasible technology that could reduce our costs. E.g., due to our size we are buying gas at a much lower price, and in order to co-generate we would have to use the hot water and the steam from co-generation units, which would be produced at a higher cost. In the end, the finances must make sense.

We will keep you updated.

News

Memo: Community room open as cooling center during heat wave

With temperatures expected in the 90s all week, the management office has opened the community room in building 4 as a cooling center for cooperators without sufficient air conditioning in their apartments.

FROM: SHULIE WOLLMAN, MANAGER

RE: COOLING CENTER OPEN BLDG. 4

As a reminder, the Community Room in Bldg. 4 is open as a Cooling Center for all residents who require this service. In this heat, we ask cooperators to check on their neighbors who might require assistance and not know of the benefit of the Cooling Center.

Thank you.

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

Memo: From bad to worse in building 4 laundry room

Earlier this week, the laundry room in building 4 (sections K, L, and M) was closed due to an underground leak. A notice said that cooperators should expect the room to be closed for the week. This afternoon, management sent an email to cooperators in building 4 to say that the work needed is more extensive than originally anticipated:

April 30, 2015

FROM: HAROLD JACOB, GENERAL MANAGER

RE: LAUNDRY ROOM SHUTDOWN UPDATE
WATER SHUTDOWN NEEDED ON 5/5/15

Dear East River Cooperators:

Last week I sent out a memo in which I notified you that the laundry will be closed for one week because the main 15″ drain line was cracked inside and outside the building. When we dug up the line inside the building we found that all six drain lines in the laundry room and in the floor drains were broken.

These lines are connected to the washing machines and the sinks of the apartments above, so we had to dig up the entire laundry room to replace all of them. In the meantime, you can use the laundry rooms in other buildings. The job went from one leak to nine leaks. These pipes are around 60 years old.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to reopen the laundry room for at least another two weeks because after having repaired the pipes we must replace all the sand, pour the concrete and wait for the concrete to dry.

The building will also need a full water shutdown on Tuesday, May 5, from 8:30A.M. to 8:30P.M., because we must empty the drain lines before we replace them.

I am sorry for this major inconvenience but I could have not anticipated what the problem would be until we exposed each of the lines. I want to make sure that we will not have to revisit the issue. Therefore, all the underground lines must be replaced.

Again, I am truly sorry.

If I may add just a bit of editorializing:

A burst pipe is no one’s fault, and it’s not uncommon, in the course of fixing one problem, to uncover more problems that need to be addressed. But to say that no one could have anticipated the nature of the problem is odd when the problem was just identified two paragraphs above: “These pipes are around 60 years old.”

The coop’s annual financial report routinely includes a note by the auditors that East River has not conducted any study of the costs of future repairs and replacements. When asked specifically at last year’s annual meeting about the buildings’ elevators and roofs (which are beyond their expected lifecycle already) and the 60-year-old plumbing, General Manager Harold Jacob answered that he anticipated nothing beyond normal upkeep over the next 10 years.

And early this month we learned that the coop is now seeking a $5 million line of credit for “anticipated repairs and maintenance.”

So what is anticipated? What can’t be anticipated? I can’t keep track, can you?

Maybe a study of the costs of future repairs and replacement isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Update, with photos:

Construction vehicles behind building 4.
Construction vehicles behind building 4.
Laundry room in building 4 is closed.
Laundry room in building 4 is closed.
News

Memo: Check and Maintain Working Smoke Detectors

The weekend’s tragedy in Brooklyn prompted this reminder today from management:

TO: All Shareholders

FROM: Shulie Wollman

Due to a tragic weekend fire in Brooklyn, all East River and Hillman Housing residents are urged to maintain working smoke detectors in more than one location within your apartment. The importance of having working smoke detectors cannot be overemphasized.

If anyone requires assistance in either purchasing or installing a smoke detector, please telephone our maintenance office at 212-677-5744 to arrange a consultation or submit a maintenance ticket online at http://coopvillage.coop/maintenance.php.

Thank you for your active participation in this matter, which could save your life or the life of a fellow cooperator.

News

Memo: Laundry rooms closed [update – will open at 11 a.m.]

Via email at 6:52 this morning:

February 2, 2015

TO: All Residents
FROM: SHULIE WOLLMAN
RE: Laundry Rooms Closed

Due to problem this morning in the boiler room, we are forced to close our laundry rooms in the entire complex. We are workling on the problem and will advise as soon as possible.

We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

Thank you.

Are you getting email alerts from management? Sign up on the coop’s website.

Update at 9:45 am:

The laundry rooms formerly closed due to a boiler room problem will re-open at 11am this morning.

We apologize for this inconvenience, appreciate your understanding, and please stay safe out there.

Thank you.