Tag Archives: memo

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

Memo: new intercoms, tall fences, and defense of unlimited sublets from Gary Altman

Board president Gary Altman, who is up for re-election next month, distribute an update about two new initiatives:

  • Lobby intercoms will be reconfigured to permit communication with any kind of phone, including cell phones.
  • 8-foot fences are being fabricated by maintenance staff and will be installed along Grand Street this spring.

Airbnb adIn addition, Mr. Altman again defended the board’s decision over a year ago to allow unlimited sublets. And he praised a new law in New York State that allows authorities to fine Airbnb hosts thousands of dollars. (Ironically, there’s an Airbnb ad on a phone booth on Grand Street that shows East River Coop in the background.)

Full memo below:
Continue reading Memo: new intercoms, tall fences, and defense of unlimited sublets from Gary Altman

When they go low, we go high

We did not intend to give the impression that this was an official coop survey. In retrospect I think we should have made that bright and clear, not to put management in an awkward position.

And I’ve been involved with public polling before, so I’m well aware this survey is not going to produce a scientifically vigorous result — but doesn’t it still seem like a worthwhile exercise? You can decide when we publish results in a couple weeks.

October 27, 2016

TO: All Cooperators

FROM: Shulie Wollman, General Manager

Re: Recent Non-Coop Communications

The Management office has received numerous calls, emails and inquiries asking whether a survey distributed this week by all doors was in any way sent or authorized by this office. The answer is NO. All official communications from Management will always be sent on East River Housing Corporation letterhead.

Every year around Board and House Committee election time, the office receives many complaints that a certain group keeps distributing flyer after flyer under the doors. These distributions often have logos or headings that falsely give the impression that they are being sent out by the Coop office. While we cannot stop these distributions or the constant annoying bell ringing during the election cycle, I want you to know that these actions are not sanctioned or authorized by Management.

Management will never distribute a survey, which allows any cooperator to vote an unlimited number of times by merely making copies of the form. This is not like popular television contestant programs where viewers get to vote dozen of times for their favorite performer. In fact, yesterday I received an email from an obviously irate cooperator who wrote, “as we all know from this group’s history, the results of this survey were pre-determined and decided by these people even before they shoved the survey letters under my door.”

Two weeks ago I sent out a letter concerning quality of life issues in our cooperative. The letter resulted in many and only positive responses. As such, Management would never distribute a survey and make it returnable to any apartment let alone some of the very apartments that were the reason for my letter in the first place. These issues include loud music playing late into the night, illegal (non-service registered) dogs and repeated marijuana or other smoking that fills the hallways and staircases of that and surrounding floors with this odor.

Once again, I ask all cooperators to show respect and consideration for their neighbors and fellow cooperators. Thank you.

Too hot? Community room open with A.C.

cooling centerTO: EAST RIVER HOUSING RESIDENTS

FROM: SHULIE WOLLMAN, MANAGER

RE: COOLING CENTER OPEN BLDG. 4

The Cooling Center is now open in the Community Room in Bldg. 4 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.

Note: The community room is located in section M, 477 FDR Drive. Enter in the back hallway behind the elevators.

Memo: Stay off the roof!

Fine Fare 7-14-16

Manager Shulie Wollman warns of “extremely expensive replacement cost” to “aging” roofs if cooperators sneak up to watch fireworks on Monday:

To: All Cooperators

From: Shulie Wollman, Manager

Re: July 4th

With the July 4th Holiday weekend approaching, I wanted to write and remind all cooperators that for safety, security and possible damage to our aging roofs, entry to the roofs in our 4 buildings is prohibited at all times.

Security guards will once again be posted on all roofs before and during the fireworks display. In many areas the edges of our roofs are lined, for the security of our cooperators, with razor sharp wire. Additionally our very expensive roofs are now over 25 years old and any non essential walking on the roofs may cause damage that could result in costly repairs borne by all cooperators. The longer we can maintain our top of the line roofs in good condition the better we will be able to avoid an extremely expensive replacement cost.

In the past a few cooperators have selfishly disregarded our notices, entered the roof and verbally and implicitly threatened our guards. This disrespect toward our staff should not be tolerated by any cooperator. Please stay off our roofs and may everyone enjoy a safe holiday weekend and summer.

Memo: The Passing of Heshy Jacob

June 29, 2016

To: All Cooperators

From: Gary Altman, President

Re: Heshy Jacob

As most or all of us know by now, our long-time General Manager Harold (Heshy) Jacob passed away last week after a relatively short illness. The good deeds and life saving actions which Heshy performed every day are little known by many people but have affected thousands and thousands of people and families of every race, religion and ethnic origin in our community and throughout our city and state. The respect that Heshy never sought out but had attained through a lifetime of tireless charitable, community and civic devotion meant that virtually no major politician running for city, state or national office didn’t call or stop by to sit down with Heshy. The benefits of these relationships have improved the lives of so many in our Cooperative Village. Below I will write about just a few areas in which Heshy’s life impacted so many but first want to write about our co-op at the present time.

Heshy became our General Manager in 1988 joining Shulie Wollman, our Manager, who arrived 2 years earlier in 1986. Heshy and Shulie saw us through, to name a few, reconstitution, new roofs, elevators, lobbies, hallways, Superstorm Sandy, upgrade of our electrical infrastructure and the transformation of our property into countless beautiful garden areas. Our carrying charges are virtually unmatched anywhere else with the level of maintenance service we provide. Any cooperator who believes, as I do, that this is not only a beautiful, fantastic and desirable place to live but a cooperative where a large and diverse group of people live in harmony, owes much of this success to Heshy Jacob and Shulie Wollman.

In recent years as Heshy geared up for an eventual retirement, that sadly he will not get to enjoy with his beloved wife Esther, his 5 children, many grandchildren and even great grandchildren, he turned over much of the day to day running and management of our cooperative to Shulie. Heshy, among many other things, then focused years of energy and time bringing the boiler room conversion to a very successful conclusion. Besides saving millions and millions of dollars in fuel costs our new plant now burns clean natural gas which is a bonus environmental and health benefit to all of us. Shulie while running day to day management has just completed the beautiful renovation of our fitness center, last year’s community room upgrade, renegotiation of our mortgage at very favorable rates, further expansion of our gardens, renegotiation of large commercial leases, 3 laundry room underground pipe repairs, labor contracts, union matters, finances, security and myriad issues facing a cooperative of about 4-5,000 people. Heshy’s loss is immeasurable but our Cooperative remains in very capable, committed and devoted hands.

It is said that he or she who saves but one life it is as if they saved the entire world. Then Heshy’s lifelong volunteering work in front of and behind the scenes saved many thousands of worlds. As President of NYC Hatzolah, and the Founder of the Lower East Side Hatzolah, our incredible daily life saving volunteer ambulance corps, Heshy used much of his free time building a volunteer organization which 24/7 – 365 days a year serves one purpose – SAVING LIVES. Very few of us have not been affected by this amazing group of people. Hatzolah answers every call and never, never, never asks about your religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. They only ask what is wrong and where you live. It doesn’t matter if it is 2 A.M. or the Sabbath, they come running with their equipment, often before their ambulance is retrieved from its nearby garage. Call 911 and take your chance on how long you may wait. Call Hatzolah and with their life saving quickness and expertise you will likely be attending your cousin’s wedding in a few weeks. On 9/11 Heshy and many of our Co-op Village Hatzolah volunteers were not only first responders but one of the VERY first responders. They were there so quickly and were so close to the towers that they had already treated numerous of the injured when the first tower fell and destroyed their ambulance and almost took a number of their lives. This was one of Heshy’s passions and it extended to other areas of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Upstate where Hatzolah ambulances, supported only by donations, stand ready 24/7 to save lives. A few years ago when a cooperator with Alzheimer’s went missing, Heshy within minutes mobilized a huge search group. Our cooperator was safely found wandering in Northern Manhattan.

As General Manager of East River Housing and Hillman Housing, Heshy was in charge of 2,500 apartments containing approximately 6,000 people. This is more people than most towns and villages in our country. With so many people come the usual social, financial, medical, emotional and conflict issues that invariably arise and eventually often come to the Management Office. Heshy, Shulie and the staff dealt daily with many of these problems which rightfully very few people should ever know about. As Chairman of the United Jewish Council of the East Side, Heshy and the Council’s devoted staff served the needs of countless families of all religions who needed social services, financial, housing, home health care help, etc. For East River cooperators that meant that any person who needed assistance for themselves or a loved one (like a child or elderly parent) could always go directly to the UJC or if they first contacted the management office could immediately be assisted or directed to the proper party. No person who came forward or who was heard to need any kind of assistance was ever left behind. If a family member’s name was on file, they were contacted and apprised of the situation so they could hopefully also help with emotional and other support for loved ones they had often left somewhat on their own.

At his funeral 2 comments made really struck me as indicative of the inner heart and soul of Heshy. One was when Rabbi Reuven Feinstein said that when one asks for volunteers for an assignment people stand up, sometimes reluctantly, but with Heshy, “He would jump up and say count me in, what needs to be done and he would get it done.” If I received a call or letter and couldn’t personally help and brought a cooperator’s problem or need of assistance to Heshy he would immediately spring into action or pick up the phone and start making calls. In extreme cases he would ask me to give him a day or 2 to find a solution, and sure enough within days the cooperator received the help he or she needed from the proper sources.

The second was when his oldest grandson said he once asked his grandfather, “Why do you do so many good deeds?” Heshy answered, “It is in my nature, my blood. I have no choice. I have to help people and as long as I have strength, I’ll be there.” To those who truly knew him, he was not the sometimes boisterous and opinionated great presence you saw when he fought for our community or a cause he believed in. Politicians never wanted Heshy on the other side of an issue affecting our community. To his friends and family he was in private a humble man who never boasted publicly of his accomplishments and good deeds. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather who by example taught all around him the meaning of community, charity and good deeds often at the expense of more time that could have been spent with his loved ones.

One of the greatest enjoyments in life, besides our family, is helping others to the best of our ability without fanfare or seeking out acknowledgements. In this Heshy Jacob was a giant and a friend whose stature and influence the Lower East Side may never be able to replace. In his memory and on behalf of our community and all those in need let’s all commit ourselves to respecting each other, getting along and helping as best we can. In this way Heshy’s life accomplishments will continue to bear fruits in the years to come.

Gym reopens today at 5 pm

Message from management:

June 9, 2016

To: All Fitness Center Members

From: Shulie Wollman, Manager

Re: Reopening the Fitness Center

The Board of Directors and Management are happy to announce that our newly renovated fitness center is ready to reopen ahead of schedule today, June 9, at 5 P.M. The gym equipment has all been installed and is ready for your use and enjoyment.

All new televisions have also been installed. A necessary part, which allows control of the television channel and volume from the gym equipment will be arriving in a few days. We did not want to delay the reopening waiting for these parts to arrive.

In the meantime, each television will be preset with closed captioning to a specific channel and we ask that no one touch the televisions until the upgrade is completed.

The center was out of service for 10 days and great effort was made to refurbish the entire room as quickly and as beneficially as possible. Every fitness center member will be receiving a $10 credit per member on their maintenance bill to cover the lost use of the gym during the days closed.

We hope that everyone will enjoy using the new equipment for many healthy years to come.

You, too, can look like this!
You, too, can look like this!

The bill comes due: You owe $1000

pay coop 1000

The board of directors today announced an average maintenance hike of $1000 per year for each apartment in the coop to raise $1.7 million in revenue.

The coop’s budget for 2015-2016 inflated flip tax forecasts to cover the predictable deficit; now that flip tax revenue has indeed fallen short, the need to increase revenue is impossible to ignore.

Regular expenses like property taxes, labor, and insurance continue to increase year after year; it’s natural that our income would need to increase to match. Over the last five years, the board has relied on flip tax revenue and bank loans to cover the difference. With flip tax revenue not cooperating this year, the board decided it was finally time to increase maintenance.

Here is the memo from today announcing the increase:
Continue reading The bill comes due: You owe $1000

Memo: Snow update

The snow has all but ended; still some flurries possible through 3:00 am. Sunday will be clear with a high of 35.

Management this evening sent the following update on cleanup efforts:

January 23, 2016

TO: All Shareholders
East River Housing / Hillman Housing

FROM: Shulie Wollman

Re: Snowstorm/ Removal/ Safety

We continue to monitor the snowstorm now affecting our area. Following a late afternoon assessment, we are concentrating our snow removal efforts primarily on Grand Street. Earlier today sections of walkways and lots were cleared, but the continued snowfall has overwhelmed these efforts. We will make sure Grand St. sidewalks are plowed and accessible. The travel ban earlier today helped us in rerouting snow removal from the parking lots.

We have a full crew working around the clock and will direct resources to all areas, multiple times, as we continue to work through the night, tomorrow and Monday. Please be patient, as this cleanup will take several days.

Relax indoors and enjoy the snow from your window!

Memo: Snowstorm

Weather reports are showing the first winter storm of the season heading our way, set to hit late Friday night / early Saturday morning. Management is making preparations:

FROM: Shulie Wollman
Re: Snowstorm

We continue to monitor the snowstorm approaching New York City Friday night into Saturday/Sunday. Please err on the side of caution and prepare for what might be a one – three day event. Current estimates have our area receiving 8 – 12” of snow, mixed with rain, sleet and wind.

We will have a full maintenance crew clearing snow, salting sidewalks, driveways and parking lots. Parking lot gates will remain open to allow access for plows. Please do not drive during this storm – estimates for wind gusts and blowing snow, even after precipitation ceases will make roads impassable.

Our boiler room will be staffed around the clock. If you have any problem, please contact us, but also be aware that unless you have an emergency we do not want to dispatch a staff person to your apartment for an issue that can be attended to at the beginning of next week.

Anyone with a bicycle chained to a street sign within our area should remove their property to an indoor location. Our trucks and snow removal equipment traverse the entire sidewalk surface and any bike left within this area risks significant damage.

Our numbers are below:

Maintenance: 212-677-5744
Boiler Room: 212-677-2767

Thank you and stay safe.

If you don’t already get email notices from management (very few, they’re not spammy at all), you can sign up here: http://coopvillage.coop/emailSignup.php