Is it immoral to leave the Mitchell Lama program?

As a candidate seeking to be re-elected to the board I attended the meet the candidates night on 10/22. An interesting question was raised by a shareholder who basically asked is it immoral to leave the Mitchell Lama (ML) program. The implication is that one has an opportunity to make a windfall profit from a subsidized apartment that was not originally intended to be on the private market, and simultaneously depletes middle income housing from an already dwindling supply. In order to answer that question honestly I need to ask a few first to get some perspective.

Is it immoral that a person puts their name on the affidavit of an elderly relative the last couple of years of their life to gain succession rights while those on the list wait for decades?

Is it immoral that a person who doesn't meet current family requirements keep their apartments. For instance a single individual with a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment when families need them? I acknowledge that I fall in this category, and never considered downsizing.

Is it immoral that the Doe family are struggling to pay $3,000. a month rent while someone with a $60,000. SUV in the VV parking lot is being subsidized? What's interesting is the car loan, insurance, and parking lot fee total would be greater than the standard maintenance charge for a 2 bedroom co-op.

Is it immoral that my cousin who is a millionaire lives in a 2 bedroom Southbridge Towers ML co-op by himself? Would it be immoral if he paid market rate real estate taxes instead of being subsidized?

Is it immoral that I retired at 53 and most people will have to wait until they're in their 60's or possibly never retire?

You're probably wondering what that last question has to do with the subject, but it has everything to do with it. The 25 year Civil Service retirement program was established at a time when people didn't live to a ripe old age. You could say they got rotten sooner. It is now no longer in effect. I'm sure the person who was hired 6 months after me, but needs to wait at least an additional 10 years to retire believes that change was immoral. The same is true with ML housing which was signed into law in 1955. The buy out clause allows developments to leave, but there is no provision to replace those units. As a result no new ML housing has been built in over 40 years. It's as if the writers of the law knew that once it served it's purpose it would eventually cease to exist just like my retirement plan. Rivercross in 2013 and Southbridge Towers in 2014 both voting to go private is further evidence that like all good things in life ML will come to an end sooner or later. It may not be moral or fair, but neither is life.

Additional thoughts: If you've lived here over 30 years it's like you've paid off a low interest, low down payment government approved mortgage, but without the benefits.

Mother approved

Thanks to board member Jeanne Licausi, and Darlene Margeta of the Senior Arts and Crafts the annual Mother's Day luncheon was a huge success. Over 65 residents were in attendance and enjoyed a smorgasbord that included grilled chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, kielbasa, pierogis, pizza, and desert. The tables were brightly decorated, and included hand made flowers crafted by the members of the Senior Arts and Crafts. A special thanks to all the volunteers who made this possible, and remember to check the bulletin board for upcoming events.

Under the Boardwalk

No one would say Village View reminds them of the Jersey shore, except me of course. I happened to step out on my balcony today and behold there was the boardwalk.

Thanks to Local Law 11 Village View is doing required repairs to our facade, and many of you are wondering why. The truth is our co-op is approaching it's 50th birthday, and the cracks and wrinkles that come with age have come to the attention of the City of New York. Oil of Olay doesn't currently make a product for buildings so we are using Xinos contractors instead. We need to keep two things in mind. One is that New York continually updates the requirements we need to comply with. An example is that additional white fire hose box you've seen in the lobby recently. The second is that new damage will occur over time. This means that our next cycle for Local Law 11 five years from now will likely result in more repairs.We all know it takes a lot of work to remain beautiful, and we don't want the passersby on the boardwalk to see our cracks.

Looks like Xinos missed one.

When the going gets tough, the tough get walking.

The residents of Village View have learned some valuable lessons from Hurricane Sandy these past five days. 1) A.M. radio is not obsolete, and belongs in your home not a museum. 2) Water may cover 71% of the earth, but if it's not fresh and stored in your apartment it's useless. 3) The only emergencies cell phones are good for are when you run out of pizza on Superbowl Sunday. Most importantly heroes don't look like James Bond, wear a tux, or rappel down from helicopters.They are your neighbors, and the volunteers who worked to make sure our residents were safe, and had the basic necessities during this disaster. A great deal of thanks goes to Board President Adam Silvera who was able to secure supplies from local businesses, and mobilize hundreds of volunteers. Also many residents helped with the distribution, and walked up 21 floors to deliver them. It reminds me of that saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get walking." It's important that we acknowledge; J&S Construction, J Corp, Tompkins Sq. Gospel Fellowship, and Russ and Daughters for their enormous contributions. A special thanks to the Village View crew is in order as many traveled up to 3 hours to get to work, and will have the immense job of cleaning up in the aftermath of Sandy. We are extremely grateful to all those who helped during this crisis.

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Office Party

On Oct.3 while visiting the Community Room I was startled to hear loud noises coming from the management office. A group of people had swamped the small waiting area, and were conducting what I thought might have been a protest. In fact it was a birthday celebration for John Blackman our assistant superintendent. Best wishes to John, and to all of our employees family here at Village View..

Armed and dangerous

Village View Senior Services will be sponsoring the annual flu shot on 10/25 between the hours of 9:30 and 11:00 A.M. Please check with your doctor for allergies or other conditions that may disqualify you as a good candidate for immunization. It is requested that you sign up in advance in the community room. 

!@#$ That hurts!

The Mooncake Festival 10/3/12

Village View Senior Services sponsored it's annual mooncake festival on Wed. Oct. 3. This year the dumplings were especially delicious, and the community room was beautifully decorated with Chinese lanterns. There is a legend that secret messages were hidden in the cakes, and it resulted in the overthrow of the Mongols during the Ming Dynasty. At nearly 1,000 calories per cake the only thing you'll be overthrowing are your pants that fit too tight.

Patience is a virtue

Finally our laundry rooms are being updated with newer machines. David Baron the President of Metro Management said that out of all the properties he manages Village View had negotiated the "best" laundry vendor agreement. Special thanks to Liz Rybkin who spent many long hours going over the contract, Luis Ruiz who monitored the progress, and Board President Adam Silvera who kept his sanity during the constant back and forth, and never threw in the towel. So to speak.

Bldg. 6 washers

Bldg. 6 dryers

Don't forget to pick up your new Coinmach laundry cards in the office when your building is being renovated.

2nd annual playground party.

Behold the miracle of cotton candy.

You may remember that last year we renovated the playground between buildings one and two, and celebrated by throwing a party for the children. This year the party was even better with more refreshments and an inflatable bouncer. No franks were expelled in the bouncer despite the enthusiastic gymnastics of the children.

The kids just keep getting bigger.

Maintenance increase update

Thanks to efforts of our treasurer Frank Gardner, and finance committee member Richard Ropiak an agreement was reached with H.P.D. to lower the increase to 2% for each of the next two years.

Access Approved

For those who live in buildings 2 and 4 we thank you for your patience in dealing with the temporary ramps installed in the lobby. They were necessary for residents who require wheelchairs to have access to their apartments on the first floor. The new ramps are A.D.A. compliant and are constructed of cedar which is resistant to insects and the weather. The total cost for both was $3,854.67, and much cheaper than I had anticipated. Thanks to Rick Pamias, and our management for their swift response to a complex problem. In the future when our lobbies are renovated the interior design will be A.D.A. compliant, and may necessitate changes in the current ramps.

Sorry they are not for skateboard stunts.

The Village Viewfinder.

On July 11 a number of Village View residents got together to do a little shooting. We left our guns at home, and opted to bring our cameras instead. Our long term goal is to market a Village View pictoral calendar, and use the revenue for new senior programs. If anyone has old pictures of Village View please allow us to scan them, and add them to our collection. It only takes a few minutes so they will be returned promptly. Please check the schedule for our next class, and join us.

We got dirty laundry.

Our laundry contract with Fowler expired in April, and some of you are probably wondering where the heck are the new machines? The minutes posted for the month of March says the board approved Coinmach as our new vendor, but before we signed the contract there was an interesting development. Hercules came back with a better offer. Since we had no legal obligation to Coinmach we felt we should consider it. Lo and behold Coinmach came back with an even better offer. They gave us an additional $60,000. plus we will get to keep the washers, dryers, card readers, and accessories when the contract expires. At that point we could sell them or we would just pay for a service contract. This means we could nearly double our monthly income for a minimum of 2 more years. Currently LG residential washers come with a 10 year warranty, so with proper maintenance the commercial model should fare just as well. David Baron said he has never seen a deal this good in his many years of managing properties. There will be a period of about a week where no laundry can be done as the rooms will undergo electrical and asthetic renovations. In all liklihood they will be up and running in June. Keep your shirts on a little longer you will be pleasantly surprised, and not reported to the local authorities.

No more dirty laundry

Monsters Ball

At our recent open forum the main topic of conversation was the board's decision to terminate the contract with the Educational Alliance (Ed Al). They provide services for our seniors, and some shareholders were angry they weren't consulted in advance of the decision. At this point the question of why the board removed the Ed Al as the administrator of our NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) program is less important than how will we move forward to provide the services you've come to rely on, and expect. We have are in the process of interviewing organizations and agencies, and we ask your patience as we put a program together. Actually we ask you to partner with us in this endeavor. Since Village View will be administrating the program all seniors can have direct input on what programs, and services they would like. Something that was not possible with Ed Al. It's time to put down the pitchforks, and torches because there are no monsters. Fear of the unknown is the only thing that can stop us from possibilities that lie ahead.

Photo taken at recent open forum.

3/5 Meeting with H.P.D.

Joanne Batista our property manager, Jeff Schwartz our attorney, and four members of the board were given an opportunity to meet with Julie Walpert and Joe Quigley of H.P.D. on 3/5. The topic of conversation was a new rule that requires shareholders to be charged an additional $150. a month penalty on top of a 50% surcharge if they didn't state their income on the affidavit. In the past residents were allowed to accept the full surcharge without disclosing the exact dollar amount. It's interesting to note that H.P.D. was forced to drop the long standing rule that shareholders whose earnings were over the income limit for three years would be evicted. This rule instituted since the time of Moses was unenforceable, and left them in an awkward position. How do they deal with shareholders with very high incomes when the surcharge is capped at 50%? Whether you make 150k or 1.5 million you pay the same maintenance charge. In this current environment of class warfare that is unacceptable, at least as far as Warren Buffet and his secretary are concerned. H.P.D.'s plan (or lack of one) seems to involve collecting income information, penalizing those who don't comply, and hopefully in the future some bureaucrat will develop a formula for a sliding scale surcharge of as was alluded to by Julie Walpert. She indicated it might go as high as 100 or 150%. This is putting the cart before the horse. Develop a formula first, hold hearings, then codify and enforce. This is an issue that is long overdue, it cannot be improvised as you go along, and highlights a lack of vision on the part of H.P.D. They are also genuinely concerned that once the 99% finds out that millionaires live in subsidized housing there will be an Occupy H.P.D. demonstration. I just hope those chefs from Zuccotti Park show up.

I'll occupy the salmon cakes, wild heirloom
potatoes, and quinoa salad please.

This article does not reflect the opinion of any board member other Dan Nasco, and is written to entertain as well as inform. 

Don't fence me in

Are the sparks coming from his torch or his cigarette

Many of you have seen the new fences that have been installed around Village View, especially by building number 3. You may also have noticed that the welding is being performed by our maintenance personnel specifically Edguardo. The fact is that welding is usually expensive, but thanks to our crew Village View is saving tens of thousands of dollars on the installation. There was once a song called "Don't fence me in", but at these prices who can complain?

Village of the Giants

No it is not a new sci-fi movie it's just that the Dept. of Parks has planted new trees that eventually will become giants. Here is a picture of the tag denoting the variety known as "Tilia tomentosa Sterling".

Tilia tomentosa can grow up to forty feet, but the Sterling type can reach 90 feet! Granted it grows 1 foot per year so very few of us will live long enough to see it that tall. Ultimately it still begs the question why plant that type of tree in a 5' by 10' area where there are underground utilities? Inevitably the concrete sidewalk will have to be replaced, but that will be the problem of a future board.

They are so cute when they are babies.

The good: Tolerant of pollution, heat, poor soil, and drought.
The bad: Grows fast. Toxic to bees. Requires frequent cleanup in spring and fall. Sooty mold. Will probably fall on my car when it gets tall enough.

Breaking new ground

Sidewalk in front of parking lot 3

As you might have noticed the sidewalks have been cut so new trees can be planted. While trees improve the air quality, and beautify the landscape I don't support planting trees that will grow thirty feet or more. It is inevitable they will require maintenance that the city will fail to provide (except in emergencies), and eventually destroy the sidewalks. Semi-dwarf trees grow slowly, attain a height of 10-15 feet, and seem to be a better choice when you've provided a space that is only 5' by 10' wide. You can also plant a redwood seed in a ceramic planter, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

The View Up Above

Smile! Your on Village View
camera.

The name Village View has become rather prophetic thanks to the numerous cameras that monitor our elevators, lobbies, and now our upgraded playground. Do you remember the old saying "he knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake"? Now it not only applies to the wisdom of Santa Claus, but to our security as well. So if the kids find coal in their stockings Christmas morning and ask why, you can imitate Warner Wolf and say "lets go to the videotape".