July, 2017

Memorial to Olivia and Micha Gee

Pedro Cabezas

If you are in a crisis or have a family member or friend who needs help, you are not alone. Call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741.
Pedro Cabezas taught Vinyasa Yoga at the Van Cortlandt Village Senior Center.  He committed suicide.  A memorial service was held for him on Wednesday March 23, 2016 at 3 pm, the usual time of his class.
His sister brought this poster.
He was a wonderful, gifted teacher.  He could help others, alas he could not help himself.

No notice, repairs before 9 a.m.

December 3, 2017 no progress made
June 3, 2017 no progress made
May 17, 2017 no progress made.
April 14, 2017 repairs contd.

Management may not have broken any rules
but when you are going to do noisy repairs
before 9 a.m. let people in the building know.
Dec 2, 2016

Water shutoff in the Towers cancelled, this was the notice

If you didn't enter the elevators in Tower 1 the afternoon of May 2, 2017 you would not have known the water shutoff was cancelled.  The co-op spent money to install a reverse 911 system, why wasn't it used?

Fire, Building 6

	Windows have been replaced

A quote from the Highlights of Meeting of the Board of Directors, December 21, 2016
Manager's Report - ....Mr. Zsebedics noted that eight fire-damaged and water damaged 
apartments in Building 6 have been restored.  Repairs on the apartment where the fire
originated will begin on December 27.  Mr. Zsebedics stressed that the fire did not originate in the wiring of Building 6....

February 27, 2017 plywood missing from top window, blue cover missing from fire escape window.  February 28, plywood back in window.

My comment - today is January 31, 2017, the plywood and blue polyester sheet on the top floor
is still in place.  Still no explanation of how the fire started.
February 3, 2017 - inner courtyard and Van Cortlandt Park South side still have plywood on top floor
Scroll down for pictures.

Scaffolding down

November 17, 2016 I was at a meeting this afternoon about the proposed carrying charge increase and I asked about the fire.  Mr. Zsebedics said the cause had not yet been determined.

This letter to the editor was published in the November 3, 2016 edition of the Riverdale Press.

I have been a resident of the Amalgamated Houses for thirty years.  I
read Ed Yaker's letter to the editor in the October 20, 2016 edition.
The beginning of the next to the last sentence states "I prefer trans-
parency to secrecy,"  His letter only dealt with procedures he felt
should be followed in contacting the manager and not with the issues
that have made some Park Reservoir residents very displeased with the
Amalgamated management.  I would like to know more about the discontents.
If Park Reservoir chooses to hire a different management company the
costs of the Amalgamated management will have to be reconsidered.  We
probably won't need an assistant manager and would have to dismiss
employees who staff the management office, security and service
departments.
Another unnecessary bit of secrecy concerns the fire that occurred
in Building 6, on September 26, 2016.  We have been given no
information on the fire.  On October 20, scaffolding and protective
curtains were hung on the Saxon Ave. side of the building.  It is
time we were told the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage.
Sincerely,
Lora Frisch


Note:  These are casual observations, there may be other ongoing work that I have not seen.
November 7, 2016 saw men working on Saxon Ave. side.
October 31, observed men working, November 1, saw no one on outside of building.

October 27, 2016 - raining but the red cable is plugged in, indicating work is going on inside.

 

View from Van Cortlandt Park S, Inner Courtyard

Saxon Avenue

Fire, again, September 26, 2016

Two days after the fire

Paylease Amalgamated Housing's new partner

If you can name which Amalgamated building this is, your processing fee is waived (I'm joking).

On doorknob March 1, 2017 evening

How to avoid paying an employee a living wage while maintaining the comfortable lifestyles of the Paylease principals in California.
The motto of Amalgamated is "For Service Not for Profit".  What is Paylease, a privately held San Diego Company getting paid for processing Amalgamated payments?

Senior Center lunch reservation notice

Amalgamated Houses wants another multi-million dollar loan

November 15,2016 The management and board of directors once again want to take out a multimillion dollar mortgage and increase carrying charges to pay for it.

July 22, 2013 The 30 million dollar loan, 20 million of which will be used to repair balconies, windows, the Gale Place garage.  The other ten million will be used to pay off debt.  Previous debt was at a higher interest rate than this loan.  The lender is the National Cooperative Bank.

Rain pouring from G line balcony

Closer View

Waiting for a special event at the senior center

Buses for special events don't arrive on time and then there still is a wait for stragglers.

When Medicare can Dis-Advantage you

If you have an individual policy with a health insurance company when you become medicare eligible you can be added to a Medicare Advantage program that may not suit your needs.  You have sixty days to opt out, but in the deluge of insurance mail you receive you may miss the notification.
Medicare Disadvantage

Update, air conditioning and other issues at the Van Cortlandt Village Senior Center

July 15, 2016 At last air conditioning on in the morning.  I participated in Doriana Castro's aerobics class.
During June 2016 the issues regarding lack of air conditioning continued.
Today July 16, 2015 when I walked into the dining room I saw this

This is the first time I have observed the senior center tolerating this behavior.  It was one table, the other tables did not have reserved seating.

July 14, 2015 this week the air conditioning was on in the morning.  Last week it was turned on near lunchtime.  This should never have been an issue.

This film was on July 2, 2015
Fan in dining hall  This is the room where exercise classes take place as well as lunch.  It is now a month and the air conditioning still hasn't been fixed.  Filmed this morning around 10 a.m.

Summer Storm July 14 2016

Avoiding white coat syndrome

Ambulatory measure of BP recommended

We are being poisoned by the parks department.

Vulnerable Plaque hypothesis in CVD may be going away

A powerful article by Larry Husten The Vulnerable Plaque 'Hype-othesis'

An explanation of the no enclosure balcony rule

In 2015 the building code will make it hard to have enclosures

Here are articles from the September 2015 Habitat Magazine about balcony enclosures.
When must enclosures come down
Floor Area Ratio
Types of balcony enclosures and when do they have to be altered

Battery dies, the patient is at risk

Short Battery Life of Cardiac Devices 
The theme of this article is that it's not in the best financial interest of battery manufacturers to make a longer lasting battery.  Every time one has to be replaced, you the patient, are at risk of harm.  Remember, the consent form you sign when you enter the hospital is a carte blanche for your medical team to do whatever they want when you are in surgery.

New Year, first winter snowstorm

Van Cortlandt Park January 26, 2016 

New trees on Saxon Avenue

Newly planted trees on Saxon Avenue

I was happy to see new trees all over my neighborhood.  It has rained since I took the picture so the trees have been watered.