Author Archives: Micah

On the Annual Meeting

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crack

the need for repairs is no joke

The 2015 Annual Meeting of the Shareholders was one of the most informative Board presentations in recent memory, and also one of the best attended. Current Board President Dave Pass led a quick review of the Board’s activities over the past year and then spent a great deal of time explaining the current state of our physical plant and finances. Mr. Pass, together with General Manager Frank Durant and a panel of outside experts (Greenthal’s financial and engineering experts, and the co-op’s attorney and auditor), made a compelling case for the immediate need for new roofs, continuing brickwork, and a way to pay for it. Continue reading →

And the winners are…

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Congratulations to Doron, Aaron, Erica and Mendy.

The final vote tallies were:
#2 Erica Cullmann 399
#3 Sandy Kershon 145
#4 Mendy Erez 388
#5 Aaron Lee Fineman 487
#7 Debbie Finston 373
#8 Hariette Skidelsky 296
#9 Doron Stember 490
#10 Laurel Hirsch 332
#11 Carlos Rosado 381
ABSTAIN 3

That means at least 826 shareholders cast votes.

Thanks also go out to Gus Medina, Kate Nammacher and Paul Sobel for their service over the past three years, and Carlos Rosado for his service going back well over a decade.

Seward Park Board Election is Tomorrow

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Seward Park Cooperative shareholders go to the polls tomorrow (Wednesday).  Please remember to vote!  Note that if you are unable to vote in person on Wednesday, you can vote online using the codes you should have received in the mail from Election America.  If you have misplaced your codes, please contact us and we can send you a proxy form that will allow another shareholder to cast a vote on your behalf.

We believe that the following four candidates stand out in their high levels of demonstrated professionalism and volunteerism.

#2 Erica Cullmann – Offering a background in operations and facilities management, with more than 16 years of experience in RFPs, contract negotiations, vendor management, strategic planning and budgeting. An active leader in planning SPC family events (Halloween parties, Summerfest, etc.) and member of various Board-supervised committees.

#5 Aaron Lee Fineman – Has both run his own business and worked in marketing and communications for large organizations like the United Nations and CUNY, with strong knowledge of both marketing and technology. Volunteers his time and photography and design skills for initiatives like the Halloween parties and promoting the co-op’s shared office space, as well as for a number of neighborhood organizations, including the Lower East Side Girls Club.

#8 Hariette Skidelsky  – Boasts a professional background is in retail management, paralegal work and child care.  She is active in the Women’s Club, where she has gotten to know many of our middle-aged and older neighbors, but also has a 17 year old son and is attuned to the needs of young parents as well.   She has served on a variety of board-supervised committees, including finance, energy and legal.

#9 Doron Stember – As a practicing and teaching physician, Doron listens, researches, consults with experts and synthesizes information prior to taking thoughtful, well- considered action in order to  help others.  Exactly as a good Board member should.   He is motivated, energetic, fair-minded, and capable.

But whether or not you agree that these candidates are the best, the important thing is to vote.

Your neighbors,
Linda Jones, Brett Leitner, Micah Arbisser

2014 Financial Statement Q&A

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The co-op’s financial statements for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2014, were distributed to shareholders recently. We have analyzed them and posed a number of questions to Management and the Board.

Shareholders can access the financial statements by logging into my.sewardparkcoop.com, clicking on “Official Documents” and “Corporate Financial Statements.” Or, after you have logged into my.sewardparkcoop.com, click here. Note that for 2014 the co-op used a different auditor than in recent years, so comparing the 2014 results with prior years is not an apples-to-apples comparison (as noted in some of the responses to our questions).

Because this website is public and our co-op’s financial information should not be public, we are not posting everything directly here, but we have posted our questions and the responses to SPComm, a Yahoo Group for shareholders of Seward Park. If you are a member of SPComm, you can use the following links to access the relevant posts:

Board Treasurer Marc Album also replied off-line to say that due to lack of interest in the last two financial meetings, he does not intend to host one this year.

We will edit this post with additional follow-ups as they come in.

2015 Candidates

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This year eleven candidates are vying for four open seats. The candidates, according to a notice posted yesterday on Sewardparkcoop.com, are:

#1 – Alvin Steinberg (candidacy withdrawn)
#2 – Erica Cullmann
#3 – Sandy Kershon
#4 – Mendy Erez
#5 – Aaron Fineman
#6 – Gus Medina (candidacy withdrawn)
#7 – Debbie Finston
#8 – Hariette Skidelsky
#9 – Doron Stember (misspelled as “Dorin” in the notice)
#10 – Laurel Hirsch
#11- Carlos Rosado

Gus and Carlos are incumbents. The other two seats are being vacated by Kate Nammacher and Paul Sobel.

Introduction to Public School Districts

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A majority of Seward Park Cooperative families send their school age children to public schools. Unlike many places in the U.S., however, sending your child to public school in New York City is not as simple as just registering up at the neighborhood elementary school.

To start, our cooperative straddles the line between two completely separate school districts. Buildings 1 and 2 (on the east side of Clinton Street) are in District 1 while Buildings 3 and 4 are in District 2. And the two districts are quite different.

District 1 is generally regarded as having good elementary school choices in our area, but not very good middle schools. District 2 has less exciting elementary schools in our immediate area, but some excellent elementary schools elsewhere (if you can get in) and some excellent middle schools.

District 2 is much, much larger. District 1 is just the East Village and Lower East Side (below 14th, east of the Bowery down to Delancey, then east of Clinton below Delancey). District 2 is ALL the rest of Manhattan below 96th Street except the Upper West Side (including the Upper East Side, all of Midtown, Chelsea, Murray Hill, the Village, Soho, Chinatown, Tribeca, the Financial District, etc.).

Because of its size, District 2 has “zoned” schools, where kids who live in a school’s geographic zone get priority in the admissions process. District 1 is more unusual (possibly unique to our knowledge) in being a “choice” district, where everyone who lives anywhere in the district has an equal shot at getting into any school in the district. This has the advantage of equalizing access, but the disadvantage of scattering kids throughout the district. It also has had self-segregating effect.

There are also gifted and talented, special needs, dual language, and other special programs that sometimes blur the lines between districts.

The most popular public elementary schools in District 1 with Grand Street families (in order of proximity) seem to be Shuang Wen (dual language English/Mandarin), PS110 (neighborhood school with the only District 1 gifted and talented program) and the four progressive schools: Neighborhood, Earth, East Village Community and Children’s Workshop. The zoned elementary school for the Seward Buildings in District 2 is PS42, but there are kids who go to a number of other District 2 schools. NEST+m is another nearby public school that is highly sought after and has a citywide gifted and talented admissions process.

For more information:

Vacancy Filled and Officers Elected

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This information remains preliminary and unofficial, but we have it on good authority that John Ryan has been selected by the board to fill the vacancy that resulted from Geordan Goldstein’s removal. John previously served on the board in 2011-2012 when he was selected to fill the vacancy resulting from BIll King’s resignation.

We also are told that the following new officers have been appointed:

    • President: Kate Nammacher
    • First Vice President: Dia Shepardson
    • Second Vice President: Gus Medina
    • Treasurer: Marc Albaum
    • Assistant Treasurer: David Pass
    • Secretary: John Ryan
  • Assistant Secretary: Carlos Rosado

The Removal Referendum

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The board announced last week that this year’s annual meeting ballot will include a referendum on whether director Geordan Goldstein should be removed.

We reached out to Micah Arbisser, a shareholder who is an attorney and who offered some insight into the legality of this move on SPComm.  Micah shared a few points, noting that these comments are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute legal advice:

  • Under New York State law, the board has the right to propose actions to the shareholders so long as notice requirements are met, and the shareholders of a corporation have the right to remove directors for “cause.”
  • Under our by-laws, the vote of a majority of those participating in the applicable meeting is required for the shareholders to take an action.  For example, if 800 shareholders participate in the election, 401 “yes” votes will be required for the removal to be effective.  Abstaining from the removal referendum vote is the same as voting “no.”