The SPC Gratitude Fund.
SPC Staff continue to serve our community in the face of the
covid-19 pandemic. Shareholders are donating to express their
gratitude. Learn about this program and consider making a
donation.
Election 2020: SPBuzz didn't
cover this year's election. There is too much chaos (and lethargy)
in my world right now.
October 2019
Off-Topic. Off-topic, but
here's an important article about "propaganda in the
age of Trump".
June 2019
The Results. No surprises
this year!
Chronic Problems Characterize SPC
Elections. Another election is coming to pass with
our Board dismissing outrageous errors in our election process.
Asked The Candidates: Five
questions have been presented to each Candidate. Let's see
what they have to say.
May 2019
Met The Candidates: Here
is a report on the meeting and audio of the proceedings.
Election 2019: Three seats
are up for grabs with just four Candidates vying for them.
It seems this year may be a welcome respite from last year's
contentious election.
October 2018
Know Your (Air) Rights! It's
been a wild ride, with a very contentious plan, a vote to
reject it, and a petition to re-vote on it, before the developer
stepped in to put that plan to rest. Where do we stand? What
have we learned? And where do we go from here? (click bottom right to enlarge)
June 2018
Proxy Receipts? As in so
many prior years, this year's results were announced in a
cloud of confusion with regard to proxy receipts.Although
SPBuzz was informed that receipts would be sent on a "rolling
basis", we've documented that multiple receipts were
not received until long after they were mailed, with Election
America claiming that the problem was with the post office.
In some cases, receipts seem not to have been sent at all.
And in any case, the results of the election were certified
long before receipts were in-hand. Stay tuned.
The Results: The flood of
documents at the end of the campaign were daunting, and SPBuzz
couldn't keep up! Everything is updated now, and word on the
street is that there is still raging interest in making a
deal.
SPBuzz Weighs In: For the
first time since its founding in 2004, SPBuzz breaks with
its tradition of taking no side with regard to voting decisions
that are presented to the SPC community.
Election 2018: The Election
Corner is raging. Documents are rapidly being added to the
Air Rights repository; there are significant developments
in our proxy receipt process, and "Ask The Candidate"
responses have started coming in.
May 2018
Election 2018: Final terms
of the proposed sale of Air Rights Four have been set, and
the SPC BOD unanimously supports a "yes" vote.
Election 2018: Four seats
are up for grabs and Air Rights are on the ballot. This will
be a contentious election! Check back for ongoing coverage.
February 2018
Air Rights: SPBuzz exclusive
articles are now annotated with "key points". Also
a repository of all key of documents and dates pertaining
to this urgent topic.
January 2018
Trader Joe's? Nobody Knows!
Trader Joe's won't confirm a forthcoming store at Essex Crossing
site.
When is a holiday not a holiday? When
it's not a holiday! An open letter by a neighbor
who questions what we deem to be "holidays" and
makes a case for permitting moving on such days.
December 2017
Holiday Tipping: Wondering
if and how to tip? SPBuzz breaks it down.
Air Rights: More than just
a central clearinghouse of all information, SPBuzz has been
producing a number of significant reports and insightful analyses.
June 2017
Proxy Receipt: Fail: Election
results were certified despite significant proxy receipt problems.
Were illegal ballots mailed in? We'll never know. This will
be documented.
July 2016
Key Fobs: Our co-op has just
transitioned to the use of digital keyfobs for entry to our
buildings. Although this brings about many benefits, its implementation
at SPC introduces significant privacy, entitlement, security,
and ergonomic issues.
Excessive Courtyard Lighting:
The Courtyard between Buildings #1-2 is certainly well illuminated
at night, with over fifty lamps lined up, many of them less
than twenty feet apart. The lamps were installed with the
aim of safety, but are deemed to be problematic to neighbors
whose windows face the courtyard, for whom nighttime darkness
is largely offset by the floodlights.
Cycle Hazard: Cycling is
great — it offers convenience, independence, affordability,
speed, exercise, all with a minimal environmental impact.
However, some manifestations of cycling in our neighborhood
are outright hazardous.
August 2015
Open Gates! The Essex Street
Gate of Seward Park has been opened!
June 2015
Mental Brassiere. The way
the election, the new assessment, and other topics presented
by SPBuzz are ignored, obliquely referenced, or explicitly
copied by the Proboards and SPComm fora brings to mind the
"mental brassiere" described in Italo Calvino's
great short story.
Assessment! As a final act,
our prior Board unanimously approved ~$13/room assessment.
The Results Are In. Stember,
Fineman, Cullman, Erez.
Maintenance Increase? The
Annual Meeting turned into a sort of love-in for the pro-maintenance-increase
crowd. SPBuzz shares some observations on the circumstances
surrounding this.
ELECTION CORNER 2015. Voting
is done, and receipts should all be on their way. We're expecting
results to be announced on-or-about Wednesday, June 17. In
the meantime, monitoring of our proxy-receipt process is on-going;
check here
for details.
January 2015
Open Letter to David Pass.
An open letter was delivered to David Pass and all SPC apartments.
Shareholders are responding to SPBuzz, but Dave Pass and our
Board remain silent. Now published: The original message sent
to the entire Board on June 17, 2014.
January 2015
Accident on Clinton Street.
A contractor was injured while working on a "standpipe
line" — a water pipe used by the Fire Department
in the event of fires. The contractor was hospitalized in
serious but stable condition, and is expected to be recover.
December 2014
Open Letter to David Pass.
Our Board chose to ignore critical flaws in our election this
year which, among other things, rendered our process of proxy-ballot
receipts meaningless. This open letter to David Pass is being
distributed to all resident shareholders.
June 2014
Receipts Not Received. Another
open demanding follow-up on the fact that proxy receipts were
not sent as they were supposed to.
The Winners. Non-receipt
of proxy receipts notwithstanding, the winners were announced.
Proxy Receipts 2014. Following
up on this year's proxy receipt issues.
The more things change, the more things
stay the same. Open letter to our Board of Directors
about this year's election Issues.
All You Wanted To Know About The Air
Rights Referendum But Were Too [Bent Out Of Shape] To Ask.
Election Corner 2014: All
you need to know: Candidate Statements, Audio of Meet-The-Candidates,
Ask-The-Candidates Responses, Election Issues, and the Air
Rights Referendum.
May 2014
The Ayes Have It! ALL NINE
Candidates recommend that Shareholders vote YES on the forthcoming
resolution.
Met The Candidates!
Referendum 2014! There will
be a referendum on this year's ballot seeking to require overwhelming
Shareholder approval of any sale of Air Rights. Text of the
referendum is available.
April 2014
Recycling: Despite advancements
with regard to recycling, our ground-floor recycling slots
remain sorely inadequate.
July 2013
Election Corner 2013: The
Board selects John Ryan to fill the seat vacated by Goldstein,
rather than appoint fourth-placed Candidate Skidelsky.
June 2013
Election Corner 2013: The
results are in!
May 2013
What does Election Fraud mean to you?
As our election draws near, SPBuzz encourages you to consider
the impact election fraud has on our elections.
Repointing in Action. (click bottom right to enlarge)
January 2012
Election Issues: Unresolved.
Once again, more than six months after yet documented fraud
in our election, no investigation has been undertaken.
Beer/Wine License for Eastwood?
Eastwood Chip Shop just opened on the corner of East Broadway
and Clinton. SPBuzz encourages Shareholders to come out in
support their application for a Beer/Wine License at the CB3
meeting on February 11.
December 2012
Thanksgiving in December?
SPBuzz encourages Shareholders to tip the security, maintenance
and office staff whose dedication contribute so much to the
quality of our community.
For the Record. Election
issues of non-receipt of receipt and a documented instance
of a fraudulent proxy remain unresolved. In a message to our
Board on December 6, 2012, I quoted a message that I sent
on June 25, 2012, in which I quoted a message I sent on April
24, 2011:
... When we
face problems in our elections year after year, it stops looking
like honest mistakes, conflicting priorities, or a desire
to “move forward”, and starts to look like deliberate
foot-dragging and obstruction.
June 2012
Got Proxy Receipts (again)?
Two weeks after our election was certified, proxy receipts
still have not been received.
Open the Gates of Seward Park!
While we wait for our election results (and proxy receipts)
to come in, please consider a simple idea for adding vitality
to our neighborhood.
Terrace Tomatoes Update: Gearing up for July's
Tomato Tasting tournament; check
out the garden (youtube video)!
May 2012
Tigers: What rules do we
have in our bylaws regarding tigers?
April 2012
Terrace Tomato Tasting Tournament:
Do you grow tomatoes on your terrace? Stay tuned for the first
ever SPBuzz Terrace Tomato Tasting Tournament, coming in July!
New Treasurer, Steam Study, Financial
Update & Meeting: This flyer from Board President
Eric Mandelbaum was distributed in part of Building 2 and
perhaps nowhere else.
Election Corner in April?
The seasons are not the only thing out of whack; the first
campaign flyers have already come in beneath our doors.
November 2011
Jump 11. We have a unique
opportunity for a world-wide moment of solidarity, and I don't
mean rapture!
September 2011
Man Over Board! Eric Mandelbaum
is our new President, and that Bill King has resigned, leaving
a vacancy to be filled at the Board's discretion.
The Re-results are in! Congratulations
to Wolfson, Aranoff, Goldstein and Mandelbaum!
August 2011
Our Story So Far... On July
1, management announced that there were tallying errors by
the machine in Building-3, and that residents who voted there
would be asked to recast their votes. It was subsequently
announced that the whole community would be repolled, and
a date was set for September 14th. Meanwhile, Director Margarett
Jolly has resigned from the Board, and Candidates Finston
and Ramirez have withdrawn their candidacies. This is gonna
get ugly folks!
July 2011
Our 15 Minutes of Fame. Our
election conflict gets covered by the NY Times and Director
Margarett Jolly resigns rather than be associated with what
she describes as "a preordained election outcome."
To Repoll or Not to Repoll, That is
the Question! Our election results have been proclaimed
to be inaccurate, with a repoll date for Building 3 scheduled
for July 19. Meanwhile, many in our community demand a brand
new election.
June 2011
The People Have Spoken! Or
maybe not. The results of our election have not been certified,
and revotes for those who voted in the Building 3 booths are
scheduled for July 19.
May 2011
Floor Refinishing Testimonial!
April 2011
Who Keeps Track of Key Track?
Automated notifications when keys are removed and replaced
have not been working at least since April 7.
Fix Our Elections! The investigation
into the proxy fraud conducted during our last election opens
more questions than it resolves, leading SPBuzz to ask why
it is objectionable to properly investigate this issue.
Hester Fair/Greenmarket Update.
Last year's trial run has led to significant changes regarding
the Hester Street Fair and Greenmarket, and plans for a new
Youthmarket.
Gender Clubs an Election Issue?
At the March 2nd meeting, questioning the rationale behind
having separate Ladies and Men's clubs was referred to as
an "election issue".
March 2011
Elections an Election Issue?
The promised investigation of the proxy fraud that was discovered
in our last election was never completed.
"Projects" Meeting.
An overview of many projects, including a frank discussion
of the Hallways fiasco.
July 2010
Hester Street Needs Us. When
the Hester Street Fair opened, there was a waiting list of
interested vendors. Now there are more than a few empty booths.
Proxy Haze. Details of how
our proxy problem was resolved have not been disclosed, and
SPBuzz is aware of one shareholder whose proxy ballot was
never verified.
June 2010
The People Have Spoken. Election
results have been reported.
More Spending on Gender-Based Clubs?
Plans are underway to relocate and refurnish the Ladies' Lounge.
Maybe we should seize the opportunity to reconsider how we
allocate our space?
Hester Street: Off the radar and onto
the map. By all accounts, the Grand Opening of the
Hester Street Fair was a great success.
When is a Proxy Recipt not a Proxy
Receipt? When it's not received. The SPBuzz team
is in place, mailing proxy ballots, hand-delivering proxy
ballots, and overriding proxy ballots. Hopefully this year
we'll get our receipts as expected.
May 2010
State of the Co-op. The unprecedented
"State of the Co-op" Meeting that was held on May
12th was very informative.
March 2010
SPHC Website. SPBuzz reflects
on the new website in light of information published in a
recent flyers.
A shout-out to Mustafa, owner
of the Laura
& Melinda Tailor Shop (named after his daughters)
for his creative, resourceful, stylish, expert and caring
salvation of a bunch of old clothes. 137 Rivington Street.
January 2010
Grand Plan for Grand Street?
A flyer by Director Deborah Finston claimed that our Board
was pursuing a covert plan to redevelop our Grand Street commercial
property. A memo was distributed by Board President Michael
Tumminia to refute her claims.
Meeting: New Website. A meeting
took place on January 12 at which the proposed website was
presented and discussed.
Local Law 11. At the November
meeting, our Board presented $2.5MM worth of work needed to
meet "Local Law 11" requirements. The process by
which they arrived at that number warrants some further disclosure.
New Website. The new SPHC
website is being unveiled. It's functionality is compelling.
It's price tag? Pretty steep.
Did Someone Say "Ethics"?
With ethics training under their belts, we can be especially
sure that our Directors will conduct elections in a robust
and ethical manner.
