recession rate hike
recession rate hike
By Michael Horowitz
In February of next year, Co-op City's shareholders will start paying a five-percent increase in carrying charge under an order from the State Division of Housing that was issued in January of this year. The increase is the second of two hikes that the Division of Housing ordered to balance Co-op City's budget.
Shareholders are required, starting in February, to pay a 6.2-percent increase in carrying charges following a hearing here on increase proposals and a comprehensive, Division of Housing review of Co-op City's budgetary situation. At the hearing here in January, a number of shareholders testified that the increases that were being suggested would be burdensome to them.
The increases, although seemingly necessary, are expected to be especially burdensome to many shareholders at a time when the nation and city are suffering through their worst recession in decades.
Shareholders who ride express buses to and from work have reported, in recent months, that fewer shareholders than ever are taking the buses to work. Possible explanations are that fewer shareholders are working and more shareholders are taking local buses and subways to work to save money on their commuting costs.
Crain's magazine, in a Page 1 story earlier this year, reported that Co-op City's unemployment rate was 12.3 percent. Currently, the nation's unemployment rate, despite reports of recent improvements in the nation's economy, is reportedly at 10 percent.
Despite the nation's deep recession, Co-op City management officials have insisted, in recent months, that the Riverbay Corporation does not have a major problem with rent arrears.
One tactic the Riverbay Corporation has used to expedite carrying-charge collection is to tow cars from garages that belong to shareholders who are more than one month delinquent on their carrying-charge payments.
Management officials have insisted that they have avoided major problems in collecting carrying charges by remaining constantly vigilant on the matter.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
could force some
to choose between rent and food
By Michael Horowitz
Co-op City resident Barbara Rose, who receives DRIE subsidies from the city, is very worried. She expects to face the choice between paying a five-percent increase in carrying charges for 3 to 7 months, or not having enough money to buy food for herself. City agencies are expected to take that long to approve increased subsidies for Rose and hundreds of Co-op City shareholders like her.
With a 3- to 7-month lag period anticipated before increased subsidies for her kick in, Rose, who faces daily struggles with meeting expenses even with the five-percent increase in carrying charges that is looming, said that she anticipates that she will fall behind on her payments to the Riverbay Corporation after the rent hike takes effect.
“I really think that I will be put in the position of choosing between paying my carrying charges and having enough money for food and other necessities,” Rose said. “I can't afford to pay the increase in carrying charges, even for a relatively short period of time. I want to avoid being evicted from my apartment for nonpayment of my carrying charges, but I do have to have enough money to pay for food.”
Rose, who suffers from a number of phobias that make it impossible for her to hold a full-time job, stressed, “Like many of those in Co-op City who receive subsidies, I depend on this help to make ends meet financially. We cannot afford to pay an increase in carrying charges even if we will only have to pay it for a short period of time.”
Rose added, “As far as I'm concerned, Co-op City's management, for years, has been wasting a ton of money. Many of us can't afford to pay the exorbitant carrying-charge increases that the State Division of Housing has imposed for us in recent years. That's why some of us are receiving government subsidies to help us pay our carrying charges.”