MEETING JANUARY 21, 2003

APPROVED SUMMARY OF HHOC MEETING JANUARY 21, 2003

SUMMARY OF HHOC MEETING JANUARY 21, 2003
The meeting took place at 110 Cabrini Blvd. (Castle Village Community Room) and got under way at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were the following individuals: Michael Augenblick, Marcella Calabi, Geri and Tom Hopkins, Libby Josephberg, Erica Lindenstraus, Tina Molinari, Sarah Morgridge, Peggy Morrissey, Perry Payne, Lilliam Perez, Elizabeth Lorris Ritter, and Mike Zamm. The following member buildings had residents present: 255 Cabrini Condominium, 371 Fort Washington Owners Corporation, 720-730 Fort Washington Avenue Owners Corp., Cabrini Terrace Owners Corp., Castle Village Owners Corporation, Chittenden House Inc., Fort Tryon Corp., Overlook Towers Corp. The following Community Associate Members (CAMs) and other neighborhood groups were represented: Beth Am The People's Temple, Hudson Cliffs Theatre Arts Program, Stein-Perry Real Estate, and the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights. The following elected officials had representatives present: Councilman Robert Jackson and Senator Eric Schneiderman.

The meeting summary from November was agreed to.
Libby Josephberg speaking on behalf of Deborah Katsnelson presented information outlining the extraordinary breadth of services available to the community through the YM and YWHA at 54 Nagle Avenue. An incomplete list follows; for more information call 212-569-6200 or see www.ywashhts.org

for seniors: elder support services including home care, escort to appointments by NYPD cadets, financial management assistance, home meal delivery, etc.;
for adults including but not only seniors: activities, trips, exercise classes, fitness center, weight room, basketball games
for children: a nursery school and a newly upgraded/expanded afterschool program that provides homework supervision and a wide range of activities, available every weekday as needed, also trips and supervision during public school holiday periods.
for everyone: concerts and art exhibits

In addition to assisting in transportation to the Y for those who wish to participate in these programs, the Y will bring activities to the community — if your building has a common room and would like an in-house event for, say, your seniors, contact the Y. HHOC agreed to help spread the word and made suggestions for reaching more sectors of the community.

Andrew Lehrer from the Legal Aid Society presented a led discussion concerning a new draft "Restated Certificate of Incorporation of HHOC, Inc." The purpose of this restatement is to prepare for application for 501(c)(3) status which would enable donors supporting HHOC activities to deduct their contributions from their taxes. Our earlier incomplete application in this regard had lapsed. There being a quorum of member buildings in good standing, a motion to adopt the restated Certificate of Incorporation was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Sarah reported that the petition for increased M98 bus service has been expanded and is still available to sign, at Councilman Jackson’s office, 751 West 183rd Street, 10-4, T, W, Th. Olga Tello was commended for her dedicated effort on this project. Assemblyman Farrell and Senator Schneiderman have also taken an interest in this matter.

Marcella reported on the Task Force that is working to achieve NYState Scenic Byway status for the Henry Hudson Parkway, which would make the parkway eligible for special state and federal funding to preserve, maintain, and improve not the road and the parks and waterfront alongside it. It would also give the communities a greater voice in the planning. One step in this direction will be public meetings in each neighborhood along the length of the parkway, to collect opinions and develop a vision for the parkway corridor. Marcella will be facilitating the Washington Heights meeting on Thursday March 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the J. Hood Wright Park Recreation Center, 351 Ft. Washington Avenue. She also said that a mailing of fliers to publicize this meeting will go out in February and asked that anyone with names to add to the mailing list (key neighborhood activists, point persons at community organizations where fliers could be posted, et al.) please call them in to the HHOC number 212 982-5898 or email secretary@hhoc.org. [As of publication of this meeting summary the request still stands.]

Announcements:

The Archway, a new eatery serving lunch, tea and dinner (as well as purveying sundries) has opened at the Hudson View Gardens commissary (entrance on Pinehurst). It was agreed to lend the proprietor HHOC’s mailing list for invitations to a Grand Opening.
Mailboxes U.S.A is coming to 181st Street.
The perpetrators of the several much-discussed muggings on Ft. Washington since last summer have been identified and apprehended.
The graffiti on the eastern wall at Cabrini and 187th has been cleaned up, thanks to the landlord or whoever took care of it.

In lieu of roundtable, Marcella and Sarah told the assembled a true sad tale with a happy ending and an encouraging message about community networking: an elderly man in our neighborhood was evicted from his apartment following fraud by a family member who was responsible for paying the rent. Neighbors took him in, cared for his dog, interceded with the landlord for access to his possessions and generally stepped up to do what was needed. Extensive networking led to the intercession of Mary Lamasney of the Ft. Washington Housing for the Elderly, who negotiated a complicated situation with the upshot that the gentleman and his dog now have a home. It’s just one story, but a reminder that caring individuals can have a real impact.

This led to a discussion about community resource directories and how to find city or other agencies that provide the correctly pointed assistance. No one networking source has it all, but HHOC has some links on its website; the Community Board can help point the way locally; the City website can be mined for a great deal of information. Also, the City is creating a new phone number "311" consolidating all former help- and information-lines into one; it is not active yet. One good way to search city agencies is through the website www.nyc.gov.

It was agreed that the HHOC networking Meet-and-Greet will take place in March at the New Leaf Cafe [secretary’s note: location changed to the Castle Village Community Room] and will be combined with a tenth anniversary celebration of the organization.
The next meeting will be Monday February 24, at 7:15 p.m., in the Castle Village Community Room, 110 Cabrini Blvd. (through the iron gates — use the intercom if the gates are locked).