Conservatory Garden in bloom - check it out!

 Enjoy the Conservatory Garden in Central Park, at 102nd Street near Fifth Avenue. The northern end of the garden is at its peak.   Thanks to Barbara Geller, a volunteer there, for these photos. 

COVID has changed our usual Halloween activities

CENTRAL PARK GARDENS TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION

COVID has changed our usual Halloween ACTIVITIES.

So no candy and fundraising in the lobby.

 

BUT we still need money –to keep all tenants informed with tenant handbooks, a website, flyers and more, and to fight the expected “Major Capital Improvement” increase we’re expecting for the rent stabilized tenants.

 

MAKE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL BY

• Joining or renewing your tenant association membership ($10/apartment each year), and
• Contributing to our Legal Fund ($100 or whatever you can afford).

 

Make a paper or electronic check payable to

Central Park Gardens Ten. Assoc.

and leave it in a sealed envelope for Joan Browne in Apt. 12F  OR have your bank send it to Joan Browne, 50 W. 97^th St., Apt. 12F, NY, NY 10025.

thank you!

Plan how you'll vote.

Check that you are registered to vote.  

DEADLINE TO REGISTER:  Friday, Oct. 9, 2020

REGISTER HERE: https://www.ny.gov/services/register-vote

HOW TO VOTE: 

Absentee Ballot

• If you don't yet have an absentee ballot,  APPLY RIGHT NOW FOR AN ABSENTEE BALLOT!
• Once you get the ballot, check. 
• It's ok if the ballot says "Official Absentee Military Ballot." (They just forgot to put a "/" between ""military" and "absentee".)  
• It's NOT ok if the inside return envelope has a different name and address from yours. If that happens, contact the Board of Elections!
• Fill out the ballot.  Sign where you have to.  
• If you are planning to return it by mail, put it in the return envelope, and put a regular first-class postage stamp on the envelope - even though the ballot is oversized. 
• You can also take the ballot with you to the polls - both Early Voting and Regular.  If the line is not too long, you can decide to vote IN PERSON, instead of absentee.  Then just tear up the absentee ballot and throw it out.  If the line is very long and you can't wait, put your absentee ballot in the special box for it at the polling place.

In Person

• EARLY voting at West Side High School, 140 West 102nd Street  during these hours: 

·      Saturday, October 24:    10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

·      Sunday, October 25:       10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

·      Monday, October 26:       7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

·      Tuesday, October 27:      12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

·      Wednesday, October 28: 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

·      Thursday, October 29:     10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

·      Friday, October 30:           7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

·      Saturday, October 31:      10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

·      Sunday, November 1:       10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

• REGULAR VOTING on NOVEMBER 3rd at PS 163,  on West 97th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, between 6 AM and 9 PM.

Do you have a car in our garage? Want the garage open 24/7 as it used to be?

Since ICON is dragging its heels about reopening the garage 24/7, as it was before the pandemic - and since the sole reason is financial, we'll be filing a reduction in services complaint with the state's housing agency.

If you're a rent stabilized tenant with a car in the garage, please contact Sue to sign the complaint. 

The law only protects rent stabilized tenants from such reductions, so only rent stabilized tenants will be signing onto the complaint.  But non-stabilized tenants are welcome to submit letters of support. 

Rally to Cancel Rent - 11 AM on Thursday, Oct. 1 at Foley Square

The principle is simple:  

Where and how to vote

Make sure you are REGISTERED TO VOTE.  If you're not, you can register to vote on line by filling out

• Complete English Form On-line ( 304KB)
• Complete Spanish Form On-LIne ( 310KB)

Then print it, sign and date it, and send it BY OCT. 9, 2020

to the 

NY County Board of Elections

200 Varick Street, 10th Floor, NY, NY 10014

or register to vote on line at https://www.ny.gov/services/register-vote. This site requires a NYS driver's license or a non-driver ID from the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles.

Once you are registered, you can vote by ABSENTEE BALLOT, or IN PERSON.  However you vote, wear a mask!

IN PERSON VOTING:

Early Voting

Where: at West Side High School, 140 West 102nd St (between Columbus & Amsterdam)

When: 

Saturday, Oct. 24 , 10 AM to 4 PM

Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 AM to 4 PM

Monday, Oct. 26, 7 AM to 3 PM

Tuesday, Oct. 27, Noon to 8 PM

Wednesday, Oct. 28, Noon to 8 PM

Thursday, Oct. 29, 10 AM to 6 PM

Friday, Oct. 30, 7 AM to 3 PM

Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 AM to 4 PM (Halloween)

Sunday, Nov. 1, 10 AM to 4 PM

What: You can vote in person, OR you can drop off your absentee ballot.

Regular Voting

When: Tuesday, November 3rd

Where: PS 163 on 97th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam 

What: You can vote in person OR you can drop off your absentee ballot. 

ABSENTEE BALLOT

Apply:

Apply online for a general absentee ballot for the November 3rd election. Click here to apply now. New Yorkers can also mail, email or fax their absentee ballot applications. Click here to learn more. All applications must be submitted by October 27th. If you are mailing your application it must be postmarked by this date. New Yorkers may apply in-person until November 2nd. 

Important: if you applied for an absentee ballot for the primary election, you must apply again for the general election.

The NYC Board of Elections will begin mailing out absentee ballots later this month. 

The Board of Elections now provides an Absentee Ballot Tracking System.  Click here to check the status of your application and track your ballot. The system is updated every 24 hours, and applications take up to 72 hours to be entered. 

Return the absentee ballot in any of the following ways:

1. Put it in the mail to the NY Board of Elections, 200 Varick Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10014.

2. Drop it off at an early voting poll site from October 24th through November 1st.

3. Drop it off at a regular poll site on November 3rd BY 9 PM

4. Drop it off at the NY Board of Elections, 200 Varick Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10014. 

New lease form for rent stabilized tenants for Oct. 2020-Sept. 2021

In June 2020, the Rent Guidelines Board voted that for rent stabilized tenants whose lease renewals begin any time from Oct. 1, 2020 through Sept. 30, 2021, a 1-year lease renewal would have NO increase, and a 2-year lease renewal would have NO increase the first year, and a 1% increase the second year.   This does NOT apply to you if your lease renewal does not begin during that period. 

So if you are rent stabilized and your renewal lease will start any time between Oct. 1, 2020 and September 30,20201,  your lease renewal form will look a little different than it has before.  (Click on the link for what the new one looks like.)

Under line 2, it should say:  

**Rent Guidelines Board Order #52 applies to leases commencing between 10/1/20 and 9/30/21.  It allows the two(2) year lease guideline increase to ONLY be collected in the second year of the lease. There is no increase in the first year. 

https://hcr.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2020/06/rtp-8.pdf