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

Black lives matter! Join some neighbors in a vigil each evening.

While this isn't a tenant association activity, many tenants meet each evening for a 9-minute silent vigil in front of our building.  Our signs say "Black Lives Matter.  Vote" and similar messages. Of course we wear masks and stay 6 feet apart.

With the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, it's clear that the message hasn't reached those with guns.  A Black man can still be shot in the back 7 times, in front of his three children, and two people peacefully demonstrating in support of Jacob Blake were shot by a white teenager.  So Jacob Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber can be added to the antii-Black violence.

Please join us.  We're meeting at 7:30 PM these days - and will make it earlier along with the earlier sunset.  And join other community members every Friday evening at 5 PM at 96th and Broadway to "say their names" - recite the names of Black people killed by the police.

                         Thanks to Laura Koulish and Frank Leonardo for photographs.

Have you been counted in the Census?

Do you want money for schools? for hospitals? for libraries? for roads? for the MTA?

GET COUNTED!

• Even if you're here temporarily, 
• Even if you're staying out of town during the pandemic,
• Whether you are a U.S. citizen or not,
• Even if privacy is very important to you, 

We need to be counted if we want enough representatives in the U.S. Congress.

It's easy.  Click on MyCensus2020 and fill it out. Even if you don't have the ID number they sent you, you can do it with your address.  Or you can do it by phone: 

• English (for 50 states and Washington, D.C.): 844-330-2020
• Spanish (for 50 states and Washington, D.C.): 844-468-2020
• And with an operator:  Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Chinese (Mandarin): 844-391-2020
• Chinese (Cantonese): 844-398-2020
• Vietnamese: 844-461-2020
• Korean: 844-392-2020
• Russian: 844-417-2020
• Arabic: 844-416-2020
• Tagalog: 844-478-2020
• Polish: 844-479-2020
• French: 844-494-2020
• Haitian Creole: 844-477-2020
• Portuguese: 844-474-2020
• Japanese: 844-460-2020

Stellar initially refused to admit the U.S. Census worker who came with the names of 48 tenants who hadn't yet filled out their forms. But with the help of Congressman Nadler, Community Board 7, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, the U.S. Census office in NYC sent Stellar a letter, and  Stellar has agreed to let in the Census workers. But you don't have to wait. Do it now!

Black lives matter - some tenants rally in front of building

At exactly 8 PM on June 3, 2020, several tenants rallied in front of the building - standing silently for the 9 minutes that the police held down George Floyd until he died.  Some of those tenants will be doing it again on June 4, 5 and . . . , and urge others to join them.   Of course tenants stayed 6 feet apart and wore masks.  The only sign said "Black Lives Matter.  Vote!"  Other tenants are welcome to bring their own signs.

To SLOW the spread of COVID-19

People with NO symptoms can still spread coronavirus COVID-19.  Infected people send lots of virus particles into the air by talking, singing, coughing, or sneezing.  So even if you don't think you're infected - just in case, please wear a mask to protect the vulnerable people in our community. 

The virus infects you by getting into your nose, mouth, or eyes.   So protect yourself and others by wearing a mask - and don't touch your eyes, nose or mouth until you've washed your hands. 

Fortunately, soap and water kill the virus.  

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that you 

• Wear a mask in public areas - anywhere outside your apartment. 
• Keep at least 6 feet from those you don't live with - so only one household in the elevator at a time.
• Wash your hands with soap and water often (or use Purell or some other cleaner with at least 70% alcohol, like many glasses lens cleaners).

We urge you to