Pietro Filardo - Candidate # 2

The best piece of advice I have received since announcing my candidacy is this: Run a campaign that might benefit the community regardless of the outcome of the election. That will keep you motivated, and when it's all over you'll feel you've accomplished something, win or lose.

With this in mind, below are some thoughts on one approach to bettering our coop, the sharing of which in this flier may plant some seeds that will bear fruit regardless of the election outcome. I am not running specifically with the goal of implementing these ideas.

I have simply chosen them as examples of the kind of things that are possible here, but which have been neglected over the years.

To the right is a plan of our buildings and grounds at completion in 1960. It is almost identical to the plan of our grounds today, with a few exceptions, such as the new park resulting from the garage collapse, and the addition of many tall fences dividing our estate into un-navigable enclaves.

This kind of planning, with towers set among trees and grass, is from a bygone era and will never return, not to Manhattan. The city has become too dense and land too valuable for a developer to "squander" build-able square-footage on stretches of empty grass. As development inevitably crowds around us in the years ahead, we’ll appreciate our green oasis more and more. Many shareholders want to start now thinking about how to get more from this treasure, including me:

Case Study 1:

To the right is a photo of our Hester Street property adjacent to Building 4. It has been closed-off with layers of tall fences, for decades I am told. Some shareholders don't even know it's ours. I believe our community possesses more than enough collective skill and energy to come up with ideas for this property and to see them through.

The Board Could:

1. Hold an ideas competition open to everyone who lives here.
2. Post all entries online and in one of our common areas.
3. Let shareholders vote and award a modest prize to the winner.
4. Put out a coop-wide request for people interested in being on a task force, people with specific skills or people who just care and have time to contribute.
5. Have the task force develop a scheme, OR
6. Find an outside architect/landscaper to develop a scheme.

Perhaps the time is right to open a pedestrian route linking Hester Street to the rest of our property. This would allow us to circulate more freely through our estate. Security concerns would need to be addressed but keyed-gates and security cameras have managed to keep other parts of our property safe in recent years.

To the right is a photo of the recently restored viewing garden in the Public Seward Park. Volunteers did most of the work. I'm betting we have enough volunteers among us to put in a garden at the very least.

The space around Buildings 3 and 4 is neglected and the land behind Building 4 is today appreciated only by squirrels. Right now in Building 4 we have a children's playroom close to Grand Street, and at the back we have a space formerly occupied by Head Start. We could switch them, with the commercial space moving onto Grand Street and the play room moving to the back of Building 4. (See Drawing below) This would do the following:

1. Create valuable commercial space with a street presence on Grand Street.
2. Connect the playroom to the play area at the back of Building 4 creating a combined indoor-outdoor children's area. The play room would also be more secure and closer to Buildings 1-3.

Case Study 2:

Right now, the community room in Building 4 is not connected to the disused land around it. By installing French doors and laying down some paving we could create an outdoor space attached to the community room, greatly enhancing the purposes for which the community room could be used. (See previous drawing).

These are just a few ideas but there are opportunities like them all over our property, which could come to light with the collective thinking of our shareholders - if asked for their input. Many ideas require very little money to realize.

But while we’re on the subject of money…

Years from now, Seward Park may well be occupied primarily by high-paid professionals wanting white-gloved doormen and roof-top swimming pools. But this is not our coop today or in the near future, and these are not the constituents I pledge to represent.

I support the policy of keeping maintenance low, therefore everything we think of doing has to be evaluated for its financial viability. The lobbies and hallways come first and it may take years before funds are available to realize ideas, even those subsidized by volunteers. But we can at least look at possibilities and develop a long-term master plan for our buildings and grounds which we can refer to in the years ahead.

You can contact me with questions and concerns at: [email redacted]

For more information about myself and all candidates, I encourage you to visit the coop's unofficial information clearing house, operated as a service to the community by Dan Strum: www.SPBuzz.org.

Return to the Election Corner 2007 home page.