NOV 5 UPDATE FROM WARC PRESIDENT – LIFE AT WESTBETH CONTINUES SLOWLY

Westbeth Update

Monday AM November 05, 2012

The challenges continue for Westbeth but the kindness, generosity and hard work of Westbeth volunteers, staff, elected officials and friends has also been tremendous. Thank you all!

Now to specifics:

Our Polling Place for Tomorrow – Stays at Westbeth

There is still confusion on this matter if you look on line. On the BOE web site where you find your polling place, if you fill in our address it says you will vote at PS3 but that is as 11/4. The posting on their site at 12:36 this morning (11/5) shows that only 4 sites in Manhattan were moved and we are not one of them. Erica Fae got confirmation from the BOE that Westbeth will remain the polling site. Our elected officials have also gotten confirmation from the BOE that Westbeth will remain the polling site. If there is any change to this we will post it at once but for now, count on voting at Westbeth.

Reports below are gathered from Westbeth Corp FB page and WARC members Deb Travis, Erica Fae and Vicki Blankenship

-Electricity slowly coming back to residential apartments but portions of A section and B and C apartments close to the A section may not receive electric for several more days.

-The search for temporary boilers for heat and hot water continues. The large size of the building makes the search to find boilers that can accommodate the whole building harder.

-Elevator company and consultant will be in today to begin their assessment. As of today, it is likely that the C elevator (the freight car) will be the first one on line.

-Erica Fae is coordinating distribution of donated electric blankets and will be working through Oliva Duerr for their distribution. There is a supply of donated, used blankets in the community room for anyone to use.

Directly from the Wesbeth Corp page BASEMENT

“At the end of the meeting we announced a plan for the basement cleanup. We escorted basement tenants in small groups to their spaces so they could see what they are up against, and also showed the sculpture studio users the terrible situation there. Starting Monday, we will alot blocks of times to tenants to begin work salvaging what they can from their spaces and the Sculpture Studio. They will have to sign waivers of liability, enter at their own risk, and be accompanied by a Westbeth staff member at all times. The need for speed is great: The basement needs to be cleared and cleaned as soon as possible before its smells become even worse and other health problems begin to arise. Westbeth anticipates beginning the cleanup of the public spaces and its own areas by midweek, although we don’t yet have an idea how long that will take.”

-There will be a building meeting today at 3 in the community room. There may not be a meeting on Tuesday since the community room will be the polling site. Future meetings may be moved to a later time to accommodate those who work outside the building.

WARC is organizing floor captains among those who are still in the building to check on those still in residence.

WARC will be posting brief updates at every elevator for those who can’t attend the meetings.

Love from Ohio,
George Cominskie