Even the peace and goodwill left in the wake of an announcement that a co-op might be sitting on an extra $100 million can't last long in the face of a contentious co-op board election. That's the lesson we're in the process of learning from Seward Park, the large housing complex within the Lower East Side's Co-op Village. Just last year, the co-op was exploring the "untapped potential" of its unused air and development rights. Just last week, angry sign-wavers gathered outside a board meeting to protest the board's handling of faulty election results. Good to know (potential) money hasn't changed them!
The full story, as explained in today's Times: the building held its election for four board seats in mid June, but soon after, the election committee chairman discovered that one of the voting machines had malfunctioned, spewing out a number of votes that was mathematically impossible.
The former board decided that residents who'd used the faulty machine could vote again?a decision that only made unhappy residents angrier. They fear that the earlier results might influence the next round of votes, and that the process has been tainted by the fact that several members of the old board are also candidates for the new one. On the bright side, notes the Times, at least the controversy has united building residents. Aww. Warm fuzzies!
· Election Errors Causing Strife at Lower East Side Co-op [NYT]
· Lower East Side Co-op Might Have Extra $100 Million Lying Around [Curbed]
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