Co-op City, Bronx - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Co-op City located in the Baychester

Baychester, Bronx

Baychester is a working class neighborhood geographically located in the northeast Bronx borough of New York City in the United States. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 12. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 222nd Street to the north, the New...

section of the Borough

Borough (New York City)

New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...

of the Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

in northeast New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, is one of the largest cooperative housing developments

Housing cooperative

A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...

in the world. Situated at the intersection of Interstate 95

Interstate 95 in New York

Interstate 95 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Canada – United States border near Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of New York, I-95 extends from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to the Connecticut state line at Port Chester...

and the Hutchinson River Parkway

Hutchinson River Parkway

The Hutchinson River Parkway is a north–south parkway in southern New York, United States. It extends for from the massive Bruckner Interchange in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx to the New York – Connecticut state line at Rye Brook...

, the community is part of Bronx Community Board 10

Bronx Community Board 10

Bronx Community Board 10 is a local government unit of the New York City borough of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of City Island, Co-op City, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck and Westchester Square...

. If it were a distinct municipality, it would be the 10th largest "city" in New York State. Nearby attractions include Pelham Bay Park

Pelham Bay Park

Pelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...

, Orchard Beach

Orchard Beach, New York

Orchard Beach is a public beach in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The beach is part of Pelham Bay Park and is situated on the western end of Long Island Sound...

and City Island

City Island, Bronx

City Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...

. The community's Zip code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

is 10475.

Physical detail

Originally a swamp, the site was formerly the home of a 205-acre amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

named Freedomland

Freedomland U.S.A.

Freedomland U.S.A. was a short-lived, U.S. history-themed amusement park in the Baychester area in the northeastern part of the Borough of The Bronx, New York City. Its slogan was "The World's Largest Entertainment Center" .Freedomland opened on June 19, 1960...

that operated from July 1960 to September 1964. Construction on Co-op City began in May 1966. Residents began moving in during December 1968, and construction was completed in 1973. Its 15,372 residential units, in 35 high rise buildings and seven clusters of townhouses, make it the largest single residential development in the United States. It sits on 320 acres (1.3 km²) but only 20% of the land was developed, leaving many green spaces. The apartment buildings, referred to by number, range from 24 floors to as high as 33. There are four types of buildings; Triple Core, Chevron, Tower and Town House. The 236 townhouses, referred to by their street-name cluster, are three stories high and have a separate garden apartment and upper duplex three-bedroom apartment.

Co-op City is divided into five sections. Sections one to four are connected and section five is separated from the main area by the Hutchinson River Parkway. Each street in a section is denoted by a letter of the alphabet. All streets in section one begin with the letter "D", section two begins with the letter "C", section three with the letter "A", section four with the letter "B" and section five with the letter "E".

This "city within a city" also has eight parking garages, three shopping centres, a 25 acres (101,171.5 m²) educational park, including a high school, two middle schools and three grade schools (the high school, Harry S. Truman High School

Harry S. Truman High School (New York City)

Harry S Truman High School is a public high school at 750 Baychester Avenue, in the Bronx, New York City, United States. The school is designated as an Empowerment School by the New York City Department of Education, which allows it more autonomy in choosing a curriculum...

, is unusual for having a planetarium on the premises), power plant, a 4-story air conditioning generator and a firehouse

Fire station

A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...

. More than 40 offices within the development are rented by doctors, lawyers, and other professionals and there are at least 15 houses of worship. Spread throughout the community are six nursery school

Nursery school

A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...

s and day care

Day care

Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...

centers, four basketball courts and five baseball diamonds. The adjacent Bay Plaza Shopping Center

Bay Plaza Shopping Center

Bay Plaza Shopping Center is a shopping center adjacent to Co-op City, in the Bronx, New York. In addition to various department stores and shops, such as JCPenney, Staples Inc., Kmart and Old Navy, it has a multiplex movie theater, several restaurants, a fitness club, and some office space...

has a 13-screen multiplex movie theater, department stores, and a supermarket.

The development was built on landfill; the original marshland still surrounds it. The building foundations extend down to bedrock

Bedrock

In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...

through 50,000 pilings, but the land surrounding Co-op's structures settles and sinks a fraction of an inch each year, creating cracks in sidewalks and entrances to buildings.

Management

RiverBay Corporation is the corporation that operates the community and is led by a 15-member board of directors. As a cooperative development, the tenants run the complex through this elected board. There is no pay for serving on the board. The corporation employs over 1000 people and has 32 administrative and operational departments to serve the development.

The complex has its own Public Safety Department

Co-op City Department of Public Safety

The Co-op City Department of Public Safety is a security police force in the Bronx borough of New York City whose duties are to protect the property and citizens of Co-op City, and to enforce state and city laws on Co-op City property...

with more than 100 sworn officers, which include field patrol, plainclothes detectives and EMT

Emergency medical technician

Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...

/AED

Automated external defibrillator

An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of...

certified members of the force. All members have also attained peace officer

Peace officer

A law enforcement officer , in North America, is any public-sector employee or agent whose duties involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include police officers, prison officers, customs officers, immigration officers, bailiffs, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and...

status by NY State because of their special training. In December 2007, the cable television company Cablevision gave RiverBay permission to use its fiber optic cables in order to install additional surveillance cameras throughout the complex to be viewed at the Public Safety Command Center. In 2008, trained supervisors were granted the power to write summonses for parking and noise violations and Segways

Segway PT

The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing transportation machine invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA. The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" while "PT" denotes personal transporter....

were acquired — along with bikes — to help the officers patrol during the warmer months.

Co-op City has been managed by Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc. since October 1999. Before then, the property was run by in-house general managers.

There are two weekly newspapers serving the community: Co-op City Times (the official RiverBay paper) and City News.

History

Co-op City is on the site of Freedomland

Freedomland U.S.A.

, a former amusement park. Prior to housing that theme park, the land north of the Hutchinson River parkway was a large area known by residents as "the dump". By the 50s most of the land on the north side of the Hutchinson was flat land used for recreation; for example, model airplane flying meets were held there. It was possible to drive up to the Hutchinson River and walk along several paths through the reeds and swim in the Hutchinson River.

The land to the south of the Hutchinson River (Section 5 of Co-op City) was unspoiled swamp land from the 50s up through the time Co-op City was constructed. A tidal estuary reached from the Hutchinson River at the New Haven Railroad along a route just north of Hunter and Boller Avenue to pass under the Hutchinson River parkway. The estuary was the site of boat yards and canoe rental sites in the 50s. A well known restaurant at that site was Gus's Barge, operated by Gus and Francis Erickson. Gus's Barge was a restaurant and a night club featuring jazz combos and other forms of live music. The Erickson's also operated a boat yard that not only rented slips but specialized in refurbishing wooden boats, primarily motor boats made from teak and mahogany. The Erickson's sold their property in 1961 or 62.

When traveling into the city southbound from Interstate 95, it is one of the first sights a traveler sees and a vivid example of New York's urban immensity.

The project was sponsored and built by the United Housing Foundation

United Housing Foundation

The United Housing Foundation is a real estate investment trust in New York that is best known for constructing Rochdale Village.- Purpose :...

, an organization established in 1951 by Abraham Kazan and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America

Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America

The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Industrial Organizations...

. It was designed by cooperative architect Herman J. Jessor

Herman Jessor

Herman J. Jessor was an American architect who helped build more than 40,000 units of cooperative housing in New York City. He, along with Abraham Kazan, was a driving force of the cooperative housing movement in the United States....

. The name of the complex's corporation itself was later changed to RiverBay at Co-op City.

The construction of the community was financed with a mortgage loan from New York State's Housing Finance Agency (HFA). The complex defaulted on the loan in 1975 and has had ongoing agreements to pay back HFA, until 2004 when it was financially unable to continue payments due to the huge costs of emergency repairs. New York Community Bank

New York Community Bank

New York Community Bank is the savings bank subsidiary of the publicly traded company New York Community Bancorp. New York Community Bancorp is the fourth largest thrift in the United States and the largest in New York State...

helped RiverBay satisfy its $57 million mortgage obligation, except for $95 million in arrears, by refinancing the loan later that same year. This led to the agreement that Co-op City would remain in the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program for at least seven more years as a concession on the arrears and that any rehabilitation that Co-op City took on to improve the original poor construction (which happened under the State's watch) would earn credit toward eliminating the debt. By 2008, RiverBay had submitted enough proof of construction repairs to pay off the balance of arrears to New York State.

Mismanagement, shoddy construction and corruption led to the community defaulting on its loan in 1975 . The original Kazan board resigned and the state took over control. Cooperators were faced with a 25 percent increase in their monthly maintenance fees. Instead, a rent-strike was organized. New York State threatened to foreclose on the property, and evict the tenants — which would mean the loss of their equity. But Cooperators stayed united and held out for 13 months (the longest and largest rent-strike in United States history) before a compromise was finally reached, with mediation from then Bronx Borough President, Robert Abrams

Robert Abrams

Robert Abrams is an American lawyer and politician.-Life and career:He graduated from Columbia College and the New York University School of Law. He is considered a member of the reform wing of the Democratic Party.Abrams was a member of the New York State Assembly representing the Bronx from 1966...

, and then Secretary of State, Mario Cuomo

Mario Cuomo

Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...

. Cooperators would remit $20 million in back pay, but they would get to take over management of the complex and set their own fees.

The shares of stock that prospective purchasers bought to enable them to occupy Co-op City apartments became the subject of protracted litigation culminating in a United States Supreme Court decision United Housing Foundation, Inc. v. Forman, 421 U.S. 837 (1975).

In October 2006, Charles Rosen, who was the executive director of The Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club of Co-op City, and Jeff Aulenbach, a deputy executive director, pled guilty to charges of fraud and financial mismanagement. Rosen pleaded guilty to felony charges of grand larceny and forgery, and a misdemeanor count of obstructing government administration. Aulenbach pled to the same, except the forgery charge. They pocketed $1.2 million — of which $875,000 was loaned to the then radio start-up Air America Radio

Air America Radio

Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...

(the money has since been paid back) — of city funds meant to be used for social programs. The Boys & Girls Club of America cut ties with the Co-op City branch and New York City initially withheld $9.7 million, putting the club in danger of closing. Eventually, the organization reorganized — replacing the director, board and 90 percent of its staff — and reopened.
Co-op City residents presented Bronx state Supreme Court Justice John Byrne with petitions and hundreds of letters asking for jail time, but — in a plea deal — Rosen was ordered to pay $38,575 and Aulenbach $32,363 in restitution to The Gloria Wise Club. Both also must pay a $5,000 fine to the City and Rosen will be barred from working for a (NY) non-profit for three years. Charlie Rosen had been a longtime and respected community activist, best known for leading the year-long Co-op City rent strike

Rent strike

A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent en masse until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord...

in the early 1970s.

In September 2007, a report by the New York Inspector General, Kristine Hamann, charged that the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), which is responsible for overseeing Mitchel-Lama developments, was negligent in its duties to supervise the contracting, financial reporting, budgeting and the enforcement of regulations in Co-op City (and other M-L participants) during the period of January 2003 to October 2006. The report also chided Marion Scott management for trying to influence the RiverBay Board by financing election candidates and providing jobs and sports tickets to Board members and their family/friends — all violations of DHCR and/or RiverBay regulations. The DHCR was instructed to overhaul its system of oversight to better protect the residents and taxpayer money.

In October 2007, a former board president, Iris Herskowitz Baez, and a former painting contractor, Nickhoulas Vitale, pled guilty to involvement in a kickback scheme. While on the RiverBay Board, Baez steered $3.5 million in subsidized painting contracts for needed work in Co-op City apartments, to Vitale's company, Stadium Interior Painting, in exchange for $100,000 in taxpayer money. Ms. Herskowitz Baez was sentenced to 6 months in jail, 12 months probation and given a $10,000 fine in March 2008.

Qualifications for resident application

As of November 2007 those who wish to move into Co-op City must meet the following requirements:

Must not have felony conviction(s)
Credit score
Credit score
A credit score is a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person...

of at least 650 for the one-bedroom and 700 for the two- and three-bedroom apartments
Must not belong to the Section 8 program
Section 8 (housing)
Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 , as repeatedly amended, authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of approximately 3.1 million low-income households...
Must not have another primary residence
Be subject to a home visit during the application process

Depending on the number of rooms and occupants
Sales prices:

One-bedroom — $13,500-$18,000
two-bedrooms — $20,250-$22,500
three-bedrooms — $27,000-$29,250

Income requirement:

One-bedroom — $23,160 minimum/$75,768 maximum
Two-bedrooms — $34,760 minimum/$108,240 maximum
Three-bedrooms — $46,320 minimum/$140,760 maximum
Seniors have a reduced minimum income of between $20,844 and $45,180

Monthly maintenance:

One-bedroom — $579–$772
two-bedrooms — $869–$965
three-bedrooms — $1158–$1255

Renovations

Within the first decade of the 2000s, the aging development began undergoing a complex-wide $240 million renovation, replacing piping and garbage compactors, rehabilitating garages and roofs, upgrading the power plant, making facade and terrace repairs, switching to energy-efficient lighting and water-conserving technologies, replacing all 130,000 windows and 4,000 terrace doors (costing $57.9 million in material and labor) and all 179 elevators. The word "renaissance" is being used to describe this period in Co-op City history.

Many of these efforts are also helping in the "greening" of the complex: the power-plant will be less polluting, the buildings will be more efficient and recycling efforts will become more extensive. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority , established in 1975, is a public benefit corporation, located in Albany, New York, with regional offices in NYC, Buffalo, and West Valley....

(NYSERDA) awarded its largest ever grant — $5.2 million — to the community under its NY Energy $mart Assisted Multifamily Program.

In 2007, the power plant was in the process of upgrading from solely managing the electricity brought in from Con Edison to a 40-megawatt tri-generation facility with the ability to use oil, gas or steam (depending on market conditions) to power turbines to produce its own energy. The final cost of this energy independence could be as much as $90 million, but it is hoped to pay for itself with the savings earned — with conservative estimates at $18 million annually — within several years. Also, whatever excess power generated after satisfying the community's needs will be sold back to the electrical grid, adding another source of income for RiverBay.

In 2003, after a partial collapse in one garage, inspectors found 5 of the 8 garages to be unsafe and ordered them closed for extensive repairs. The other 3 garages were able to remain partially open during repairs. To deal with the parking crisis, New York City allowed angled parking in the community, the large greenways in the complex were paved over to make outdoor parking lots and agreements were made with nearby shopping centers to use their extra parking spaces. January 2008 was the first time in over 4½ years that all the garages were back open. The greenways are in the process of being restored.

Financial responsibility for these upgrades was the subject of a protracted dispute between RiverBay and the State of New York. Co-op City was developed under New York's Mitchell-Lama Program, which subsidizes affordable housing

Affordable housing

Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...

. RiverBay charged that the state should help with the costs because of severe infrastructure failures stemming from the development's original shoddy construction, which occurred under the supervision of the state. The state countered that RiverBay was responsible for the costs because of its lack of maintenance over the years. In the end, a compromise had the state supplying money and RiverBay refinancing the mortgage, borrowing $480 million from New York Community Bank in 2004, to cover the rest of the capital costs.

Population

Co-op City's population is estimated to be around 55,000 and its ethnic makeup is 55% Black

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

(non-Hispanic), 25% Hispanic

Hispanic

Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...

(of any race) and 20% Caucasian

Caucasian race

The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...

(non-Hispanic). Because of its large senior citizen block — well over 8,300 residents above the age of sixty — it is considered the largest Naturally Occurring Retirement Community

Retirement community

A retirement community, or active adult community, is a very broad, generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors - especially designed or geared for people who no longer work, or restricted to those over a certain age . It differs from a retirement home which is a...

(NORC) in the nation and its Senior Services Program has extensive outreach to help its aging residents, most of whom moved in as workers and remained after retiring.

Co-op City was home to a large Jewish community during its early years — as well as Italian and Irish — many of whom relocated from other areas of the Bronx such as the Grand Concourse

Grand Concourse (Bronx)

The Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...

. With Black

African American

s making up a large minority, as well, the community became known for its ethnic diversity. As early tenants grew older and moved away, the newer residents reflected the current population of the Bronx, with Black

African American

and Hispanic

Hispanic

residents becoming the majority. In the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, the neighborhood received an influx of former Eastern Bloc emigres, especially from Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

Popular culture

On their 1996 album Factory Showroom
Factory Showroom
Factory Showroom is the sixth studio album by the band They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1996 through Elektra Records....

, the band They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...

released a cover of a song called "New York City" (originally by a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

band named Cub). In their version, TMBG
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...

changed the lyric "Alphabet City
Alphabet City, Manhattan
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the Lower East Side and East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is also known as Loisaida, a Spanglish adaptation of 'Lower East Side'. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter...

" to "Co-op City".
Robert Klein
Robert Klein
Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine...

sings that the Bronx is beautiful and specifically mentions Co-op City in "The Traveling Song".
The hip-hop song "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow" by Nice & Smooth
Nice & Smooth
Nice & Smooth was an East Coast hip hop duo from New York that consists of Greg Nice and Smooth B . The duo released four albums from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s...

, released 1991 on the album Ain't a Damn Thing Changed
Ain't a Damn Thing Changed
Ain't a Damn Thing Changed is the second album from the East Coast hip-hop duo Nice & Smooth.Released on Def Jam Recordings sub-label RAL Records, it became more successful than its first album, Nice & Smooth, with the stand-out track "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow" becoming a minor hit...

, contains the lyric "I go to Bay Plaza and catch a flick". Bay Plaza is a large shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

adjacent to Co-op City, with a 13-screen movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

owned and operated by AMC Theatres
AMC Theatres
AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...

.
In the Dark Tower
The Dark Tower (series)
The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King...

novels by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

, the character Eddie Dean is portrayed as being from Co-op City. In Dean's first appearance, in the second book, The Drawing of the Three, Co-op City is correctly identified as being in the Bronx, while in later novels it is incorrectly portrayed as being in Brooklyn. Central to the series is the concept of alternate realities, so in some such realities Co-op City may have been in Brooklyn. King rectifies the discrepancy in the final novels of the series.
In the season-seven episode "Gone" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...

, the detectives' search for the body of a murdered witness leads them to a river in Co-op City.
The novel Bloodbrothers by Richard Price
Richard Price (writer)
Richard Price is an American novelist and screenwriter, known for the books The Wanderers and Clockers.-Early life:...

takes place in Co-op City at a fictional address. Price's novel Freedomland
Freedomland (novel)
-Plot introduction:A woman staggers into a local hospital, too dazed to speak. As the doctors and police try to puzzle out her injuries, her story comes out. She was thrown to the ground and her car was stolen...

takes its title from the amusement park that previously occupied the site.
The opening titles of the film Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester
EnglishFinding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. A black American teenager, Jamal Wallace , is invited into a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester , through whom he refines his...

shows scenes in and around Co-op City.
The end of the film The Seven-Ups
The Seven-Ups
The Seven-Ups is a 1973 American film released by 20th Century Fox. It stars Roy Scheider as a renegade policeman who is the leader of The Seven-Ups, a police team who uses dirty, unorthodox tactics to snare their quarry on charges leading to prison sentences of seven years or more upon...

depicts areas just outside of Co-op City's Section Five.
An episode of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy was briefly filmed in Co-op City. The segment featured notable signage found in the community.
Co-op City was featured in the second season episode "Home Wrecked Home" of Life After People: The Series.

Notable residents

Brad Agovino— author and news columnist
Brian Ash
Brian Ash
Brian Ash is an American producer and screenwriter.Brian Ash is a writer and co-executive producer of Black Dynamite: The Animated Series, a writer and producer of the third season of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks and a writer and creative consultant and on Freaknik: The Musical on Adult Swim...

— screenwriter/producer (resided in Co-op City from 1974 to 1993)
David Berkowitz
David Berkowitz
David Richard Berkowitz , also known as Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer and arsonist whose crimes terrorized New York City from July 1976 until his arrest in August 1977.Shortly after his arrest in August 1977, Berkowitz confessed to killing six people and...

— the notorious "Son of Sam" Killer (resided in Co-op City from 1968 to 1971)
Big Tigger
Big Tigger
Darian "Big Tigger" Morgan , also known as Big Tigg; is an American television and radio personality best known as the host of BET's Rap City and 106 & Park.- :...

— radio and television personality
Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow
Kurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...

— old school hip hop
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...

pioneer (resided in the Broun Place Townhouses during the mid-1980s)
Christopher Scott Cherot
Christopher Scott Cherot
Christopher Scott Cherot , born November, 1967, in The Bronx, New York, is an American film director best known for Hav Plenty , a true story that he wrote, edited, produced, acted in and directed.-Projects:Mr...

— screenwriter/director (resided in Co-op City from 1970 to 1981)
Eliot L. Engel
Eliot L. Engel
Eliot Lance Engel is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously represented the 19th District from 1989 to 1993...

— United States Congressman who represents .
Stanley Jefferson — professional baseball
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....

player from 1986 to 1991.
Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...

— actress, rapper (resided in Co-op City from 1980 to 1984)
Miles Marshall Lewis
Miles Marshall Lewis
Miles Marshall Lewis is an American pop culture critic, essayist, literary editor, fiction writer, and music journalist. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, class of 1993....

— African-American author (resided in Co-op City from 1974 to 1996)
Richard Price
Richard Price (writer)
Richard Price is an American novelist and screenwriter, known for the books The Wanderers and Clockers.-Early life:...

— novelist, screenwriter.
Sally Regenhard
Sally Regenhard
Sally Regenhard is an American activist who has become one of the leading voices for the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks. A former long-time resident of Co-op City in The Bronx in New York City who has degrees in behaviorial sciences and gerontology and has worked in the...

— mother of firefighter Christian Regenhard, and activist for families of the victims of the September 11 attacks
Larry Seabrook
Larry Seabrook
Larry B. Seabrook is the current New York City Council man from District 12 in New York City which covers the Co-op City, Williamsbridge, Wakefield, Edenwald, Baychester, and Eastchester sections of the Northeast Bronx...

— New York City councilman
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice....

— Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Rod Strickland
Rod Strickland
Rodney "Rod" Strickland is a retired American professional basketball player and currently in an administrative role for the University of Kentucky basketball team under head coach John Calipari. Strickland was formerly the director of basketball operations at the University of Memphis...

— former NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

player

External links

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Physical detail

Management

History

Qualifications for resident application

Renovations

Population

Popular culture

Notable residents

See also

External links