(by Mitch B.)
It has been brought to my attention that someone recently defaced a wall in our building with a racial slur. Such an incident begs the question, what do we do about this? However, there are more questions to be raised including what is lacking in our community that makes our building a place where this kind of thing happens?
Management and the board can address the general problem of graffiti under the umbrella of vandalism. They can create and enforce a policy that includes warnings, fines, even eviction if the offense is serious enough. But the deeper issues can only be addressed by us all as a community.
Did we agree to live and to follow a code of behavior when we signed the agreement to move into a cooperative or did we not? The choice to buy-in to and live in a cooperative is a commitment to live cooperatively in a community of other people who have made that same choice. As members of a community, we have an obligation to consider the wellbeing, sensitivities, needs, and wants of our fellow cooperators even as we seek to satisfy our own needs and wants. Most of the time we can do this effortlessly, without altering how we go about our lives in any significant way. But when our actions become a burden on our friends and neighbors, we need to find a way to make the covenant we entered into with our fellow cooperators work for all of us. Do we enjoy cooking pungent foods? Smoking? Cranking our music up to eleven? Hanging out in the sitting area until 3 a.m.? If so, we have to find a way of minimizing the negative impact of these activities on our neighbors.
As a prerequisite to moving into River View Towers, we sign several documents and agree to abide by local laws, DHCR regulations, and our building’s house rules. Each of these are enforceable by appropriate authorities. BUT, being a good cooperator is not outlined, codified, and regulated; it is up to each of us. We need to build and maintain a thriving community – a community in which we, in all of our diversity, are happy to live our lives.
We can start in our own families. Make sure that everyone understands what a very special situation living in and being co-owners in a cooperative is. Groups like the Floor Reps, the Committee of Concern, Coffee & Conversation, RVT Voices, and others can be instrumental in shaping our community standards and educating our entire community about them. Of course, community standards must be broadly understood and cannot be so restrictive that the needs of the least flexible of us dictate expected behaviors. We must compromise and make life the best it can be for all of us.
A neighbor suggested we each begin to teach by example “What It Takes To Build a Strong Community” — each one, teach one. Examples: greeting people when we see them, offering assistance to a neighbor, if it appears they may need help, telling security or maintenance whenever we run across an issue needing attention, wiping the machines in the laundry room after use, wiping our shoes on the mats in the lobby before coming into our building, picking up litter on the property when we see it, etc. All simple tasks, with the purpose of making each of our lives, together, more harmonious and cohesive.
RVT Voices 