For years we — like many — have been watching the real estate market hoping for an opportunity to buy something that wasn’t obscenely overpriced. With mortgage rates near historic lows the odds improved but we still felt Luna Park was the better option…until my wife got pregnant again and now we’re expecting a baby girl in April. We were forced to re-evaluate our priorities (and my already 30-minute wait for the bathroom in the morning) against the future needs of an expanded family. We got lucky and found something we can afford so it’s with some sadness that I announce my resignation from Luna Park’s board of directors effective February 15th. This is usually the part where someone leaving tells everyone to go screw themselves but I don’t feel that way. My wife’s spent twenty six years of her life here, I’ve spent nine, and neither of us saw ourselves staying that long or getting involved but, to my surprise, I went from not caring at all about Luna Park to having it constantly on my mind.
This is all happening very quickly but I’ll continue on the board until the last day so I can hand off everything I was involved in and perhaps deliver a few more results before I go. I’ll also continue to monitor this blog and answer questions until I’m gone. Although I won’t have time to fulfill all the goals I set for myself as a director, I’m satisfied I’ll be leaving it better than I found it and have worked very hard for Luna Park. I was very much enjoying the changes at Luna Park; surprisingly so. It was pretty cool to see other residents get pleasure from what were only ideas some months prior and it motivated me to keep going. The fenced picnic area with inflatable pools, dog runs, website, gym, key fobs, intercoms, new parking lots…and much more. A lot can happen with unity, creativity, and a lot of energy.
I won’t miss all the lunatics or people who felt it was ok to call me a crook without proof, just foolish uninformed gossip. It was cowardly and impossible to defend against. I think a lot of it has to do with a culture I don’t really understand. I’m sure they’ll get even louder on my way out but that’s their failing, not mine. They’re only too happy to drag an unpaid volunteer’s name through the mud without getting to know me or see the work I put into this. I invested a lot of my own time and money (like for this blog, inflatable pools, free community BBQ’s) and only got back what you all received too…a better place to live. What an ungrateful bunch those people are; they deserve to live in the filth they imagine of others but I couldn’t bring myself to walk away and condemn the deserving residents and my own family to a board controlled by those incompetent idiots. If they spent even a tenth of that time and energy improving Luna Park instead of complaining and spreading rumors this place would be a wonderland.
In this letter I write “me” and “I” but it was a team success. I’m grateful to my fellow directors for putting up with my high energy aggression and helping get things done. I’m also very thankful to the office and maintenance staff that got hit by an unexpected human tornado the day I was elected. They handled it well and spun gold at the board’s constant urging. I encourage all to get as transparent as possible to the shareholders or there will never be trust. Publishing the parking list online was a good start. As the personal owner of Luna Park’s website, online file archive, and domain (purchased with my own money my first month as a director) I will transfer control to Luna Park free of charge as one more tool toward that goal. I hope it stays in use and other directors post and answer questions there as I have but that’s something they’ll have to now take responsibility for themselves.
If I can offer parting advice, it’s to get more energetic youth on the board! Look for professionals with modern or corporate experience who know how to get things done. Everyone’s full of good ideas but most don’t know how to achieve them. Avoid people who accuse everyone else of being criminals or do nothing but protest and complain. It’s easy to criticize but that only wastes time and money as evidenced by the entire last decade here. Saying you don’t like a color doesn’t put paint on a wall! You are all served very poorly by those activists and you should resent being manipulated as well.
I’d like to thank those of you who offered your support or kind words during my tenure; they meant a great deal. Good luck to you all,
John David Shkolnik
Luna Park Co-op @ Coney Island 