North Shore Towers and Country Club security staff shines
Queens NY September 14 2019
In addition to the luxury living, many amenities, and year-round fun activities that North Shore Towers and Country Club offers its residents and members, one more major benefit it provides is excellent security, which makes it one of the safest places in the region to live.
“We are very proud of the safety and efficiency” that the security staff provides to the community, says Linda Rappaport, an onsite broker.
What helps make that possible is Christopher Stahly, North Shore Towers and Country Club Security Director, who has many years of experience keeping New Yorkers safe. He arrived at North Shore Towers more than three years ago after retiring as a New York Police Department (NYPD) lieutenant about eight years ago.
Stahly served in the NYPD for nearly 27 years, he says, noting that before retiring he had been assigned to the Special Investigations Division’s Major Case Squad. Prior to the that, he was commanding officer of the Manhattan Special Victims Squad, as well as commander of the 19th Precinct Detective Squad that covers Manhattan’s Upper East Side, he adds.
Among the many reasons why Stahly says he enjoys working at North Shore Towers is that his co-workers are “all professional and often go above and beyond their job descriptions for the shareholders.”
“The people who reside here are fantastic and are a pleasure to be around,” he says. “While it is a challenge to get to know them all personally, it is great to interact with them when I see them throughout the arcade or after an open board meeting or one of the many programs held here.”
“I believe North Shore Towers is the safest small city within the five boroughs,” he continues. “Even with 1,844 apartments and over 3,000 residents, crime here at the Towers is nearly non-existent.”
North Shore Towers and Country Club General Manager Glen Kotowski could not agree more.
“There were never any crime pins on the pin maps used to identify crime near or around the North Shore Towers property,” says Kotowski, who, prior to serving as the general manager, was a deputy inspector assigned as the commanding officer of the NYPD’s 105th Precinct, which serves North Shore Towers and Country Club. Since starting at the Towers more than 18 years ago, Kotowski has hired several retired ranking members of the NYPD to fill key positions.
“The safety and security of our residents benefit greatly from the collective amount of experience these retired police professionals bring with them,” he says.
In addition to Stahly, the Security Department consists of a site supervisor and approximately 30 full-time guards. Security at North Shore Towers is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation with the main front gate and the security dispatch office always staffed. Residents in need of security services, during both emergency and non-emergency situations, can simply call the security dispatch at any time of the day or night for help. In addition, at least one supervisor works per tour and has vehicle mobile patrols performed of the grounds and outdoor visitor’s parking lot and garage areas.
“We also have security patrols performed on foot through the arcade and vertical patrols that are conducted throughout the buildings from the penthouse to the lobbies,” Stahly says.
In addition, during business hours Monday through Saturday, when the loading docks are open and in operation, a security officer is assigned to each of the building’s loading docks “to ensure that contractors and vendors arriving are authorized, scheduled and expected,” Stahly says.
“Each contractor, vendor and visitor entering through the loading docks must provide identification which is logged in and recorded,” he says. “During the hours of 8 a.m. and midnight, there is a concierge and a doorman assigned to each lobby. From midnight to 8 a.m., a security officer is assigned to that post.”
Guests and visitors aren’t permitted to enter past the lobby without first being announced and getting the permission of a resident, Stahly adds.
“During the overnight shift, unexpected guests who cannot be verified are turned away at the main gate and not let onto the property,” he says. “The resident’s lane at the front gate is equipped with an access control system, which controls the gate arm allowing residents who have been issued a passive entry system tag to automatically enter. There are also security cameras at the main security booth, which record an overall view of the entrance as well as capture video of visitors driving onto the property and a view of the license plate of the car they are traveling in.”
“Speaking of video surveillance,” he adds, “there are currently over 100 cameras that are monitored and record multiple areas throughout the property,”
Over the next few weeks, a whopping 37 other cameras will be operational, covering all exits and entrances of all three buildings, he says. Over the coming year, additional cameras will be installed within the buildings and “we are experimenting with different software programs to enhance the abilities of our elaborate camera system,” he adds.
Of course, in addition to taking security so seriously, North Shore Towers and Country Club offers an 18-hole golf course, five Har-Tru tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, steam rooms, a hot tub, a state-of-the-art gym offering classes including Pilates, and many other activities. The club offers classes that include boxing and Pilates Reformer, a special exercise machine that’s “good for stretching your body,” says Mary Anne Langone, Country Club Manager.
“A lot of our golfers take the Reformer class because it helps with their flexibility,” she adds.
Pool activities include outdoor water classes, volleyball and several outdoor pool parties. There are basketball courts, boxing and billiards rooms, ping-pong and shuffleboard also. In addition, there’s shopping, a movie theater, barbecues, a garden club and many entertainment events.
