As the representative of the sponsor, Jim Short has been a member of the North Shore Towers Board of Directors for about 20 years.
“I came here in 1986 before it was a cooperative and there were two partners here who formed Three Towers Associates,” Short said. “I came here at a time when the controlling partner…was taking over the management of the entire place from the limited partner.”
At that time, Short had his own management consulting company and had done work for the partners before. They asked him to come to North Shore Towers to oversee the turnover.
“It was supposed to be for two weeks and that was about 20 years ago,” said Short, who was born in Brooklyn and has spent his adult life living on Long Island.
Short said that when he first came to North Shore Towers it was still a rental facility and had been having financial troubles. They began getting “it in shape to make a cooperative offering,” which was accepted by the attorney general.
While he had been interviewing potential general managers for the coop about 20 years ago, the partners called and suggested that Short handle the position himself. He was general manager from 1986 until 1998 when Greenthal was hired.
“At that point, my job was no longer to be the manager but really to manage the sponsor’s holdings that were here,” Short said.
Short has served on the Board of Directors at North Shore Towers since before it actually became a cooperative. He said that as long as the sponsor has two or more apartments, the sponsor has the right to appoint a representative to the Board. Currently, he estimates that the sponsor has about 130 apartments.
Prior to Short coming to North Shore Towers, he began his career as a union carpenter. He later joined the Nassau County Police Department, retiring in 1982 after 24 years of service. Short was also formerly the commanding officer of the homicide squad.
Following his retirement, Short opened is own management consulting business.
Over the years, Short has chaired several different committees while a member of the Board of Directors. When the current Board began the most recent term, he was asked to temporarily chair the Country Club Committee, although it will now be taken over by Board President Bob Ricken.
“It was a very nice few months that I spent with them [the committee] and we got a few things accomplished,” Short said.
One of the things accomplished while Short was working with the Country Club Committee was expanding the formerly family membership to become a sponsored membership for golf. Meant to address declining golf membership numbers, this membership enables people sponsored by a resident to become members.
“It’s been very successful. To date there are 40 [golf] memberships committed,” Short said. “I think it’s going to be very, very good for the community and it’s going to give North Shore Towers a chance to showcase itself to those new members that are coming in and we may end up with some new residents because of it.”
Short said that he loves the people at North Shore Towers and said there is a great staff and management that includes very knowledgeable department heads. He also said that all of the people he has worked with on the Board have been dedicated and hard-working.
“If there’s a problem here, we get together and we take care of it,” he said.
For the current Board term, Short said that his goal is to accomplish the improvements and work that the Board has already set out to do.
“I’d just like to see us follow up on the things we’re committed to do and get them done in a reasonable time frame,” Short said.