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To RIOC President Herb Berman: We are writing to urge RIOC to provide leases to merchants on Roosevelt Island whose businesses are in good standing. While some merchants are facing lease expirations this year, last week’s WIRE story highlighted the unacceptable fact that others have been operating without a lease for two, three, and even five years, while continuing to pay rent and provide crucial services to Island residents. While the Island’s population continues to grow, local businesses serving residents’ needs have been closing or scaling back. Without the security of leases, merchants are understandably reluctant to expand, much less invest in improvements to their establishments. Fearing the loss of their livelihood as the result of a serendipitous termination of a month-to-month arrangement, it is not surprising that Island businesses have left for other communities that are more business friendly. Roosevelt Island’s merchants have shown their commitment to this unique community through their years of faithful service. We find denying them the security of a lease, a standard business practice, unacceptable. RIOC’s job is to manage the Island with the interests of the residents in mind. In our opinion, leaving loyal Island merchants without the security of leases is not fulfilling the agency’s responsibilities. We call on you to do what’s right: assure Island residents the continued availability of the local businesses upon which they depend by offering merchants the security of a lease. We look forward to a favorable response regarding this issue. Jessica Lappin, Member of
City Council
To the RIOC President and Board: Regarding recent RIOC Requests for Initial Proposals (RFIPs): Regarding the RFIP seeking a master tenant for the Island’s retail spaces, I suggest that respondents to any RFP [Request for Proposals] be asked to describe how they plan to accommodate existing commercial tenants. RIOC can, at a minimum, express a desire to accommodate current commercial tenants and cause potential retail operators to consider it. There may be no cost associated with such accommodation. Competing RFP responses that are otherwise comparable might be distinguished by how they serve existing commercial tenants. Regarding the Sportspark-Tram Plaza space, I suggest RIOC commission a traffic survey of Main Street now to determine remaining capacity. Require RFP respondents to include a calculation of expected traffic impact on Main Street. Main Street has limited capacity and must serve as both the public and service access to all development south of the Roosevelt Island bridge. Though "destination retail" will draw people via public transportation, it is hard to imagine such retail not having an extraordinary adverse impact on Main Street. The impact should be known to RIOC when it evaluates RFP responses, and not be left for the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) phase of any future project. Regarding the Southpoint site, I suggest you not put out an RFP. If you do, include Judge Wetzel’s decision in the Octagon lawsuit. That decision strengthened the law’s prohibition against development on Roosevelt Island parkland when it is not associated with rehabilitation of a landmark. There is no landmark on the Southpoint area offered in the RFIP, so the Open Spaces Law prohibits development there. This clear statement is not subject to the kind of varying interpretations addressed in the Octagon decision which centered on a different issue – the quantity of development that’s allowed when such development does include the rehabilitation of a landmark. The best RIOC can say in an RFP is that respondents should seek their own legal opinion on whether their proposed development would be legal. But simply by requesting proposals for development, RIOC would be implicitly stating its decision that there’s a reasonable chance that such development is legal. RIOC chastised residents for wasting the Island’s money in bringing the Octagon lawsuit. In the current situation, a RIOC decision to lease Southpoint for substantial development not associated with a landmark will be the cause of another lawsuit, both sides of which will be paid for by residents. RIOC should not offer the Southpoint site for development if RIOC cannot reasonably assume such development will survive a legal challenge. The Octagon decision also found that the Roosevelt Island Residents Association has standing to bring suit, and it advised the Residents Association on the proper time in the process to file a suit. But RIOC directors should not base their decision on whether they’ll lose a lawsuit, but rather on whether this is the right thing to do. RIOC’s current financial situation, as expressed by Deborah Beck at the public meeting, does not trump the propriety of maintaining Southpoint as parkland, as it was originally planned, as the State Legislature recently confirmed, and for which New York City and RIOC itself have recently committed funds. Leasing that prized public land for a private development would imply a financial desperation that does not exist. Development at Southpoint would be the easy way out. It would not be much of an accomplishment to earn revenue from Southpoint land. Any quasi-governmental quasi-competent agency could do it. The challenge is to be financially stable while still having use of your best assets. Though it is reasonable to consider changes to the GDP, certain existing conditions resulting from the GDP cannot be changed. One example is the single street down the center of the Island. A development at Southpoint would not likely use the services of Motorgate or AVAC, and so would permanently increase the traffic burden on Main Street, which might be at or beyond capacity when Southtown housing is complete. If thoughtful city planning were applied to Roosevelt Island today, it would again exclude substantial development south of the Queensboro Bridge. There are no valid arguments in favor of such development and many reasons to avoid it. Marc Diamond
To RIOC President Herb Berman: When we spoke a couple months ago, you had stated that I should feel free to contact you with any comments or suggestions regarding Island concerns. I don’t know if you have noticed, but the school buses in the morning on Main Street have long been a major problem on the Island. Traffic just comes to a complete standstill while school buses in long lines unload. Meanwhile, as a result, the Red Buses back up so that service is completely disrupted for the entire Island. Have you considered having the school bus pickup points in the morning re-routed to the east and/or west access drives? I would imagine that this would significantly improve conditions on Main Street while also providing much safer points for children to load onto the buses without having to dodge traffic on Main Street. This traffic concern will only become more serious and impact more people as additional residents move onto the Island, especially to the north at the new Octagon Apartments. Kevin Klesh
The writer supplied this response, received from Herb Berman:
Dear Kevin: I received your e-mail and gave it to James Fry, the director of our Public Safety unit, for investigation and action. By way of historical perspective, please note that there is a long history of issues with the bus companies and how they function, a history that has resulted in the issuance of numerous violations, etc. We have provided space for the buses to wait for their passengers on New Main Street; they are supposed to wait ’til they are summoned by the School and told that their students have been dismissed and are available to be picked up. As to delivery of the students in the morning, they are supposed to deposit them at the curb. That is the safest way. The access drives are off limits to vehicular traffic unless it is for official or emergency purposes. It should be left open in case of emergency. We welcome your continued interest and we will continue to try to regulate traffic on Main Street. I can assure you that we continue to look to solutions. H. Berman
To RIOC President Herb Berman: More residential buildings to bring in the rich, out with the middle- and low-income, out with the mom and pop stores, let’s take more parkland away and put up even more concrete. A Walmart, a K-mart maybe? Yes, please! After all, that’s what the Island residents have been saying – that what this Island really needs is more traffic. Thank you so much for listening to us, your constituents. You must live life by the motto of "cha-ching cha-ching." Perhaps you would actually care about this Island if you actually lived on it. My wish is that, some day, you and your RIOC cronies will be faced with losing your own homes and the deterioration of your communities. And may your kids lose their ball fields, too. Denise Larocque
To the Editor: Roosevelt Island is a super international community. What is important is that most of the Island merchants come from many other countries: China, Egypt, Mexico, Italy, Korea, Africa, Russia, Romania and Greece. This adds so much to the grand New York State plan of a diverse international neighborhood. Roosevelt Island is an Island of nations. People moved here because of this global quality of life. A very important function of the merchant population has been overlooked. With happy thriving stores and places to get food, the population is happy and growing. Part of this growth and contentment is due to reasonable prices from a large variety of diverse merchants. Sensible, affordable rents promote population expansion, in part, as practical rents allow reasonable prices to customers. Some of these treasured international merchants are now gone because of the high RIOC rent pressures. The act of causing merchants to close is akin to the age old saying of "cutting off your nose to spite your face." An international face. RIOC is pulling all the bright colorful flowers out of the Roosevelt Island garden, leaving the land bare. We need a bright colorful thriving garden so the land can grow, supply needs and attract more multi-hued flowers to take up roots here. Please help the garden grow tall. A partial international list of diverse Island merchants are: China – Chinese
Restaurant Martin Atkins
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