The RIRA Column

The last Residents Association Common Council meeting of the season will be held next week, on Wednesday, June 7, at 8:00 p.m. I want to extend an invitation to all of our new Island residents in Southtown and Octagon to join us. Because you live on Roosevelt Island, you’re automatically a member of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA). The way it works is that each building elects one or more people from among their residents to represent them on the RIRA Common Council. The number of representatives depends on the size of the building or complex. Currently, there’s no one on the Council from Southtown or Octagon. If you live in either of these complexes and want to represent your building on the RIRA Common Council, just stop by the meeting next week and we’ll be happy to acquaint you with how RIRA works and what we’re trying to accomplish. If you can’t make the meeting, just e-mail me.

This is an easy way to become involved in your new community and the more people RIRA gets from the Island, the better we can represent the wishes of the whole Island. A great way to start to participate in some of the local activities is to join one of the several RIRA committees. There’s Communications, Housing, Island Services, Government Relations, Planning, Public Safety, Social Cultural & Education. There’s always room for one more on these committees and I encourage you to join. (You don’t have to be an elected Common Council member to join.)

Coming up on June 10 is the annual Roosevelt Island Day celebration. As usual, RIRA will be serving coffee and bagels to all of the hard workers who come out to help spruce up the Island. Later in the day, there’ll be the usual games and concert. Be sure to look for the posters around the Island that give the day’s schedule.

Then, the following week, on June 17, RIRA will be hosting a Greek Wine Tasting from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Gallery RIVAA, 527 Main Street. The cost of admission will be small, the wine will be tasty, and the proceeds help to run neighborhood activities during the year. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.

Congratulations to our new Roosevelt Island CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) group. By the time you read this, they will have graduated from their eleven-week training, and we want to take this opportunity to thank them for making this commitment. Let’s hope we never need them to use the skills they learned in these classes, but if we do, it’s comforting to know that they’re ready and willing to help out in a crisis.

I can’t end this column without at least making mention of the old barbecue grills that have been placed on the Meditation Lawn just south of Rivercross and behind Blackwell House, because RIRA has been so vocal about getting the barbeques out for the summer. We asked RIOC several times to discuss the placement of these grills before they put them anywhere. But when the time came, we were not consulted. People have already asked why the grills were placed there, and they’ve been told that RIRA wanted them. For the record, we didn’t want them next to residential areas. There have traditionally been some places set aside for partying on this Island, and others set aside for quiet contemplation. The Meditation Lawn got its name from the Meditation Steps just west of it. For 30 years, people who wanted to play outdoor games, barbeque, and have active fun outdoors went up to the north end of the Island to Octagon Park and Lighthouse Park, and people who wanted to sit outdoors, quietly read the paper, and just relax, went to the Meditation Lawn area.

That’s all gone now. Not only has Meditation Lawn become a boistrous party property, but off-Islanders are bringing their own grills to supplement RIOC’s "official" grills. That’s not supposed to be allowed, I’m told, but Public Safety isn’t enforcing the rule.

We’re not trying to be kill-joys. People have a right to enjoy the summer and party as hard as they like in the areas set aside for that purpose, but there are other people who also have a right to sit quietly and enjoy nature. Not every blade of grass has to be designated a party area. I’m sure some would like to see the whole Island open for barbecuing. However, I have spoken to many residents who are not pleased with uncontrolled barbequing and its attendant loud music, smoke, and garbage on the few open spaces next to residences.

While on the subject of trash, it’s clear that our new $2,000 garbage cans don’t accommodate the big trash-bags that picknickers use. People discard those bags next to the containers, and they accumulate as eyesores late Sunday and Monday mornings when they are finally collected.

Whatever your personal preference, please make it known to RIOC, and let us at RIRA know as well.