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To the Editor:
A letter in a recent issue of The WIRE rightly pointed out the great dangers incurred by the removal of the Main Street stop signs at the spiral ramp. I recently noticed that the remaining sign (stopping traffic descending from the ramp) still says "3-way stop," compounding the confusion and thus the danger. Without a doubt, the 3-way stop must be reinstated at that intersection for safe and orderly, unconfused traffic flow. It is not a solution to simply remove the "3-way stop" label mentioned above, though I fear that will be seen as the path of least resistance by the responsible party/parties (NYC DOT? RIOC? Who?). Speaking of confusing traffic signage, the turnaround "traffic circle" north of Southtown is also badly labelled. The stop line for southbound traffic extends all the way across the road, and there is a traffic circle sign on the northmost point of the traffic island. It seems the intent is that northbound traffic is supposed to keep the traffic island to the left, and the southbound lane (west of the traffic island) is supposed to be one-way southbound. If this is the intent, it’s very poorly labelled (the traffic circle sign should be facing northbound traffic), and more importantly, poorly conceived – for one thing, the sharp turns required for northbound traffic are probably not even possible for the Red Buses, and certainly add wear and tear and needlessly complicated maneuvering.
This combination of poor design and confusing signage reflects bad planning and bad execution, and should be redressed as soon as possible. Don Chesley
To DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd: Roosevelt Island residents were recently informed that the Department of Environmental Protection is planning to truck concentrated liquid chlorine twice a week into this rapidly expanding residential community of 10,000 (see nyc10044.com, "Water Tunnel Security to Require More of Octagon Park"). We learned this at a RIOC Board meeting along with the information that the original requirement for 8,000 sq. ft. (for security purposes) would be expanded eightfold. As the Secretary of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) and a CERT-trained member, I am writing to request that you come to this community and speak directly with residents. You should be prepared to tell us what emergency (evacuation?) plans for this community of elderly, disabled, families, and international diplomats you’ve created with the local OEM, as well as how our local CERT trained residents may assist, in case of a spill. Sherie Helstien
To the Editor: A quick note to recognize a random act of kindness in Motorgate (on one of the hottest days of the year), and a special thanks to a hard-working member of the Island’s visiting film crew... Leaving the garage to go home to Jersey (I grew up on the Island and was visiting my mother), I was hamstringed by a very, very flat tire. I don’t know much about cars, or even where my spare was. A quick call to my husband confirmed that we do not have Triple A (note to self...). When I went to the Motorgate office for advice about local mechanics, a film crew member happened to be standing by, overheard my plight, and selflessly offered to change my tire himself. He wanted no payment. Forty-five sweaty minutes later, William (of film crew security) had changed my stubborn tire, which required lying on the dirty floor, jacking my car up and down several times, etc, etc. In the 98-degree heat, sweat was pouring off him, but he maintained an upbeat, can-do attitude the entire time! I can never thank him enough for rescuing me from hours of phone calls and waiting around for some unknown mechanic. He said he won’t be in the film credits, so here’s one for him: Thank you, William, for your selfless and much appreciated help. Jenny Connorton Mulholland
To the Editor: The princess whose sleep was disturbed by a pea has nothing over some over-sensitive Roosevelt Islanders, women and men, who commute to the City via subway. Because the F train doesn’t arrive at Roosevelt Island during the morning rush hour from Queens with ample seating, the pampered Islanders stand back and wait for the next train, and the next if boarding requires them to push in. Just how bad is this over crowding that has been brayed about in Letters to the Editor? Some weeks ago, after the Tram malfunctioned, I had occasion (I am semi-retired) to be in the City for a 9:00 a.m. meeting. I arrived at the subway platform around 8:20 am. There were a large number of fellow Islanders waiting. An F train rumbled in. I had positioned myself toward the front of the train. The doors opened, several folks on the platform ahead of me pulled back, apparently frightened by the passengers who stood in the door. But the train was not packed full; there was plenty of room to the sides away from the door. I pushed in and, as seasoned subway riders do, they gave way. The doors closed. I looked at my mollycoddled neighbors, wearing the pained expression of being jilted, as the train pulled away. Come on, you indulged Roosevelt Islanders. Act like New Yorkers. Push slowly but firmly in when the train comes in and you won’t be left standing slack-jawed at the station. No princesses live on Roosevelt Island, nor Princes for that matter. If they did, they’d soon learn to sleep on a pea. Minburn
To the Editor: David Stone, an attentive observer of the passing scene on our Island did two public things in July. On July 1 he suggested in The WIRE that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. The flies in this case were the RIOC operatives. To demonstrate one honey-laden approach, on July 29, David Stone had The WIRE editorial to himself. He used the column to list 49 reasons for liking our Island. Everything listed was right, to my mind. But to whom was the honey directed? If you said "not the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation!" you would have been almost right. David’s of things to be liked about our Island had three things RIOC is responsible for – the dilapidation of Blackwell House, the mixed state of repair/disrepair of the promenade, and summer concerts. How dilapidation of Blackwell or the disrepair of the promenade are things to like escapes me, but why argue? The big winners in the ‘good things’ list were the people who live on the Island, with 21 mentions. The natural setting and the world around us received 12 mentions. The efforts of public servants like Ed Logue and our recent elected officials got seven. Why is this? The basic problem is that RIOC officialdom, for all its good intentions, never has had a good fix on its clientele. In a takeoff of a famous line from a 1992 political campaign, they need to be continually reminded – It is the clientele, stupid. Any organization that strays from paying attention to its clientele will fail. RIOC, over the last 12 years, has focused on the second floor of the State Capitol – the Governor’s Office – as its clientele. RIOC has continually missed the fact that its overriding clientele are the people who live on this Island. What exactly does this mean? How has RIOC ignored its most important clientele, the residents of the Island? Let us look at a list, going from the most general to the most detailed. RIOC does the following: • Fails to make an amended General Development Plan available for public review. • Fails to maintain the aesthetic plan of the Island or create a new one. • Fails to involve the general public in the affairs of the Island operation. • Fails to make a long-range capital improvement plan available for public review. • Fails to make an annual operating budget proposal available for public review. • Fails to make the policy topics being considered available for public review. • Fails to provide timely notice of changes in public service schedules. • Fails to solicit public comment on proposals for changing public services. • Fails to use the Island newspaper, The WIRE, to announce events. • Fails to distribute an annual report of the financial and operational results of activities. • Fails to find a way to meet regularly with the elected representatives of the Island. • Fails to find a way to cope with resident unhappiness about anything. • Fails to provide reasonable support for citizen-generated activities. • Fails to follow through on its own initiatives, such as the Sunday parking passes. • Fails to use its own unscheduled periodic publication to convey anything more than self-adulation. The present RIOC operatives may well be in the last six months of their assignment here. Do they care what is left behind? It is never too late to turn over a new page and begin a different script. It would be nice if RIOC would change its behavior, and win more mentions next time David Stone lists the "good things" about Roosevelt Island. David J. Bauer
To
Melissa Anelli, Thank you very much for your report, based on your interviews, on Roosevelt Island, which I read in the Main Street Wire of July 29th. I usually do not use such angry language as I did in my letter to the Staten Island Advance, but they were my true emotions that spoke. Thank you again for taking the time to meet with our residents. Yes, we love our Island, just as you do yours, and unjustified criticism and incorrect information can be very damaging. Adriana Vink
To the Editor: This in response to Mr. Stone’s Fifty Things to Love... list in the last issue: Though we may have our challenges with the people that have run the Island, there are dozens of hard-working, dedicated people who serve our community with little recognition. Our bus drivers toil daily getting us back and forth to the Tram, bus, apartments and all the way to Octagon (or Manhattan) and back. Do you greet the driver? Do you thank him for waiting for you that extra few seconds? Do you have your money ready? Do you wonder if you could stand driving over the Queensboro Bridge 10 times a day? Do you move to the rear of the bus so one more rider can get on? You get on and off in a few minutes, without being too discomforted by extreme heat or cold. Our drivers new and old get a pat on the back from me. Our grounds crew... who clean up from us and our visitors every day. Take a look at Lighthouse Park on a Monday morning. Would you want to be hauling trash from there? We come home to a very clean Island every evening. If we leave a dirty Island in the morning, it is our neighbors and visitors who leave the trash on the streets, in the planters, and on the lawns and in the gutters. Our RIOC maintenance staff who is constantly patching, repairing, fixing the Island. They have struggled to do a good job for years, without the proper funding or equipment. It may take a while, but thanks for the work that gets done unheralded day by day. Our Tram staff, most of whom were temporarily laid off two months ago. They serve us day in, day out, fixing our MetroCard problems, holding the cabin for one more passenger, and being our meeters and greeters for visitors, also answering the same questions day in day out with cheerfulness and courtesy. Our subway station staff. Though barely visible, they toil daily in heat and cold to keep the station clean and in repair despite a bureaucracy that can challenge anyone. The turnstiles work, the trains come, they get us to work, usually on time and, most important, home every night. They repair the chronically malfunctioning escalators and elevators. Being in a crowded subway is an insult to the Island mentality, which means we are real New Yorkers and have to accept that the Q is gone and the F is our real train! Our Public Safety officers who are there for the special needs of Islanders, from traffic snafus to boisterous youth to seniors in need of a hand, they perform daily, to few thanks and little recognition by the community. Thanks for all your work, it is appreciated. Our Housing Management staffs. I have lived in Eastwood, Island House and Rivercross. I have rarely met an employee that did not go above and beyond the call of duty. They cheerfully clear tubs, toilets, sinks, trash rooms, and other places. They keep our 30-year-old buildings in good shape. Our Post Office staff. Going to Island Station is a family experience. With Don, Sylvia and Mike at their stations, we can feel assured that the mail will get thru with patient explanations of postage rates to Afghanistan and to Zimbabwe explained again and again. Our Coler-Goldwater neighbors who can freely be a part of our Island community with acceptance of all by the Island neighborhood. They make it a better place to live and work. Our merchants, many of whom have been part of our Island lives for decades. The Deli crew who know your coffee order, the cleaner who knows your address, the storekeepers who extend a few dollars credit when needed. The pharmacy that will rush the medication to you immediately. Our Trellis gang who can recite the food habits of their customers down to the caffeine-free Diet Coke in a can for me. A special thanks to the Pizza Guys, whom we really miss these days! The garage guys who keep the aging Motorgate bearable, and hose down stairwells daily! Not a fun task. But now we have the new working elevators! Our great new neighbors at Riverwalk and Octagon. They are younger than us, love the Island, and are thrilled to be here. Sit in Starbucks and watch the next generation go by. Our friends of felines who feed and capture stray animals. They take in the cats and kittens, find them homes with no compensation, just the emotional reward that an animal is not suffering. Our organizations, parishes, congregations, artists, and all the groups that make the Island a community. Those who go out of their way to welcome newcomers and orient them to our unique community. Who cannot smile when passing our lovely gardens, overflowing planters and even a birdbath by our new flagpole! The 400 new lampposts (being installed) and those red trash cans do enhance the Island bringing some classic lines into our 1970’s cemento-tecture Main Street. Our sports facilities that the RIOC employees maintain: Tennis for pennies a game, swimming for a few dollars, free basketball, softball, soccer, road-running, handball, fishing – all surrounding us just a few steps away. Our school that takes all kids and gives them opportunity, and our Library that is their place, safe and comfortable for all to use. Our politicians who serve our Island with zeal and dedication and never shrug off our requests, demands, petitions, meetings, and phone calls. Our RIOC administration who take the jabs, punches, personal insults, verbal and written assaults continuously from some residents. They try their darndest not to lose it (and I would have lost it long ago if I would have been barraged with the vindictiveness of some of my neighbors). They are performing long-needed spruce-ups and repairs for us this summer. Our visitor center, soon to appear on the Tram Lawn will welcome the future visitors to the Island. A salvaged and renewed kiosk from 1909 to greet all, restored to its splendor with enthusiastic Islanders volunteering to show, tell, teach, and tour our Island home to the world’s populace who visit the Island. Thanks to the City of New York, Gifford and Jessica for funding the move and restoration! Our history, the story of this Island once a home to the suffering, poor, sick, socially unacceptable, turned into a community accepting all while maintaining the link with the past thru Blackwell House, the Chapel of the Good Shepherd (built for the residents of the Almshouse in 1889), the Lighthouse, the Smallpox Hospital (built for the contagious rich and poor), Strecker Laboratory (built to discover cures) and the Octagon (a new life for the entrance to a hospital that brought new life and hope to thousands). It is our history; let us celebrate on our Island! That is why I am here. This is my Island, community and home. Judith Berdy
To the Editor: What a lovely editorial by David Stone in your last issue! Clearly, he belongs in the "reserved space" at the end. I’d like to add: • Dorothy Donald, the unofficial queen of Roosevelt Island, soon to be 80, who graces our days as she glides along Main Street dispensing blessings and elegance. • The people who watch out for the Island’s animals and have for many years, among them two residents who would probably choose to remain anonymous but between them seem to know every cat, squirrel, seagull, Canada goose, possum, raccoon, and possibly even every sparrow and mouse that we share our home with. • The unexpected kindnesses and humor of our merchants and the evenhandedness of the guys in the stationery store, who could probably teach the U.N. a thing or two about keeping the peace. • The wonderful explosions of color, texture and imagination to be seen in the community gardens. Jennifer Dunning
To Kyle
Villegas, It was a pleasure talking to you last week. We’ve seen the notices that the film crew is back this week and hope the shoot is successful. It has been an adventure, for those of us who peeked into the school to catch a glimpse of the action, to host your cast and crew while you were here. I hope you found the location to be satisfactory and the experience rewarding. Roosevelt Island is like nowhere else in New York and we are proud denizens. I especially want to thank you for your generous offer of $2,000 for the Roosevelt Island Residents Association treasury. RIRA has sponsored social events, movie screenings, auctions, breakfasts on Roosevelt Island Day, blood drives, insurance fairs, other civic events, and dedicated a 9/11 memorial to our fallen neighbors and the Special Operations firefighters who share our Island, all enhancing the quality of our lives here. All have been both labor-intensive and financially draining, and your funds will make a difference in what we can provide. As I’m sure you know, we have a long history of movies concerned with and produced on Roosevelt Island going back to a Thomas Alva Edison short from 1903. Although I had mentioned it to Rob, I am not expecting a special screening here of The Brave One for the Island’s residents. If you were able to offer us an outdoor screening of the film in our Southpoint Park, with its backdrop of the East River and the United Nations, it would be a spectacular venue indeed. Again, my thanks for being so receptive to our concerns and for your support of this Island institution.
Sherie
Helstien
To the Editor: It was somewhat encouraging to read Herb Berman’s column in the July 29 issue, in which he outlined the exact replacement gear being built for our Tram in Switzerland. I have, for the record, always been a fan of going back to Square One, and doing a job correctly. Having said that, I should point out that I was one of many Island residents who attended the April 27 hearing at City Hall, organized by our Councilmember Jessica Lappin and Transportation Committee Chairperson John Liu. During that hearing, we were treated to an overview of the technical snafus (note plural; they were cumulative in nature) that caused the disaster of April 18. Two incidents, according to what the Tram builder told us, took place: the braking system on the Tram car stuck (thus necessitating the telegenic "basket rescue" to which the whole world was treated that evening); and there was a kind of electrical "spike" sent back through the system, shutting it down, when current was sent in reverse toward the motor, as a part of the normal braking process. It is notable that during this hearing, RIOC and the Swiss company attempted to insinuate, without really committing to it, that this "spike" might have come from Con Edison. Councilperson Liu had a Con Ed representative waiting to testify (with an affidavit ready, to this effect) that no such "spike" occurred in their system the day of the breakdown. I’m here to tell you, you could hear an audible gasp in the room; the feeling was definitely that we had been walked-up to the conclusion that this was a real probability… before Con Ed shot it down. Kudos to the Chairperson. At any rate, we also learned that the system had subsequently been re-started, in order to try to re-create the incident. Based on what the officials testified, the "spike" would mysteriously repeat itself, in the testing process. This is when the decision was made not to resume service, until the entire system was properly rebuilt. Sounds plausible, so far. But let’s connect the dots: Many trained Tram employees were shortly given their walking papers, and Roosevelt Island has been without Tram service for what Herb Berman now indicates will be at least six months. No indication was ever given at that April 27 meeting that the stuck brake problem had not already been fixed; in fact, you’ll note that the cars are no longer hanging in the middle of the East River. Furthermore, the technicians were able to re-start the motor/dynamo in order to try and diagnose the problem; did the system blow completely and irreparably, upon the reappearance of the "spike?" Indications were that it did not. Now if the brakes worked again, and the "spike" reoccurred, could not the Tram operators (since laid-off!), if properly trained to do so, have re-started the system, the same way the technicians did, during the diagnostics? Could someone have remained on duty for the duration, to keep the system going? The short answer to all of this is obvious: we wanted to make sure the system was in perfect working order, before subjecting our beloved residents to the possibility of another malfunction. But it’s a stretch not to imagine that RIOC would have considered another malfunction… even if it was a short and temporary one… to be a political embarrassment, and therefore unacceptable to Mr. Berman and company. So instead of giving Island residents the option for the Tram to have continued to run from last Spring until whenever the entire project commences in earnest... granted with intermittent operational issues (which would clearly now be monitored more closely)... RIOC instead made a unilateral decision to shut the line down entirely. Allegedly, this was until the complete rebuild could be done "right." Sounds all businesslike and plausible, but Mr. Berman conveniently never offered a firm date when the installation of the new main operating system would be completed. All we’ve been allowed to know, as of this late date, is that "testing" might be completed by "early September" (I’d just love to see New York City, in a crisis, try to offer its residents that kind of open-ended lack of specificity, and no timetable for it to be rectified). I suspect that had we been told last Spring that Fall would be on its way, and we’d be where we are now, Mr. Berman, RIOC, and the operating company might have gotten an earful from the residents, if they’d asked. I also suspect that’s why they didn’t ask. And, in terms of how RIOC runs this Island, that’s business as usual. We have a perfectly good RIRA, which presents us with a prime opportunity to act as a liaison between our governing State masters and the residents of this Island. I could be wrong, but I should think that a serious Island incident of this type sort of merits such a meeting. By my count, we at RIRA have seen Herb Berman exactly once… when he was first given his plum job by Governor Pataki. How can the residents and the State possibly communicate with each other on critical events, when it’s obvious that our needs and feelings literally never even enter into the equation (a semi-regular WIRE column of RIOC public relations really doesn’t cut it… but thanks for the advice about having fresh batteries, in case of a hurricane!)? So I open the question to your readers: would you have preferred having our Tram and its operators back, on a more-or-less functional system, since last April? Or, are you completely content to have no Tram but a "new" one, however long that may take? (Not that your answer will mean anything at this point, but it’s good to know.) Russ DiBello
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