RIRA Sets Six Referendum Questions for November 7

More detail emerged Wednesday night at the meeting of the Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council on referendum questions that will appear on the November 7 ballot when RIRA officers and building representatives are elected.

While seeking resident input, a down-the-line Yes vote would serve to reinforce the majority view on the Common Council on each of the issues, all of which concern governance of the Island to one degree or another, though only the first approaches that question head-on:

Question 1: Roosevelt Island is run by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC). Its Board of Directors is currently appointed by the Governor. Do you support passage of the Grannis-Serrano bill to require at least five of the nine directors to be democratically elected by Roosevelt Island residents?

Legislation currently under the sponsorship of State Assemblymember Pete Grannis and State Senator Jose Serrano would alter the structure of the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation by providing for a majority of its members to be elected by Island residents. Over a period of eight years, the Residents Association and other critics of RIOC have been seeking this or a similar change in the law to give Island residents more of a say in the way the Island is run.

The Island is unique in New York State in that it has no local level of government. The Island, part of Manhattan, was leased to the State in the late 1960’s for development as a residential community. While Islanders participate in election of the City’s Mayor, the Borough President, and a City Council member, officials of RIOC do not report to them. Instead, they report through the State Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) to the Governor, who appoints RIOC Board members (with two of the apointees nominated by the Mayor) and has controlled RIOC staff jobs. With local officials being Democrats and the Albany administration being Republican, cooperation has been relatively rare and contention rather frequent.

The Grannis-Serrano legislation would give Island residents, without regard to their national citizenship, the right to elect five of the nine members of the RIOC Board. Depending on the City’s willingness to accept Islanders’ voting on the seats nominally controlled by the Mayor, that could rise to seven of the nine positions.

Similar legislation has been thwarted in the last eight years, passed in the Democrat-controlled Assembly but never passed by the Republican-controlled Senate. One change was made – an increase in the number of Board members who must be residents. But the Governor still controls the appointments and, through those appointments, the personnel of RIOC.

Questions remain about what precedents might be set by such legislation and how the State would retain full responsibility for repayment of bonds related to the Island.

In 1998, 92% of residents voting on a similar referendum question voted yes. In 2000, the yes votes dropped to 80%. But general sentiment favoring an empowered resident voice in the policies and management of the Island remains strong.

Question 2: RIOC is considering using one sixth of Southpoint Park for commercial or residential development. This directly contradicts the plan endorsed last year by both residents and the RIOC board. Should all remaining parkland and uncommitted open space be used solely for parks and park-related amenities?

Open-spaces legislation (sponsored by Grannis) that became effective in 2002 sought to eliminate any possibility of development on land earmarked for parks. Incidentally, it attempted to deal with the land use that had veered from the Island’s General Development Plan (GDP), originally created as a kind of zoning that would preserve park space and specify distances between clusters of buildings. But a court challenge in 2005, in which residents sought to stop or limit construction at Octagon Park, failed. The law was interpreted as effectively encouraging development on park space as a device for paying for rehabilitation of landmarks on the space.

This has led to a current controversy in which RIOC has issued an "RFIP" (Request for Initial Proposal) suggesting possible use of the northern three acres of the ten-acre Southpoint Park as a site for residential or commercial development. Consistent with the court decision, is that the income will help pay for the park and for preservation of the Smallpox Hospital ruin. Members of the RIRA Common Council feel RIOC has done too little to seek alternative financing for the park that would make commercial development unnecessary. (RIOC has budgeted and/or secured $12 million for park development.)

While the RIRA-election referendum is not binding and seeks only to gauge resident opinion on the matter, some hope that a new Albany administration will pay attention if Islanders express a clear preference for Southpoint and other open space to be dedicated to use as parks.

Question 3: RIOC is proposing to sell the leasing rights of all commercial property on Main Street and its majority share of the Motorgate parking monopoly to a private companies. Such agreements could remove from the public any decisions on how storefront property is used, or how parking rates are determined.

The question here is how RIOC goes about marketing its assets. The current RIOC administration has advanced the idea that, especially given the confusions of the new Public Authorities Accountability Act that may limit its options for providing essential community retail operations where those operations may not be able to pay top dollar for storefront space, it would be best to lease all the Island’s storefront space (and, separately, Motorgate) to a commercial operation which would then seek businesses to pay rent for the storefronts.

The argument for this approach is that RIOC has failed as a landlord for individual retail spaces and a free-enterprise operator would be better-equipped to find viable tenants capable of keeping up with rent payments and attract them to the Island.

The argument against master leasing is that it moves management of retail space even further from resident control and could, some worry, result in the sole consideration for leasing space being the income produced for the holder of the master lease.

In the case of Motorgate, the parking structure, Common Council members are concerned that putting a parking monopoly in the hands of a private operator could result in greatly increased parking rates with no effective control other than what the market will bear. Moreover, RIOC has not said that such a private operation would have to get RIOC approval for rate hikes.

Question 4: There are serious transportation problems on the Island such as subway overcrowding, Red Bus scheduling, and school bus and rush hour traffic jams. Do you support an expert review of current transportation options and a plan for the future that includes resident input?

RIOC’s management of the Island’s transportation needs has been faulted repeatedly for its tinkering with Red Bus routes and scheduling and its allegedly inept stewardship of the Tramway. One focus of concern is whether the Island’s transportation infrastructure is adequate for a growing population and whether RIOC is capable of managing routine operations, let alone emergencies. The extent to which RIOC has coordinated its leasing of properties for development with the MTA is unknown but is believed to be nonexistent.

Residents were frustrated two winters ago when, largely ignoring resident input, RIOC conducted a winter-months experiment in which the Red Bus was rerouted and its schedule decoupled from the Tram’s schedule, resulting in bus-bunching (buses running closely in tandem) and long waits for service.

This referendum question essentially seeks to get residents some input on how to coordinate transportation needs with the MTA, and how to manage the Island’s particular transportation needs.

Question 5: The Island will be getting bi-weekly truck deliveries of highly toxic chlorine at the water tunnel next to the Octagon Park Apartments. Residents have not been permitted to see the emergency contingency plans that City and State entities claim exist for our community. Do you support a public review of and input on existing emergency evacuation plans?

The City has announced that chlorine, to be added to the City’s water stream at Tunnel #3, near Octagon Park Apartments, will be brought to the Island twice a week. No plans for dealing with a possible accident have been announced.

In addition, residents have raised concerns about how the Island will be evacuated in the event of a major emergency and, while RIOC and the City have said emergency plans exist, they have not been reviewed in public and no assurances have been presented that the Island’s unique transportation requirements have been considered.

Question 6: RIOC has proposed demolishing the Steam Plant, Sportspark and the tennis bubble for a commercial development, perhaps a "big-box" retail store. If renovated with available State funding, the Steam Plant could provide the Island with low-cost energy, produce income, and protect the Island from blackouts.

RIOC’s issuance earlier this year of an RFIP that asked developers to propose possible uses of the land surrounding the Tram station, with a suggestion that the space might be appropriate for a "big box retail operation," alarmed many residents. They had visions of greatly increased traffic – both customers and wholesale deliveries of merchandise – on Main Street, parking problems, and other concerns. For some, loss of SportsPark and the tennis facility also raised a red flag.

But possible loss of an opportunity for lower-cost power concerns many, as well. Co-generation at the Steam Plant (which sits behind the Tram station – its stacks rise toward the Queensboro Bridge) is seen by some as an opportunity to provide the Island with low-cost electricity and, very likely, to earn money for the Island through sale of power into the wider grid.

The issue is treated in depth by an advocate of alternative power, Rivercross resident Robert Liss, an engineer, in this edition of The WIRE. See page 2.

A concern is that, while RIOC’s sales-oriented real-estate consultant could earn a significant commission by finding a new renter for the space involved, other opportunities like co-generation should be considered before RIOC leases the land for a "big box" operation or any other purpose.

The RIRA referendum questions have no force in law. They are advisory only. Yet, after 1998’s 92% vote calling for elected representation for residents on the RIOC Board, Governor George Pataki agreed to increase the number of residents required on the Board (though retaining the right to appoint all of them). That was never attributed to resident pressure, but the vote did present a clear indication of Islanders’ sentiments on the issue.