RIOC Says WIRE Wrong On Its Streetlight Count
Latest Survey Shows Some Improvement,
But Significant Stretches Are Still Dark

RIOC says The WIRE has it wrong about the Island’s streetlights.

Shortly after publication of The WIRE’s streetlight census report in the October 21 issue, RIOC Vice President Catherine Johnson e-mailed an assertion that no more than 7 percent of the Island’s streetlights were out. The WIRE had reported that four out of every ten lights were off after its October 16-18 survey.

"Last Wednesday," Johnson wrote, "I was on the west seawall at the same time as your ‘census taker.’ He was taking his census at 6:00 p.m. Not all the timers on the Island are set to come on at the same time. If he had been back to the west seawall at 6:20 p.m. as I did, he would have recorded that all the lights were on."

Regarding her October 18 count, Johnson’s e-mail continues, "A total of 31 lights out (out of approximately 400) – 7% of the light out, 8 between the subway and Tram and 12 between 888 and 750 are due to the rewiring we are doing as part of the upgrade, leaving 23 lights out or 5% of the lights. Quite a different story from the one you printed from a survey taken the exact same day." Referring to RIOC President Herbert E. Berman, Johnson added, "We will print the correct information in Herb’s column in the next issue."

RIOC President Herb Berman repeats some of the criticisms in his column in this issue of The WIRE (page 3).

WIRE editor Dick Lutz, in a statement, noted that its staffer was only rechecking pole numbers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 18, to verify the accuracy of a catalog of lights used in the survey, not recording light status. "We stand by the story," Lutz said. "Pole by pole, with numbers where available, the lights were checked multiple times on three nights."

Also, The WIRE has repeated its survey four times in the past eight nights. While the numbers have improved, as of Tuesday and Wednesday night 30% of the lights were not working; further, there had been no improvement on Main Street from the fire station to the Tram station. "At night on the Island, some of the lights are on at times, off at other times," Lutz said. "A few come on briefly, then go off. Some flicker. Where a light is off or operating inadequately any time after dark, The WIRE’s survey counts it as non-functional."

With this issue of The WIRE on line at nyc10044.com, The WIRE is publishing a pole-by-pole chart of the surveys done October 16-18, October 27-31, and Nov. 1. The chart will be updated from time to time. "We are eager to record RIOC’s progress in correcting the situation," Lutz said.

RIOC’s ongoing $1.4 million upgrade of Island lighting is an attempt to resolve a longstanding problem. Many Island streetlights are old, and many did not conform to New York City standards even when originally installed. By removing non-standard lights and conforming to City requirements, RIOC has said it hopes to place the full responsibility for streetlight maintenance with the City.

Responding to Johnson, Lutz asked why portable lighting RIOC owns has not been used to fill in where long stretches and some loose brickwork make walking hazardous. Johnson did not respond, and there was no attempt to resolve questions about the accuracy of the calculations reported in her e-mail.

The WIRE report had noted that upgrades were in progress. As of Monday and Tuesday night, however, ten consecutive lights were out between PS 217 and the south end of Manhattan Park Apartments. By Wednesday night, seven of those lights were on. Also, for an early portion of Monday night, all lights were out north of the Octagon Park complex. In a follow-up check about three hours after dark, however, many were working.

In the survey reported October 21, The WIRE had not checked lights south of the Queensboro Bridge. This week, however, a survey taken Tuesday night showed that of 74 lights, 31 were out at 10:00 p.m.

The telephone number for reporting streetlight problems is the City’s Quality of Life Hotline, at 311. However, personnel there want cross-street information and building numbers, which are not applicable in many places on Roosevelt Island. Complaints are forwarded to the City Department of Transportation (DOT).