The RIOC Column

Herbert E. Berman President Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. e-mail: HBerman@rioc.com

The holiday season is a special time for all of us, and let me take the opportunity to wish all of you the best for the coming year. This past year has been a challenging one for all of us, and we want to take the opportunity to review some of what happened.

On the housing front, there were major steps towards protecting the affordability of apartments in Eastwood even as the owner left the Mitchell-Lama mortgage subsidy program. Through the use of creative financing, federal rental vouchers, and RIOC’s role in renegotiating a ground lease, the current tenants were able to remain in their building. This provides a model for how we hope to proceed as owners of other buildings – in particular Westwood and Island House – seek to revise their corporate relationship with their residents, and with RIOC.

We also experienced the opening of Southtown 3 and Octagon, bringing us new neighbors and the restoration of the historic Octagon tower which for so long had been an eyesore. As well, the Board of Directors completed negotiations on Southtown buildings 5 through 9.

On the capital front, our fiscal stability has permitted us to step up work to modernize and beautify the Island, as RIOC approved $1.4 million to upgrade street lighting, $1.2 million to stabilize the historic Blackwell House and $8 million at Southpoint Park.

We installed new picnic tables at Lighthouse Park and Octagon Park, upgraded the heating/cooling system and added doors and lighting at Sportspark, added or replaced bus shelters, repaired and replaced paving stones in Good Shepherd Plaza, replaced the street garbage receptacles, installed a new handicapped-accessible elevator lift at the Manhattan Tram station, repaved Main Street, improved the sidewalk and retaining wall at Northtown Park, and added four new buses to our Red Bus fleet.

There were a wide variety of community events, most recently the first annual Fall for Arts Festival that brought music, crafts and more to sites all over the Island. In addition to the annual Fourth of July fireworks, we had the six Summer Sounds music series, the Roosevelt Island Halloween celebration, the Christmas Tree lighting and the annual blood drive we co-sponsored with City Councilmember Jessica Lappin.

The year has not been without its problems as well, most notably the outage the Tram suffered last April 18. The good news was that the rescue cage system – which Tram staffers had trained on but never had to deploy – worked as it was supposed to in removing everybody who was stranded. No injuries was the best news to come out of that incident.

The other good news to come out of it was a commitment by the State to fund a complete modernization and upgrade of the Tram for the first time in its 30-year history. Short-term repairs replaced the primary drive and back-up systems, and we stepped up training with the police and fire departments in case anything comparable happens again, which of course we hope does not for at least another 30 years.

Looking ahead, we are well-prepared to face the challenges to come, whether those posed by continued growth on the Island or the need to expand the recreational and other amenities that make Roosevelt Island such a special place to live, work and visit.

So Happy Holidays. Happy New Year.