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January 13, 2006 |
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The new year brings changes to Roosevelt Island, starting with a new administration in Albany which will be overseeing the operations of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation.
Let me start by thanking former Vice President of Operations Catherine Johnson, who has returned to Albany to resume full-time work at the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Whether it was overseeing residential development or getting the Tram back in operation, her dedication to her work and to the residents of the Island was extraordinary. She was practical, professional, and, in an attribute very valuable on this Island, patient.
Johnson’s role will be assumed in the short term by Public Safety Director Jim Fry, who is adding the title of Acting Director of Operations to his portfolio.
Let me also introduce to you some of the new members of our management team.
Carmine Tedesco is our new Comptroller, reporting to Chief Financial Officer Carla Van de Walle. Carmine is a highly qualified finance professional with extensive business experience on all aspects of developing, implementing and administering finance and accounting functions.
Claudia McDade joined RIOC in November in the capacity of Director of Human Resources, bringing over 15 years of human resources, payroll, and labor relations experience in both small and large corporate environments. She is a lifelong Queens resident.
Donna Masly is the new Program Coordinator for RIOC, a position which includes permitting authority for sports teams, movie crews and other special events that use the Island. She has experience managing the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers and Equinox Fitness Center on the Upper East Side, and will be working to bring new and exciting events and programs to Island residents.
Erica Wilder has been appointed the new Community Relations Specialist. Her responsibilities include serving as liaison to the community concerning RIOC’s activities and programs, responding to general inquiries about RIOC, and planning special events on the Island. A veteran of community relations in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, she has worked to bring together local businesses with children, adolescents and adults and hopes to repeat past successes in her new position.
Say hello to these people when you run into them on the Island. They are here to serve you.
There are other physical changes you will see on the Island, as we continue to grow.
We will gain new neighbors, as Southtown 4 opens and other buildings near completion. Capital improvements will continue to enhance the aesthetic attractions on the Island, especially at Southpoint Park. The retail environment on Main Street should improve and stabilize, and we hope to see the financial underpinnings of the ownership structures at Island House and Westview clarified to the satisfaction of the current residents.
And, of course, plans continue to modernize the Tram, the world-famous symbol of our Island. By 2009, we will have completed the modernization of a 30-year-old transportation system that has outlived its originally planned life-span, but will never outlive its unique role as a symbol of who we are to residents, tourists and others.
At the same time, we are continuing discussions to bring ferry service back to Roosevelt Island for the first time in decades. If we learned anything from last year’s combination of the Tram outage and weekend work on the F train, it is that an Island needs a multiplicity of transportation options for residents.
All of this is possible because of the sound financial condition of RIOC itself, as we remain a model of prudent fiscal management for public benefit corporations around the State. That prudent management took this Island from one mired in fiscal stagnation to one which has been able to finance its first-ever longterm capital improvement plan, even as we stand alone as a self-sufficient entity.
That prudent management and fiscal stability is something, hopefully, that will never change.