Matthew Katz, President Roosevelt Island Residents Association e-mail: MatthewKatz@verizon.net

The New Year has started (2007; where does the time go?) and I might start writing the year correctly on checks by, say, May. The sea change we’ve experienced in both Federal and State politics has begun as we hold our collective breaths waiting for the hotly anticipated benefits to take effect.

The holidays have been a busy time for me, for the usual reasons and also in anticipation of the Spitzer regime. Also, your Residents Association, in conjunction with Roosevelt Island CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) has been a presence at the Farmer’s Markets for the past three Saturdays asking one and all to donate blood at today’s Blood Drive at the Senior Center between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. (last donor accepted at 3:15). This is always a hard sell, as the New York Blood Center finds many technical objections to the blood of our seniors, disabled, diplomats and world travelers. Nevertheless, we have again exceeded expectations and I shall report just how many pints of blood we’ve obtained in my next column. It’s not too late for you to make a difference by donating a pint of the red stuff. Please do; the blood supply in New York City is always depleted this time of year and the life you save may be mine…or yours.

The lead article in The WIRE’s December 16 issue concerned the appointment of Charlee Miller to the RIOC Board of Directors. I would like to add my congratulations and best wishes to yours for her successful tenure on the Board. That she is a resident of the Riverwalk condo helps to cement this newest of residential entities to the life of this community. She graced the RIRA Common Council with her presence this past Wednesday evening in a cordial exchange of ideas, for which I thank her.

That being said, I find an appointment to this Board by a Governor just weeks before the end of his twelve year tenure to be an affront to political courtesy, if such a thing actually exists. Charlee will take office not on behalf of the incumbent governor or representing this community, at least not by virtue of the ballot box which is the only representation that counts. Of course, such rudeness to Roosevelt Island has been endemic from ex-Governor Pataki throughout his entire administration. From the appointments of incompetent and venal RIOC presidents in 1996 and 1999, to the elimination of our $1.6 million State subsidy in 1997, to the sweetheart development deals meted out to major campaign contributors, to the open-spaces legislation he passed in 2002 that exposed all our remaining open space to residential and commercial development, Pataki has displayed both his arrogance and his contempt for this planned community again and again. I am a mild-mannered fellow, prone (I hope) to temperate and courteous expression, but the only appropriate farewell for this disaster of a New York State chief executive is a raised middle finger and a hearty, "Don’t let the door hit you in the ass!"

Regarding the Board member Charlee is replacing, I assumed that resident Director Deborah Beck resigned a seat that still had ten months to go on a four-year tenure. Not so. Deborah informs me that she was appointed to a two-year term that expired, and was not renewed, in October. She has been Chair of the Real Estate Committee that has oversight on the ground lease extension negotiations for Island House and Westview, which continue at this writing. This committee has the responsibility of bringing to the full Board a recommendation to accept or deny the extension. Deborah has called for an expedited effort by Jones Lang LaSalle sales representative Paul Mas, and her support was critical in getting his contract extended. You may recall that Mr. Mas’s compensation is dependent upon how much Island House and Westview can be soaked for their ground lease extensions, despite the fact that he is acting on behalf of a "public-benefit corporation." Does this sound as bizarre to you as it does to me?

However, with Beck’s departure, the RIOC Board has appointed an ad hoc Real Estate Committee, composed of extant Committee member, Alberteen Anderson (acting Chair), and including Board Members David Kraut and Mark Ponton. When I asked Deborah why she would leave while this business was pending, she said that her leaving at this critical time was not voluntary and that she considers the job only half done. When asked, a spokesman for RIOC told her that "nobody" is acting as point person to bring the ground leases to the Board and that Mr. Mas is reporting directly to DHCR Commissioner, Judy Calogero. One small problem: Commissioner Calogero resigned last month from DHCR and the RIOC Board, effective December 31. I hope, with the creation of this interim Real Estate Committee, that appropriate oversight and pressure can and will be brought to bear on Mr. Mas & Co. to expedite this long-delayed and long-sought-after agreement between the two WIRE buildings and RIOC for a ground lease extension. Without it, I and my neighbors will likely be priced out of our apartments and our beloved Roosevelt Island.

I’ve never had any doubts as to where the loyalty of the RIOC Board of Directors lies. Perhaps you have, but this incident should make it perfectly clear; the Board’s allegiance is to the Governor of the State of New York who appointed the members, not this community. And that’s why an elected Board is so crucial to our future.

Perhaps you’ve been following the exciting RITE (Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy) project along with me as it has developed over the last four years. Verdant Power of Alexandria, Virginia proposed, and is now implementing, a state-of-the-art system of underwater turbines in the East Channel of the East River that, in its final deployment, has the potential to generate 10MW of power through the turning of 300 sets of turbine blades in our tidal estuary. One unit is now in place with five others to follow by March and the beginning of the spring fish run.

The "six-pack" of turbines will use Motorgate and Gristede’s as test loads, providing them with between 35 and 50 kilowatts of electricity per unit. I visited the control center, where the single turbine was chugging out about 25kW. Control room honcho Hannah Abend showed us a side-scan sonar array that displayed fish movement around the turbine that is anchored to the floor of the East Channel. They are using computer servers that provide memory in the terabyte range. That’s a million million bytes of information. Compare that to my first computer containing 256K (that’s 262,144 bytes) of memory, barely enough to save this long-winded column. Fascinating!

The purpose of a RITE seminar I attended here last week was to bring together all the governmental, environmental, engineering, recreational and community players to discuss the work of study groups that have examined the potential impact of the project prior to deployment and to prepare further study groups that will meet now, post-deployment to measure the effects of the project. There were eleven study groups covering six general areas of investigation: fish protection (including the effects of noise and bird observation as related to fish movements); water quality; rare, threatened and endangered species; navigation and security; recreational resources and historical and cultural resources. The goal is to move beyond the temporary (three year) permits provided by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to licensing that would allow the final, full-field array to be installed. The area now under investigation starts at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island and extends north past Wards Island almost to Rikers Island.

Besides the sheer technical brilliance of the project (imagine – a sustainable, non-polluting energy source that doesn’t use fossil fuels right here in New York City!) I found several side issues interesting. The greatest opponent of the plan was a guy representing a recreational fishing concern that finds the waters just north of the 36th Avenue Bridge to be a perfect "fishin’ hole." Now, East River fish are still somewhat toxic (PCBs and all that) so we’re talking about fishing for pure sport; you wouldn’t want to eat much of the stuff. And yet, in a City surrounded by water, he wants Verdant and their partners to move the project north so his boat can cast a line into our murky patch of river. I think a question of priorities is appropriate here.

And second, while the caretaker of Roosevelt Island, that is to say, RIOC, was invited to this discussion, no one from either the RIOC Board or RIOC management found the time to attend. Herb Berman has chastised me for not making a distinction between the sins of RIOC and its Board (guilty as charged, Herb) but in this case, neither entity was represented. Wouldn’t you think that 300 turbines churning off-shore and providing low-cost energy would pique their interest? Apparently not.

I have blathered on interminably, I know, but it’s been a month since the last WIRE issue and I had a lot to catch you up on. Here’s wishing you (and me) a happy, healthy and successful 2007.