The best news I’ve heard since I moved to the Island seven years ago! Now Berman can go to Washington and take a job with the Bush administration where incompetence is the rule (and rewarded). I can hear it now: "Heckuva job, Bermie!"

Any hope the Q train will return to Roosevelt Island to help reduce congestion on the F is officially gone. The MTA announced that the Q, along with the newly minted T train, will run on the Second Avenue subway line from 125th Street down to 57th Street.

What will it take for the MTA to take note of our subway congestion? Maybe we should start filming movies and putting them on YouTube to prove our point, or enlisting the aid of a local TV news crew? Once the fourth Riverwalk building is opened, if the Tram is offline, we are doomed.

It was interesting to learn about the work that RIOC is finally doing to repair the damage to historic Blackwell House, which we have been sadly watching fall into serious disrepair for years. It would obviously have been a lot less costly had the house been maintained by RIOC.

However, since I have restored and maintained a period house in Connecticut, I was shocked by the price tag cited for this contract of $1.18 million. When I asked for more details from RIOC about the incredibly high cost, I was told that repairs using original materials and workmanship, like replacement of hand-hewn oak beams in the attic, would not be undertaken because it would be "prohibitively expensive."

The cost of restoring an old house is always high, but even the most meticulous museum restorations do not cost anywhere close to what the State of New York is paying on this contract for a job that will not in fact be truly authentic, according to RIOC. One does wonder just where the money is going, if not for a proper restoration, and why it is several times more costly than a comparable or better job would be elsewhere. These are public funds, and there should be accountability for what appears to be vastly over-pricing the job and then cutting corners by using modern materials.

After reading about the red trash cans in the last WIRE, I decided to take a look for myself. To my surprise, the lids aren’t locked, as they appear. Every one is easily removed, plus there’s no hinge attaching the lids to the base, as you’d expect – just a couple of metal pins to keep them seated.

Why doesn’t RIOC just take all the lids off and put them into storage somewhere, so people can put bags of trash in the cans, resulting in less litter blowing around the Island, especially after weekend picnics?

With that problem solved, perhaps we can get on with other important issues, like the Red Bus service.

This is a follow-up to my letter that appeared in The WIRE on November 18. City Councilmember Jessica Lappin had fowarded my request to New York City Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, Iris Weinshall, in December. Here is the response, dated March 7.

Thank you for your letter to Commisioner Weinshall, on behalf of Mr. Neal Weissman, suggesting the creation of a staircase between Roosevelt Island and the Queensboro Bridge. The Commissioner asked our office on her behalf. Please excuse the delay of this reply.

Please communicate to Mr. Weissman that, owing to heightened security measures following the events of September 11, 2001, the Department of Transportation cannot pursue this suggestion at this time. We are confident that he will understand and appreciate this. Additionally, he can find more information by visiting our website at www.nyc.gov/dot.

Thank you for seeking the assistance of the Department of Transportation in your continued service to the residents of your community.

Margaret Forgione
Manhattan Borough Commissioner

Of course, Jessica did what she could, and the response from the Commisioner is disappointing. We can assume that no one is implying that the terrorists are here on Roosevelt Island looking up at the bridge, thinking evil thoughts. I would think, God forbid, that if someone wanted to do evil things to the bridge, a car or truck might be an easier way to get there. But I am a simple man, and am inclined to trust our leaders. So if our leaders say, "We have to fight them over there, so we don’t have to fight them over here," I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, the same logic that prevents people from climbing the stairs would imply that we should also stop the cars and trucks from crossing the bridge. I’d rather listen to a leader who says, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Perhaps if bad things were to happen in NYC, having an additional way to travel to or from the bridge would be to our collective advantage.

To the Editor:

For one who has no trouble speaking off the cuff to tell a thousand stories of her adventures during a long life, I find it hard to find the words to thank the people who made my first play a smash hit on Sunday evening, March 4, in the RIVAA Gallery. The warm reception it was given and the response I elicited from the audience were tantamount to a veritable accolade. I want to direct special thanks to Vicki Feinmel, Margie Smith, and Harry Small for their invaluable assistance, and to Tad Sudol for letting us use the Gallery as our venue. But most of all, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the members of a most appreciative audience – my neighbors.

Helen Roht