70's Vision: Car-Free Island
Back in the 1970s when the Northtown housing complex (Westview, Island House, Rivercross, Eastwood) was built, the planners envisioned a community nearly free of cars. Garbage trucks? Not necessary - that's why the AVAC system was built. Getting around? The Red Buses that circled the Island were free. When cars did happen to come over the bridge, a guard in a booth atop the Motorgate ramp asked drivers where they were going and issued them a written permit for short-term parking on Main Street. If 20 minutes didn't suffice, they had to go to Public Safety for a new permit.
The ideal of "no cars" was achieved, if ever, only in the days when the residential community was centered on Good Shepherd Plaza. By the mid- to late '80s there were changes: Parking tickets were successfully challenged in court because Main Street was not an officially dedicated New York City street (who knew?). RIOC adopted the City's parking regulations. Manhattan Park brought approximately 3,000 new residents to the Island.
As the population grew, the mini-schools from each Northtown building consolidated; the resulting PS/IS 217 added significant school-bus traffic to the Island, as did The Child School. FreshDirect made its successful debut here in 2002, bringing with it a convoy of white trucks adorned with green-and-orange logos. Octagon and Southtown were built.
Today, the population of Roosevelt Island is 12,000-13,000, expected to go up to approximately 15,000 when another five buildings are added to Southtown. Each new family arrives on the Island with a moving van - and that's just the start. The original ideal of the Island as a no-car zone is a distant memory.
And there are
still only 55 parking spaces on Main Street.