The RIRA Column
by Mathew Katz
As October, disguised as a balmy day in June, continues to hide its true colors, I'm reflecting on the absolutely glorious Fall for Arts Festival that consumed my attention two weekends ago. Were you there? Having performed on the Rivercross lawn stage in 86 degree heat and thoroughly dehydrating myself, I am even more in awe of those rock 'n rollers who boogied all day in the summer heat of Woodstock those many years ago. Where did they get the stamina? Oh yeah, we were all twenty-six then. Far out, man.
Everyone seemed to find something to enjoy, from the art works circling Good Shepherd Plaza, to the "paint-it-yourself" easels on Rivercross lawn, to the singers and hoofers who joined me on the outdoor stage, to the events in Gallery RIVAA. I caught some of Antoinette Davis's set there and I think she's forgotten more songs than I ever knew! The evening concert in the Chapel was delightful and Roy Eaton's seminar about Chopin's influence on the music of Gershwin was a pure treat.
After a long day enjoying the artistic gifts of this extraordinary community including Julie Palermo's gorgeous grub, and after a restorative afternoon nap, Sherie and I headed down to Southpoint Park to take in "The Encampment" and its hundred Roosevelt Island stories, each encapsulated in a Civil War-era tent. Thanks to Thom Sokoloski and to all the volunteers who made Columbus Day weekend so terrific.
RIOC Board Balloting
The work continues. Have you checked out the website? You will find a half-page ad in this issue urging all qualified Islanders to consider putting their hats in the ring and it includes contact information as well. We hope to collect completed nomination forms in one central place and, once we've obtained permission from RIOC, expect that place to be the Public Safety office which is the only facility available on a 24/7 basis. Stay tuned.
On October 10 we held our first meeting to inform residents face-to-face of exactly what we are about. The turnout was modest but then, we have just started in our efforts to produce candidates for the RIOC Board of Directors. Our goal is to offer choices representing the diversity of our Island home with candidates of varying ethnic backgrounds and incomes and residing in the various residential developments. But the reality is that our field of candidates will include only those folks who offer their services to their neighbors by throwing their hats into the ring. Therefore, if you would like to see someone on the RIOC Board who looks like you and represents your interests, why not nominate yourself?
We are working towards a November 8 orientation at which I will offer pointers to declared candidates on how to conduct an Island-wide campaign, something I know about having asked for your vote on three occasions. Of course, much of this is intuitive; just talk to as many people as you can. But there are questions of logistics and techniques of getting your message out that I've picked up over the last seven years and I hope to share what I've learned with those folks who, we hope and expect, will soon join the RIOC Board of Directors.
Some neighbors have asked whether RIRA will endorse candidates. No. RIRA is creating and conducting the balloting and to endorse anyone would be equivalent to the Board of Elections favoring one contender over another. Others have asked me if I would run for the Board. No. Assuming I was even interested in the job, there are two promises I've made that preclude my candidacy. First, when I ran for RIRA President in 2000 I made it clear that I thought serving in that capacity and on the RIOC Board simultaneously was a conflict of interest waiting to happen. And in fact, it did happen; RIRA was an intervener in a suit involving RIOC and the Southtown developers and Patrick Stewart, then serving both as head of RIRA and as a RIOC Director, was obliged to recuse himself from the most critical issue of the day. Someone suggested that, should I win a RIOC Board seat, I could resign from RIRA. No. I signed a nominating form (as has every RIRA Council Member) promising that, should I be elected, I would fulfill the requirements of the post for the full term of two years. I intend to honor that promise.
Rumor Mill
Like any small town, the rumor mill runs rampant here. Some rumors have been funny, some have been benign and some have been rather ugly. The latest one is that our new Duane Reade pharmacy was held up at gunpoint by a perp who then escaped by subway. Friends, this is a fabrication. I've checked the story out six ways from Sunday and, it just ain't so. Let me be clear: it never happened.
RIOC Board Meeting
Thursday's RIOC Board meeting had an agenda chock-full of items that will impact our lives to a greater or lesser degree. It was also one of those rare, bi-monthly events where the community is allowed to communicate with the Board but only after their business is done and they have adjourned the meeting. By now, I suspect we know (given that I am writing this two days before the meeting) what form the Tram renovations will take, how much they will cost and how long we may lose the use of the facility. Also, the LifeFrames, Inc. public purpose grant request for $100,000 of the remaining $290,000 will have been approved or denied. This application has been endorsed by representatives of PS/IS 217, Coler-Goldwater Hospital and by the favorable vote of the RIRA Common Council. You will find more on the results of this important meeting elsewhere in this issue of The WIRE and, should you be considering a run for a Board seat, you might want to check out the entire agenda on the RIOC website: www.rioc.com. This is the kind of business you will be called upon to decide.
The Main Street WIRE and You
Have you ever noticed the box of names that appears at the bottom of page 2 in this newspaper? Those names represent just a small portion of the volunteers who have brought you The WIRE over the years. In addition to the editor, the writers, photographers and proofreaders who fill these pages with information critical to our lives, there are dozens of others who make sure that a newspaper appears as if by magic on 5,500 doorsteps every two weeks. It's not elves, folks, it's your neighbors who make this happen and, with the opening of new buildings and attrition among the volunteer corps, it's getting harder each issue to find the cadres in each building to insure that each and every Islander gets a paper.
One of the ways we justify our status as a stand-alone community and not just another New York neighborhood is the existence of this newspaper. Its presence here is not our birthright; without the advertising that supports it and the volunteer cadres that disseminate it, The WIRE will cease to exist. The point is this: we need you to offer to take the hour (or less) necessary to distribute the paper in your building, either regularly or as backup to the existing crew. Call the Circulation Manager, Sherie Helstien, at 212-935-7534 and offer your services. Friends, there isn't a single New York newspaper that adequately covers Roosevelt Island news other than The Main Street WIRE. Insure its survival (and your continuing flow of information) by offering this miniscule portion of your time. As Finley Peter Dunne, whose nom de plume in his turn-of-the century newspaper column was "Mr. Dooley," once said, "Th' newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It...comforts th' afflicted [and] afflicts th' comfortable..."