The RIOC Column
by Fernando Martinez, RIOC VP
1. Roosevelt Island Bridge: Construction started Tuesday, October 9. The New York City Department of Transportation has established communications with RIOC and will continue to advise RIOC of on-going changes in traffic patterns, and closure. Currently, the traffic lanes are reduced in width from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, and will continue with this pattern until further notice from NYC DOT. RIOC will continue to post advisories on its website.
2. Tram: On Thursday, October 4, RIOC held a Town Hall Meeting in the Good Shepard Community Center to discuss the future of the Tram. At the meeting RIOC President Steve Shane presented to the community the various alternatives for the Tram Modernization Project and a cost/benefit analysis associated with each alternative. The alternatives being considered are: 1) Replace Critical Sub-Systems, 2) New Similar Tramway, 3) New Similar Tramway with Added Redundancy, and 4) New Dual Shuttle System. The consensus from the community is that they favor Alternative 4. The Tram Modernization Project was scheduled to be addressed at the October 18 meeting of the RIOC Board of Directors. If you were not able to attend the October 4 Town Hall meeting, you can view it, in its entirety, by logging onto the RIOC website: http://www.rioc.com/webmeeting.htm.
2. Public Safety: Officer Michaels is doing well and is currently home recuperating from her recent incident on Main Street. We wish her a speedy recovery. Public Safety Director Jim Fry is back on the job after being on medical leave. Welcome back Jim! And, special thanks to Deputy Director Rene Bryan for heading the department while Jim was on leave. Finally, in an effort to increase the level of community patrols, PSD has established a bicycle unit. Currently, we have 3 officers in the unit. As we get more officers trained, I hope to increase the number of bicycle patrols.
3. Blackwell House: Blackwell House is substantially complete with the punch list items being addressed. The final completion date is October 31. The next step planned for will be the site-clearing work. In order to exhibit the house as the "centerpiece" of Blackwell Park, the decision has been made to issue an RFP for the site-clearing work necessary to showcase the house. The RFP includes, but is not limited to, the demolition of the fence surrounding the house and garden area, and removal of vegetation. RIOC has requested that Page Ayres Cowley Architects provide RIOC with a conceptual design of the area displaying the house as the centerpiece and landscape to compliment its beautiful exterior. Following the site clearing, RIOC has also requested that Page Ayres Cowley Architects provide a scope of work for interior work, so that RIOC may issue an RFP for that work as well.
4. Southpoint Park: On October 12, staff from RIOC and The Trust for Public Land toured Southpoint with Councilmember Jessica Lappin, who got a first-hand look at the areas to be transformed into a beautiful park over the next two years. Councilmember Lappin has been an enormous supporter of the project, allocating $4.5 million toward park construction. The firm Wallace Roberts and Todd has prepared the schematic design for Phase I, which will stabilize the landmarked Renwick Ruins and create a landscaped park, with lawn, woodlands, and gardens, north of the ruins. The team expects Final Construction Documents to be underway, by Spring 2008, with groundbreaking by Fall 2008.
5. Seawall Repairs: The seawall repair that was performed over the last three months at the lighthouse park is now complete. JCC was the contractor responsible for the repairs and RIOC is pleased with the outcome. Final Acceptance by RIOC and the Engineering team took place on October 16. The construction fence will be coming down this week. Additional seawall repairs are anticipated shortly; the first area targeted for repairs is located by the Octagon Ecological Park, followed by an area showing advance signs of deterioration southwest of Lighthouse Park.
6. Southtown Buildings 5 and 6: Infrastructure work is on-going, with primary excavation taking place on the street in front of the Tram Station, and some excavation on the West Service Road. The utilities contractor is working on the gas and water lines for Building No. 5 and utilities for Building No. 6 simultaneously, in order to expedite the work. Con Edison is performing the electrical tie-in for Building No. 5, and the second level of the superstructure for Building No. 5 is currently underway with an approximate crew 120 construction workers.
7. Fall for Arts Festival: On Saturday, October 6, RIOC sponsored the Second Annual Fall for Arts Festival. The day was picture perfect, and a good time was had by all! The Encampment art installation at Southpoint Park was visited by approximately 5,000 visitors. Special thanks to Erica Wilder and to all those who made the day a success!