First of all, we should say thank you for the budget money to keep the AVAC going. Tony Carbonetti, son of longtime Island resident Lou Carbonetti, had a strong hand in getting the item back into the budget, and thereby saving Gifford Miller from going through the gyrations he must go through each year to explain to the Mayor's office that the money the AVAC operation requires is far less than any City sanitation alternative. This year's quick resolution to this annual headache saved all of us a lot of energy that can be better placed elsewhere.

Having thanked the Mayor for this demonstration of prudent management, we should ask him who it is that is responsible for keeping an eye on RIOC's care of the Island they lease from the City. Are they up to date on the status of each of the infrastructure maintenance areas they entrust to RIOC? Do they care?

We should offer further thanks to Mayor Giuliani just for naming Roosevelt Island as a site for a Town Meeting. There have been more housekeeping issues dealt with in the past week or ten days than have been seen to in a year. That alone puts us in his debt. It reminds me of my Army days, when the Inspector General was due on the post.

Is the Mayor aware that while his Board of Education is combing the city looking for 40,000 additional seats for students, RIOC is trying to develop school buildings into upscale condominiums, while putting off meeting with Giuliani's appointed school real-estate representatives?

We should ask the Mayor to take an interest in the construction issues that will go along with future development. It's his bridge that RIOC wants to pound to smithereens with daily construction trucks, not just for Southtown, which might be made manageable, but for Southpoint as well. It's his sewer system that will take the same treatment.

It's not his street, by the way. Main Street is not a City street. Technically, it's a parking lot. But the UDC Trust for the bondholders (whose street it is, whose ramp it is) will care. They might be interested that RIOC has, in front of several witnesses, waived indemnification for any damage to the Island's infrastructure due to construction. Of course, RIOC isn't able to do so without specifically authorized funds from the State for that purpose, but why would the management of RIOC worry about a detail like that?

But perhaps the Mayor should worry. Perhaps the UDC Trust for the bondholders should worry. Perhaps it's cheaper for the Mayor to get the State to mandate delivery of construction materials by water than to replace that bridge.

Perhaps we should ask the Mayor if he wants us back. Giuliani does show signs of prudent management. With prudent management this place could be profitable... for the City or for anyone else. Development of Southpoint into the right kind of tourist attraction might be made very profitable indeed.

But meanwhile, if Roosevelt Island is going to be left in the hands of its lessee, the State, Mayor Giuliani has many interests that should rightly be protected. Perhaps his visit might be more important to him than he guesses.

It's up to us to make it so.

I tell you one thing: I'd love to trade in Public Safety to the City. We, the residents, contribute $800,000 per year for Public Safety directly from our rent with RIOC matching that amount from the income derived from Motorgate and other commercial enterprises on the Island. (In other words, we pay for what? Even the victim of a crime would have to fill out a Freedom of Information form to get any information on the incident. Any incident.)

As far as the Public Safety Department knows, there is no crime on this Island. They say so every month on their reports to the Board of Directors. I sit here now with April's reports which list one arrest on the Public Safety blotter, and yet five arrests on the statistical report from RIOC to the Board of Directors. When queried about this conflicting information at the Board of Directors meeting Thursday night, Mr. Fry responded with some bureaucratic double-talk that I am sure not one soul understood.

The single speed-limit sign on Main Street is so rusted over it can't be read. The bikes are back with the warm weather, but they are driven with impunity on the sidewalk past Public Safety officers. There are no signs posted with bike regulations. Have you ever seen a Public Safety officer stop a kid tossing litter onto Main Street?

There's a renewed press to do something about these issues, both on the local building level and at the Common Council. You'll be hearing more from all of us about it soon.