Make no mistake about who is in command at this office: a mug on Doryne Isley's desk reads, "She Who Must Be Obeyed."

The General Manager of Roosevelt Island Housing Management, Isley, 54, is a woman so charged with energy and a sense of mission that one can almost feel it like a physical force in her office. Dressed in a red tennis skirt, she comes to her office straight after a game, ready to meet "whatever comes through the door." Residents come with problems when they cannot understand regulations, seniors come with mail they find incomprehensible and some parents come with unruly teenagers to seek advice. "Some days I feel like a social worker rather than a housing manager," she says.

A Housing Manager is what Isley says she is best cut out to be. She bought her first brownstone in Harlem at the age of nineteen. After a decade-and-a-half of buying, selling and managing property in Harlem, she decided to take her interest in real estate in a different direction. She went back to school and studied Facilities Management at Iona College in New Rochelle.

In the mid-'80's, she bought two Century 21 franchises in Mount Vernon and New Rochelle. When she decided she had had enough of the seven-day work week, Isley took up the post of Commissioner of the Mount Vernon Housing Authority. "I began supervising the day-to-day operations of the public housing units of that city," says Isley. As Commissioner in Mount Vernon, Isley claims she has successfully privatized all public housing in the city of Mount Vernon.

Her real-estate background and experience in Mount Vernon was crucial to her being appointed by the representatives of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal as General Manager of Roosevelt Island Housing Management in 1995. "They were familiar with my accomplishments and ability to run a site," says Isley.

On the Island, Isley oversees 1,761 units of housing in Eastwood, Island House and Westview.

With her staff of 115, Isley is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the buildings and their maintenance, and with ensuring that all rules and regulations of the State of New York and Department of Housing and Urban Development are complied with in terms of new applications and current residents. "Doryne is totally devoted to bringing the best possible services to her residents," says Marilyn Engstler, the Director of Community Affairs, who works closely with Isley. "She addresses every issue and complaint brought to her attention."

Another associate, Facilities Manager Thelma McIntosh, says she and Isley are like Thelma and Louise in that they approach problems from different angles. "When we approach quality-of-life issues, we tackle them very differently, but Doryne keeps the lines of communication open. If I take something up on its technical aspect, she polishes the public relations aspect. Doryne has the ability to take a grain of salt and make it into a mountain. She is innovative, extremely organized and very detailed," McIntosh says.

Soon after she started working on the Island, Doryne initiated Roosevelt Island Day, modeled on a similar program in Mount Vernon. Isley thought it would be a good idea if everyone banded together to spruce up the Island and was surprised at the enthusiasm shown by residents. She then brought in the Jazzmobile, which visits every year in July. "We wanted to have one event every month in the summer to entertain the Islanders," says Isley.

Among other projects initiated by her are the Youth Memorial Fountain, featuring a little garden and a small fountain with plaques bearing names of Island youth who passed away before their time.

The desire to get to know the residents of the buildings she manages has led Doryne to hold floor meetings in Island House and Westview recently. Eastwood meetings are scheduled for April. "Normally I don't get to meet the population I serve unless they have a problem. I see them at their worst, when we have thoroughly dissatisfied them in some way, shape, form or fashion."

Her petite frame all set to take on new challenges, Doryne asserts that she is a motivator who prefers to have things done her way. "I am not bull-headed about it and I would be the first to say that it doesn't work, so I think I am fair. When it comes to my staff, I have been in this business for a lot longer than many are old."