The Hon. Olga A. Mendez
New York State Senate District 28
Capitol Building
Albany, New York  12247

Can you please do all you can to get the legislation passed that will give Roosevelt Island an elected Operating Corporation Board?  It is terribly important that this be achieved in the current session of the Legislature, because our Island is being ruined by the non-elected Board of Directors of the present Operating Corporation (RIOC).

The present directors of RIOC do not understand, and do not care, that most of us who moved to Roosevelt Island did so because of the intent and development plan that will make this a model community of economically and sociologically mixed families with abundant parks, playing fields and open spaces.

The present directors of RIOC are going ahead with building projects that are ruining the original development plan.  All they care about is selling off our open spaces to generate as much money as they can - the heck with the plan so carefully drawn by internationally famous architects and community planners.

We need an elected Board of Directors composed of members of this community so that our Island can move towards fulfilling this community's needs and desires.

Please, Senator Mendez, can you help us by getting the legislation passed now, that gives Roosevelt Island an elected Operating Corporation Board - one that can hire professional management?

Much as I dislike perpetuating a "he said-she said" debate, I can't let David Kraut's letter in the May 19 WIRE go unanswered.  He refers to a letter from Linda Heimer in which Linda refers to this comment purportedly made by Mr. Kraut at a community meeting: "When a resident said that the resident Board members represent the community, David Kraut called out, 'No I don't.  I represent the State.'"  She's referring to the meeting concerning the tram shutdown for the Spider-Man filming.  Residents were critical of RIOC and directed their anger at the RIOC staff who showed up to listen and explain.

I, too, heard Mr. Kraut's comment.  I'm not surprised, however, that very few others heard it since, as he says in his letter, "I neither 'called anything out' nor went to the microphone."  All his comments that evening were stage whispers as he stood on the sidelines and let the people he so often refers to as "his staff" take the heat from the angry crowd.  I think we all deserve better than that from our resident RIOC board members.  And I think "his staff" deserved better from him.

Let me finish by commenting on Mr. Kraut's second issue in The WIRE.  He refers to legislation that will "impose a new form of government onto Roosevelt Island."  Mr. Kraut, that form of government is called "Democracy."  It's not that new to most of us here in the United States, but it's about time it came to Roosevelt Island.  This legislation will allow the people of Roosevelt Island to vote you, and other RIOC Board members in or out of office.

The people of the Island have passed two referendums in favor of this concept and our legislators are working very hard to make it a reality.  Let's support them to get it done as soon as possible, without the delaying tactics proposed by Mr. Kraut.

The last WIRE outlined a list of infrastructure problems facing Roosevelt Island, to which I should like to add another concern.

The access bridge to Roosevelt Island is vital to the community - if the bridge were to be out of commission for any significant period of time the consequences would be extremely serious.  We are told that the bridge is in deteriorated condition, such that it is in need of a $20 million overhaul.  A sign on the Queens side specifies that the maximum load permitted is 36 tons, which presumably is the case when the bridge is in good condition.  In recent weeks there have been very large dump trucks on Main Street, presumably being used to remove rubble from the demolition of the Nurses Residence, and my guess would be that when one of those trucks is fully-laden it must weigh substantially in excess of 36 tons.  As an example of the weight that construction vehicles can reach, I am told that a fully laden concrete mixer would weigh in at 55 tons.

It should be a vital concern of the community that overweight vehicles not be permitted to use the bridge.

Robert Ryan, President
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.
591 Main Street
Roosevelt Island, NY 10044

This is to inform you that each time it rains, water collects on the roof of the old "Blackwell" School, at 504 Main Street.  Today there is approximately 1 to 1-1/2 inches of water standing on that roof.  As you are aware, because of the West Nile Virus threat, standing bodies of water must be drained to discourage mosquito larvae.  One of your workers told my husband and me that you have started a program to put poison pellets in the water instead of draining the water.  That is ludicrous, as there are children in that building and evaporating vapors of insecticides may be problematic for those who are asthmatic!

Be advised that there are laws in the City and State which require the drainage of standing bodies of water.  If you do not immediately institute a directive to require your maintenance staff to drain that water immediately after each rainfall, be advised that I, as well as many of my neighbors, will take the necessary legal steps to insure that you do so to protect our health and safety.  I remind you that as President of RIOC you have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure our safety.

Further, may I remind you that the mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus do not discriminate between Roosevelt Island residents and their appointed officials, and will bite anyone in their path, including you, so it is in your best interest to address this issue immediately.

I would like to respond to David Kraut's letter to Assemblymember Pete Grannis, reprinted in the May 19 issue of The Main Street WIRE:

I did not hear David's alleged response at the recent Town Meeting to the resident's remark that the resident RIOC Board members represent the community ("No, I don't.  I represent the State.").  Two residents who were present have confirmed hearing David make the comment.  But regardless of what was or was not said, the statement is quite true.  Anyone who has attended the RIOC Board meetings in recent years knows that they vote in lockstep, every vote unanimous.  Never do the resident RIOC Board members dissent in any way - at least, not at the public sessions.  Now that the secret, executive sessions last two hours and the public session only forty minutes, we shall never know what our resident members may say in our defense.  And since the resident RIOC Board members make no report to the community of RIOC intentions (nor can they and still comply with  their responsibilities to RIOC) we are unlikely to find out.  Clearly, it's time for an elected RIOC Board that functions in the light of day and is responsible to this community.

Kraut's understanding of the local-government legislation is flawed.  This community has spoken on the question of restoring local government to Roosevelt Island on two occasions; with a 92% vote in November 1998 and again in November 2000 with 80%.  The RIRA Common Council has affirmed this support with three separate votes on the details of the legislation as it existed at that time.

This legislation is by no means a "constitution" for Roosevelt Island. It simply modifies the 1984 law that created RIOC with provisions for an elected Board and the hiring of a trained, professional Community Manager to replace the political appointees who have led RIOC since its creation.  RIOC has no constitution and is governed by by-laws written by RIOC in 1985 and amended six times since then, most recently in 1999.  This document sets the rules of the corporation and did not require the approval of this community when originally adopted.

The new RIOC that will result from the passage of the currently-proposed legislation will be free to modify the existing by-laws.  fit.  And if the community is unhappy with the by-laws, or the new RIOC president or the members of the new Board, we are free to vote them out of office.

I've never heard of a legislature passing a law and then referring it back to a community for their approval.  This bill to enfranchise Roosevelt Island has passed through four years of discussion and debate in open meetings of the Maple Tree Group, RIRA and the community, and it is now in the hands of our Assemblymember and State Senator.  Their legislative houses may choose to modify the bill again prior to giving their support, and Assemblyman Grannis and Senator Mendez have the responsibility to negotiate on our behalf.  And when it is passed by the New York State Legislature, the only veto that might deny us this hard-won right is the Governor's.

New York State is imposing no new constitution; it is simply giving us the local government it denied us 17 years ago.  We will still be governed by a public benefit corporation of the State of New York, empowered to write its own by-laws.  The difference is that RIOC will truly represent us, not the Governor, whoever that might be.