Last week I returned home from Manhattan on the Tram late one afternoon.  There were several people in wheelchairs waiting for the elevator at Tram Plaza.  I walked up the stairs to inquire about the elevators, only to be informed that both the primary car and the wheelchair backup were not functioning.  I asked the token booth attendant what the contingency plan was, only to be informed that there was none.

The only alternative for someone in a heavy motorized chair is to get over to the subway and hope all the elevators there are working, or take the bus into Queens, change for the Q102, and hope all the wheelchair lifts are working.  There must be a better way.

Since then, I have called the Tram telephone number twice and left messages for Minnie.  Neither message has been answered.  I understand from several RIOC sources that the two Manhattan Tram elevators have been "on-again-off-again" for the past week (I'm writing this on Tuesday, the 30th).  Today, I spoke to Vincent Kopecki, chief RIOC engineer, and voiced my concerns.  He said he would ask the Tram people to inform him immediately when both elevators were out of order, and that he would investigate assigning a red bus during that period.  This seems like an excellent plan, and I asked Vinnie to let me know when it was in place so that I could tell you.

I want to commend the many Roosevelt Islanders who were able to attend the Town Meeting on October 24 to discuss the Octagon development.  I thought the quality of your questions and remarks was very high, knowledgeable and very useful to the debate that has swirled about us since May of 1999.  At the conclusion of the meeting, Bruce Becker, president of the firm seeking to build the apartment complex, echoed those sentiments.

The Becker & Becker Associates (BBA) presentation was as professional as always, and reflected the community input from previous sit-downs.  If there was any consensus on the details of the plan from the many residents attending, it was that the proposal to build a parking garage under raised tennis courts was a terrible idea.  Speaker after speaker, including some tennis players and some car owners, decried the plan for more parking, citing Motorgate's capacity for many additional vehicles and the deleterious impact on both adult and children's tennis.

City Councilmember Gifford Miller discussed the necessity and mechanism of amending the General Development Plan (GDP) to accommodate this project.  There has been discussion as to whether the footprints of the old Pauper Lunatic Asylum would preclude the necessity of amending the GDP.  However, RIOC seems ready to submit a proposed amendment, and I hope Gifford will share it with the community as soon as the language is set.  The RIRA Planning Committee had drafted a resolution last March endorsing the concept of the BBA proposal, requesting certain specific changes and with the proviso that the GDP be amended before the project can proceed.  For various reasons, this resolution has not yet been put to a vote in Common Council.

City Council hearings will likely be required to amend the GDP, although nothing about the process is clear.  Miller noted that he is not on the pertinent committee that would conduct the hearings but, at a resident's request, agreed to use his influence to try to site the hearings here on Roosevelt Island.

I found it interesting that one interest group was not heard from at the Town Meeting.  There were many wishing to modify the existing plan for practical or aesthetic reasons.  Those opposing Octagon Park Apartments in order to preserve parkland were quite vocal.  But no one spoke specifically in favor of building a housing development on Octagon in preference to any other use of the space.  Is this because we feel that we must settle for the Becker plan now or lose the Octagon landmark entirely?  I don't know and I hope you will make your opinions known through The WIRE's Letters column.  What is decided now will impact on our community for the rest of our time here.  A neighbor (thanks, Zakieh!) brought to my attention a New York Times article in which City Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern was quoted:  "Parkland is forever.  If you lose that land, you can never get it back."

This may be the best use of the Octagon landmark for both current and future Islanders, but we had damned well better be sure before we endorse anything.  It's our responsibility to find out for ourselves and to participate in the City Council hearings process when called upon to do so.  Our parkland is our birthright, and if we sell it for a mess of pottage we will have a long time to regret the mistake.  Please let your voice be heard.