The RIOC Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday night to seek advertising on the Tram.

The move potentially puts the Board at odds with City Councilmember Gifford Miller, who in the past has insisted that ads on the Tram cabins would have to be tied to availability of the MetroCard on the Tramway, with free transfers to and from the City's subways and buses.

The move came on a motion from Board member Leo Kayser, who characterized it as responsive to the community's demand that Tram service be maintained on its present schedule.  "There is an economic imperative," Kayser said, alluding to the Tramway's operating deficit.  "Discussion as set forth in the resolution makes it clear that this is purely an economic issue from our perspective, and [it] should not be tied to other matters which would negate the streams of income that would be realized from this."  Kayser was saying, in short, that Miller's wish to link Tram advertising to MetroCard availability is not in the cards.

Kayser added, "Since this is an RFP (request for proposals), the time period will lend itself to continued negotiations with those who should be our champions in the City Council."

Resident board member David Kraut raised some concerns – "trepidations," as he termed them.  "I share Leo Kayser's view that it is time to get serious on this issue, however it plays out, and to take a look at what's possible and what's not.  I don't automatically agree with his hypothesis that [this resolution] will bring to the table those in City government who might instead be alienated by our action.

"Leo feels we have a responsibility to move this thing forward and see what happens next," Kraut continued.  "So it's with some concern that I support the motion."

Another resident Board member, H. Patrick Stewart, said he suspected that the late Al Weinstein, who headed the Residents Association Tram Committee, would fight advertising on "his" Tram.  But Stewart said he would prefer to see "a more businesslike approach" to future such proposals, suggesting that, although he intended to vote for the proposal, he felt more research should have preceded its presentation to the Operating Corporation Board.

Later, during the public session, resident James Kaufman, an attorney, told the Board that he had once inquired about Tram ads on behalf of a client, and had been waved off by City officials, who had commented that the City already had too much of a "honky tonk" look.  He outlined several difficulties with the idea, including possible resistance by the City Council's Franchise Committee, and likely resistance by the City Parks Department to advertising in Tramway Plaza in Manhattan.

The Board also heard a proposal from The Child School to renovate and occupy the Eastwood, Island House, and Westview minischools, in a move that would expand the institution's capacity from 165 at its East 33rd Street location to 230 on Roosevelt Island, for ages from 5 to 21.  Representatives of the school, which was founded on Roosevelt Island in the mid-'70s with five students, said they would spend some $8 million repairing and renovating the spaces, then would pay an annual rent of some $200,000.

The school's founder and executive director, Maari de Souza, is an Island resident, with an apartment in Island House.  At the time she founded the school, she was an Eastwood resident, and ran it in her apartment there.  The school serves children with special needs, preparing them for Regents examinations and diplomas.  Its funding comes on a student-by-student basis from New York State.

No action was taken on the proposal, which will be the subject of further presentations.