Summers are never long enough for me. Yeah, I know the sun's bad for you. So, why does it feel so good? I've absorbed copious baseball (go, Mets and Cyclones!), have picnicked on the lawn, and I am reluctant to let that (spurious but delicious) summer feeling of somnolence go. Such is life.

Looking at my last column in the July 31 issue of The Main Street WIRE, I feel that we have dodged a bullet. I spent four 'graphs discussing the July 9 contingency planning meeting held under the auspices of RIOC. Little did I know that, just one month later, the assurances given there by the Department of Transportation and our Public Safety Department would be put to the test. On August 12 we suffered a multiple transportation outage with the Roosevelt Island Bridge getting stuck with the roadway lifted (three times in two days) while the Tram was out of service for scheduled maintenance. Later that afternoon, we lost subway service as well.

The good news is that neither serious illness, accident, fire, nor crime occurred on Roosevelt Island during this period of uncertainty. The bad news is that fire, police, and EMS personnel and materiel, promised us at all Bridge tests, were not on the scene. RIOC President Herb Berman has refuted the statement by DOT that the 3:45 p.m. malfunction was a test, stating that the breakdown occurred during operational use of the lift mechanism. It seems to me that any interdiction of the bridge roadway should be accompanied by the presence of emergency vehicles on Roosevelt Island. More good news came from a Newsday article on August 14 that stated a full-time engine company would be stationed on Roosevelt Island through the Republican National Convention. I would remind all concerned that the west channel is also closed during the United Nations General Assembly this fall and that notification of emergency service providers and provision for another bridge failure must be considered during that period.

In a WIRE e-mail bulletin I was quoted saying, "The confluence of events should be a wake-up call for DOT, RIOC, and all of us thinking about Roosevelt Island contingency planning... [T]he potential for an event like this makes the need for docking facilities, pending for 30 years and more, even more acute. We should all be concerned about the possible response to a medical, fire, or police emergency during a situation of this type." I've learned that the Coast Guard has no record of certifying a working dock on Roosevelt Island nor has the NYC Department of Buildings issued a permit for one, suggesting that whatever decaying facilities for boats remain here are undocumented. Whether you believe the old east channel dock is adequate for delivery of emergency services or not (I don't, some do) the point is that we've been handed another wake-up call to supplement last August's Blackout.

I've urged Herb to call the next contingency planning meeting as soon as possible in an effort to comply with the monthly schedule envisioned, and to re-invite the DOT representatives. The understandings to insure that DOT, RIOC, Public Safety, the FDNY, and police are all informed when Tram service is curtailed and when the Roosevelt Island Bridge lift is in use must be put in place as part of any cohesive plan for future emergencies. Gifford Miller has sent letters to both Iris Weinshall, Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, and to Herb Berman, asking both to insure better communication in the future. President Berman told me that a September meeting is anticipated depending on the availability of City and State Emergency Management personnel.

RIOC resident Board member Patrick Stewart has brought to my attention the possibility of initiating a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) on Roosevelt Island that would provide 25 hours of emergency training to Island residents. I hope Mr. Stewart, who heads the RIOC Operations and Public Safety Committees, will bring his proposal to the next Common Council meeting and that he will lead the effort to establish such a unit here.

The bottom line here is that our fifty-year-old lifeline to Queens is not scheduled for renovations to begin until 2012. Perhaps this near miss will convince DOT to move up their repairs.

And finally: this fall brings another RIRA election season. The Common Council will authorize Election and Nominating Committees to run the election and solicit candidates for each election district. It seems to me that the only way RIRA members will comprehend the implications of the constitution and bylaws, old and new, is by applying them as Common Council members. I urge you to consider running for office. RIRA needs committed, thoughtful, energetic volunteers to maintain its programs and think up new ones. I urge you to vote in the November 2 elections. Last spring I wrote a Public Purpose Fund grant application for the money to provide election machines and services and I have learned that the RIOC Public Purpose Fund Committee will recommend to the full RIOC Board that this sum be provided for that purpose. Having helped produce an election in 2002 without those machines, which required ten times the volunteer labor to accomplish, I hope that the RIOC Board of Directors will approve the funds. Stay tuned.