September brings the start of a new school year and the start of some much needed repair work on the Island. As you probably already noticed, work has begun on the ramp leading to the Roosevelt Island bridge. That work is being performed partly by the developers of Southtown, Hudson and Related.

Work will also begin soon on Main Street between Gristede's and the AVAC building. We hope to start the project within the next several weeks. The work that will be performed there will be temporary until a permanent roadway design is in place.

Work is also complete on the Island's soccer fields. The wet weather and extensive use of cleats on the fields last season destroyed the surface of the fields. As a result, they had to be closed for several months to recondition them and allow the new seeding to take hold. The newly refurbished fields reopened on September 1. We ask that everyone using the fields respects the fact that cleats are not allowed and that care has to be taken when playing on wet fields.

The other newly refurbished item is the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation phone system. In early August, the old system finally crashed, destroying the voice mail in the process. We replaced it as quickly as possible and listened to resident requests when selecting a new one. When the phone is busy, callers can now go to an automated operator. They will then have the option of holding for a live operator or proceeding through a voice system.

We are also continuing to work to find the best solution for the elevators and escalator at Motorgate. The first bids that came back were not acceptable and the project is currently being rebid. We had hoped that the repair work would begin in late summer, but that time has been delayed to the mid to late fall. We are very frustrated by the length of this project and appreciate your patience.

It is anticipated that within the next several years the new plans for Southpoint will also be started. The next step in the process is about to begin. The Trust for Public Land is holding a public meeting on the three potential plans on Tuesday, September 14. The meetings will be from 2:00-4:00 and from 7:30-9:30 in Good Shepherd. We urge everyone to attend and voice their opinions. The plans will be posted in the window of Gallery RIVAA and can also be viewed at http://www.markkmorrison.com/roosevelt/pdf/concepts.pdf.

Some other things remain the same as we enter the Fall season. The bridge remains operational. We have had further discussions with the Department of Transportation. We will continue to provide any updates from them as soon as they are received. At this time there is no set date when the 24-hour operation will cease.

As soon as we receive updates of any kind regarding transportation or Island events they are posted on the kiosks, given to building management, and added to our web site. Anybody seeking information is also invited to sign up for e-mail updates or call the RIOC information hotline. To sign up for the e-mail updates, please visit the RIOC web site at www.rioc.com. There is a place to sign up for the updates located on the left-hand side of the home page. The phone number for the hotline is 212-308-6608.

As many of you are aware, the Board voted to extend the time for the Octagon project pending certain governmental approvals. We also hope to have more information on this by mid to late Fall.

I am also proud to report that, for the second straight year, the mobile mammogram machine has come to Roosevelt Island. For the past several weeks we have posted signs on the kiosks and given copies to building management announcing that the machine would be here on September 9. If you were unable to utilize this valuable service this year, I urge you to watch for it next September. We are hoping to make it an annual event.

I also want to take the opportunity to wish all the students, teachers, and support personnel at PS/IS 217 and The Child School a good school year. I also want to remind everyone that there are several Safe Havens for students around the Island, including the RIOC offices.

Finally, I wish everyone celebrating the Jewish New Year a healthy and a happy one. I also wish everybody a great Fall season! I look forward to being able to report that all of the repairs mentioned are well on their way to completion before the start of the next season!