RIRA will sue to stop the Octagon Apartments project.

The Residents Association Common Council voted 16-1 Wednesday night to file a petition asking the court to halt work on the open space at Octagon Park, where two wings of a 500-plus-unit project are to be built on designated parkland.

The vote was taken after a 50-minute closed session, unusual for the RIRA Council.  Only one councilor, James Whalen, dissented when a vote was taken upon resumption of the Council's open meeting.

The recently elected President of RIRA, Steve Marcus, issued the following statement after the RIRA Common Council's vote:

“Once again, RIOC is engaging in expedient, cash-oriented, piecemeal development.  Without a thoughtful revision of the Island's General Development Plan, RIOC and its mostly non-resident Board is attempting to solve a temporary cash-flow problem by making an ill-advised permanent decision to sacrifice parkland.

“The community has expressed itself repeatedly against the destruction of this parkland. The response from RIOC at each turn, has been to urge the developers to build higher and take up even more space. On November 2, voters in the RIRA election gave their residents organization a clear mandate with an 83% vote against any change in the 2002 Open Space Law. That law is clear in prohibiting use of this historically designated parkland for anything other than park purposes.”

Marcus continued, “RIOC's operations are wasteful and top-heavy, paying patronage-level salaries to the Governor's friends. The problems produced by this unconscionable waste must not be solved by destroying parkland.  I am proud of the RIRA Common Council for stepping up to the plate Wednesday night.  We represent the people who live here; the RIOC Board does not.  Morally, we have no choice but to take action to save our parkland for future generations.”

Marcus discusses the suit in his column in this issue.

Coincidentally, Governor George Pataki issued a press release yesterday hailing the “landmark project.”  The release quotes Pataki, RIOC President Herbert E. Berman, Commissioner Judith Calogero of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), Developer Bruce Becker, the President of the Bank of America, a union president, City Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro, and Roosevelt Island Historical Society President Judith Berdy in praise of the project.  (Click here to read the Governor's press announcement.)

The 2002 law which, RIRA contends, prohibits the planned development, was the product of a process that involved Assemblymember Pete Grannis and Senator Olga Mendez, both of whom represent Roosevelt Island in the State Legislature, and the Governor's office.  The original Grannis-Mendez bill was aimed at giving residents an elected majority on the RIOC Board of Directors.  The Governor's staff insisted on modifications, and the bill ultimately passed as the “Roosevelt Island Open Spaces Law.”  While residents got a majority of seats on the RIOC Board, they are appointed, and over two years later the Governor has still not made the appointments.  In addition, language introduced into the law by the Governor's office appears to forbid commercial development on the Island's open spaces.

On Thursday, Grannis told The WIRE, ”I'm certainly very supportive of RIRA's position.  We have been cautioning RIOC and DHCR about proceeding without getting the legislation changed. Now we will find out whether we're right or they're right.  I think it's a very risky move by the developer and RIOC to proceed, but obviously, when you look at the Governor's press release, it is made to seem a fait accompli.  But that press release is certainly not going to be the determining factor in whether the project can go forward.

“RIRA did the right thing,” Grannis continued.  “That's been our position all along.  Since residents voted so strongly, I intend to be as helpful as I can in any way RIRA and its attorney deems appropriate.”

The WIRE has reported extensively on the Octagon project over the past several years.  A list of back issues with links to earlier stories is on-line, on Website NYC10044, at http://nyc10044.com/wire/issulist.html.  A specific list of Octagon-related reports is also part of this on-line issue of The WIRE.