Roosevelt Island affairs are in disarray.

There is a bountiful harvest of examples:

• Streetlights don’t work (over a third at last count).

• Red Bus service is on a haphazard rush-hour schedule (and no one is trying to fix it).

• Motorgate lighting is even more haphazard.

• Motorgate’s north-end elevator hasn’t worked in years.

• After a snow, the walkway across the Roosevelt Island Bridge isn’t cleared (nor are some other Island walkways).

• Main Street stop signs are often ignored (often with Public Safety watching).

• Northtown retailers are being eliminated without replacement.

• The damaged seawall at Lighthouse Park has gone without repair since May, 2005.

• Island House and Westview have been waiting too long for RIOC decisions that affect tenants’ futures.

• No one, so far as we can detect, is paying attention to rush-hour subway problems.

• No one in authority is making plans to leverage the steam plant, a potential source of savings and revenue.

• There’s still no disclosure of an emergency evacuation plan for the Island – as well as other emergency procedures.

• Main Street parking is policed poorly, with automatic favoritism and forgiveness for a privileged few.

• We have $2,000 garbage cans that have openings too small to dispose of a garbage bag full of picnic debris.

Some good things are happening:

• There is some forward motion on Southpoint Park.

• We have some new energy-efficient Red Buses.

Almost any Islander of more than a few weeks standing could add to the first list. A few more items could be found for the second list, but they are outweighed by a general failure to get day-to-day matters, as well as important long-term matters, under control.

Amid this disarray, the RIOC Board of Directors has not met for 100 days. We have no replacement for Herb Berman yet, and no word from the new DHCR chief on how RIOC Board meetings will be run – or when.

This disarray should end. If they haven’t done so already, resident RIOC Board members should immediately petition the Governor and DHCR head Deborah Van Amerongen asking for movement now on important pending matters.

End the disarray.

DL