Community Board 8 met on Roosevelt Island Wednesday night, and voted unanimously to support a Residents Association request for a study of stairway and elevator access to the Queensboro Bridge via a stairway and elevator.

The idea has already been rejected by the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) as incompatible with its post-9/11 security planning, but the Islanders promoting the idea see it as a solution to emergency needs rather than a threat likely to produce an emergency. The rationale is a perceived need for more means of emergency egress from the Island.

Ellen Polivy presented the idea to CB8’s transportation committee last week, and that committee passed it along on Wednesday night in the form of a resolution calling for the feasibility study. But the committee expanded the original resolution as sought by Polivy to include a general look at the Island’s transportation situation.

For and Against Ellen Polivy, the Island’s newest member of Community Board 8, took the proposal for direct access to the Queensboro Bridge to the Board. Frank Farance spoke in opposition; his views appear in a letter in this issue (page 2). Both serve on the Common Council of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA).

Polivy relayed a resolution approved at a Residents Association Common Council meeting calling for direct ground-to-bridge access, saying, "We need another escape route off our Island." She added that even in calm times, the Island’s transportation facilities are overloaded. "We need a reliable way to get on and off the Island," she said. "The walkway would give Manhattan’s East Side residents a new destination park in easy walking distance."

Polivy reported the DOT "heightened security measures" response to a letter from City Councilmember Jessica Lappin, calling that reason "a discussion-stopper," and spoke of the difficulties the disabled have in using the Tram and subway. "We have been told that there is an emergency evacuation plan, but we can’t be told what it is because it is secret," she said.

Others from Roosevelt Island endorsed the proposal.

"There is a transportation crisis on Roosevelt Island," said David O’Connor. "I do worry what I would do with my family in an emergency." He said he’d like to see a feasibility study to see if some form of direct access to the Manhattan-to-Queens walkway on the bridge "makes economic sense."

Another resident, Heather Edwards, said she moved to Roosevelt Island just before the Tramway went out of service for five months. "Instead of having a more convenient life, my life became tragically inconvenient. That experience showed me that the DOT and the MTA have a complete disregard for the needs of Roosevelt Island residents. Not only do we need to examine this bridge option, which I think is a great idea. We need a complete review of the options available for transportation. I don’t think they’re being examined as well as they could be."

Neil Weissman, a 25-year resident who had asked City Councilmember Jessica Lappin to inquire of DOT about some arrangement for bridge access, referred to a "perfect storm" for Roosevelt Island transportation that occurred August 12, 2001, when the bridge to Queens was stuck in the lifted position, the Tram was under repair, and the subway went down for a time. "I don’t think we need a perfect storm [in transportation] to have problems," Weissman said. "We could have just the Tram down, or just the subway. You can see the panic in people’s eyes when the subway is down and they go to the Tram and have to wait while a couple [of trains] go by [without them]. We’re going to double in population. It used to be easy to get off the Island. But it’s getting worse and we need options."

Linda Heimer, a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member who had raised the "perfect storm" example, said that when contemplating an emergency situation, "We really feel very trapped. We have not been told what the emergency evacuation plan is – only that there is one and we should call 311. But in an emergency, everyone will be calling 311. We’re trying to do what we can to help ourselves as much as we can."

Nurit Marcus cited advantages in providing walking access for residents of Manhattan and Queens for Southpoint Park. The idea "isn’t easy or perfect," she said, but it "should be studied."

But Judith Berdy, another longtime Island resident, said she didn’t think the walkway or an elevator to the bridge walkway would be feasible.

However, members of the CB8 transportation committee sympathized with the residents’ desire for additional transportation options – and for better information about evacuation planning.

"We should not have to rely on mass transit in an emergency," said Glenn McAnanama, a community member of the transportation committee. He criticized the lack of firm information about evacuation plans for the Island. "What is this plan? They may not be able to tell us all the details, but they really need to articulate better what exactly the constraints are. And would they really be able to get 20,000 people off the Island in an expeditious manner?" He said the supposed evacuation plan "reminds me of Nixon’s secret plan to end the Vietnam War."

Patrick Stewart, who represents Roosevelt Island on CB8 and is on the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC), said he would have trouble walking up "30 stories" to the bridge walkway, but told Polivy, "You’re on the right track, I do believe." Stewart pointed out, however, that a number of agencies would have to agree to any plan – DOT, the MTA, and the State and City Offices of Emergency Planning.

Helene Simon, a CB8 member, said, "This is critical. This is dangerous. These people need absolutely ways to get off that Island other than relying on a transportation system, and this needs to be done sooner rather than later." Another member of the committee, Roy Carlin, added, "We should urge that there be a published emergency plan for Roosevelt Island."

The transportation committee voted unanimously for the resolution.