The holidays are over and we have collectively recovered from New Year’s Eve. It’s time to buckle down again and try to ignore the pounds we’ve gained from too many Christmas cookies.
Hats in the Ring for the RIOC Board
The effort to elect candidates to be appointed by Governor Spitzer to the RIOC Board of Directors has now shifted into high gear. As we hoped, the number of candidates, both declared and pending, is sufficient to create a truly contested election. This means that each nominee must convince you to vote for him or her and not for the other fellow. Therefore, if 18 Island residents choose to run, six will win and 12 will lose. And so, candidates had best get their campaigns working ASAP to convince the electorate that they merit your vote. With less than a month to go before the February 5 balloting, expect to see and hear these contenders in your building community rooms, at the Farmers Market, and on the street. Expect to see their literature on the kiosks and placed at your front door. After all, one of the ways to judge the qualifications of these folks is how hard they’re willing to work to earn your vote.
Of course, the RIRA and MTG activists who are acting as a Roosevelt Island "Board of Elections" can’t endorse or campaign for these aspirants. But we can and will offer them additional venues to present themselves to you. Jot these dates down: There will be two Candidate Events – one on Tuesday, January 15, at 7:00 p.m. and one on Saturday, February 2, at 1:00 p.m. Both will take place at the Good Shepherd Community Center, with the first upstairs and the second in the downstairs community room. Nominations close on Friday, January 18 at 10:00 p.m. sharp. This is also the deadline for contestants’ written statements for The Main Street WIRE. These statements must be submitted by e-mail or by CD (any PC-compatible word processing software will do) and are limited to 800 words.
As we approach Election Day (a/k/a "Super Tuesday" Primary Day), you will no doubt start to notice presidential signage on Main Street. Keep your eyes peeled for the banners and posters reminding you to vote for RIOC Board Members. In terms of the direct effect on our lives here, you will have no more important duty. And remember, you don’t have to be a U.S. citizen, or registered in your current Roosevelt Island district, to vote in the RIOC Board election!
An Anticipated Tragedy
I expect you have read the page 1 story on the collapse of the north wall of the Smallpox Hospital ruin in Southpoint Park. Many of us have been dreading this news for 15 years, as this iconic relic of Roosevelt Island’s grim history has been ignored by those in charge of the Island’s landmarks. In last Saturday’s New York Times Metro section article, Peg Breen of the New York Landmarks Conservancy was quoted, saying, "This is a real failure of stewardship," and it is. We’ve watched as three Governors, five RIOC Board Chairs, and six RIOC presidents have waited for the inevitable to happen. These are, of course, some of the same worthies who have been unable to provide new leases to merchants for the empty storefronts in Northtown.
The stabilization of this James Renwick, Jr.-designed structure was to begin next summer as the centerpiece of the Trust for Public Land’s Wild Gardens, Green Rooms project. It seems that one winter too many was allowed to elapse. TPL’s project manager, Andy Stone, has recommended that an emergency contract start immediately to repair the damage before winter weather causes more collapse. This would be paid for out of the funds already raised. He noted that full masonry restoration will be necessary at least for some portion of the structure. I can’t say I’m surprised, given the neglect we’ve seen over the years. I’m just saddened and hopeful that the $4.5 million set aside to stabilize the Renwick Ruin will be sufficient to the task as it now exists.
Success!
In my last column I touched on two small quality-of-life issues with which we’ve been involved, to wit, the subway benches and the bus turn-around at the Tram station. Both have been resolved. Two benches now reside outside the subway station (with four more to come!) and, despite the winter weather, are in use. Last August, I had asked David Kramer of the Hudson Company whether the old benches, removed during the construction of the plaza between 455 and 425 Main Street, could be restored. When it became clear that they were not to be found, we determined to replace them, and the new wood-slat, wrought-iron-framed numbers are attractive, in keeping with the vintage lighting fixtures that grace the Island, and, I suspect, will be in great demand starting next spring. Further, the bus turn-around at the Tram station is in use, and even the older buses can make the turn without difficulty. Congrats to all involved for their sensitivity to the needs of the public.
To continue the theme, we’ve learned from Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given its approval for a New York Water Taxi pier on the west channel of the East River at Octagon Apartments. The Becker & Becker application to build this dock took 18 months to be approved. This is lightning speed for a government application! Years ago, when I tried to obtain the Corps’ substantial report on the Roosevelt Island seawall, it took one year and our Congress-member’s intervention to accomplish. The inclusion of ferry service will convenience a small contingent of Island commuters, but will hardly make a dent in the critical commuter transportation issues we currently face. I’ve been trying, so far without success, to persuade our pubic officials to begin the planning necessary to prevent the looming crisis as the Island’s population inexorably increases. Stay tuned.
My next quality-of-life project has begun, and involves the cloth passenger straps on the newer hybrid Red Buses. We’ve all watched as our vertically-challenged neighbors have been left flopping like fish on a line as the bus brakes, maneuvers, and turns. I’ve taken my case to RIOC and we are looking for alternatives with which to retrofit the buses and to apply to the newest buses now on order. Metal straps and more full-length poles seem to be called for and I will report to you as things develop.
Infrastructure
My thanks to Doryne Isley at Eastwood for solving a problem even before I could bring it to her attention. I was mailing a letter outside the Eastwood offices, and noticed a major pile of pigeon poo directly behind the letterbox. The alternatives seemed to be collecting the guano to be used as garden fertilizer or cleaning it up and preventing the birds from roosting on the jutting overhead air conditioner. Doryne has opted for the latter and I, for one, am grateful.
The next phase of Roosevelt Island Bridge renovation will begin on January 14, according to the Department of Transportation’s public relations company. This originally had been scheduled to begin on December 3, and will include removal of the existing lead-based paint prior to a complete paint job. We are informed that "state-of-the art measures will be used to insure the safety and health of the neighboring communities."
Four Freedoms Park
I have mounted my soap box repeatedly to rail against our elected officials and The New York Times for supporting this Louis Kahn-designed memorial to FDR without factoring in the likely end-users of this park, the Roosevelt Island community. For months now, I have urged RIOC, TPL, and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (FERI), the sponsor of this three-acre project, to conduct another survey or, at the very least, to produce a Town Meeting at which we may finally be heard. No such meeting has been scheduled.
I mentioned in my last column that RIRA has never debated the question of the Kahn Memorial pro or con, although I understand that, during Steve Marcus’ 2005-06 RIRA administration, the uses of Southpoint Park were debated but the vote was inconclusive. At this week’s Common Council meeting, your representatives discussed and debated whether we, as your elected representatives, should vote to endorse or reject the Kahn plan. Several participants chided yours truly for expressing my views on the subject in this column. I made it clear that the major perk (and perhaps the only perk) of being RIRA President is the privilege of sounding off in these pages. I will continue to do so, by the way.
We opted not to vote on the question because we are only 20 people in a community of 12,000. Others expressed the view that the opinion of the 12,000 is negligible compared to the potential users of Four Freedoms Park in New York City and, indeed, the world. My response: I’m not responsible for them – only for the Roosevelt Island community and, as the most likely end-users of that park, our views should count for something. Gina Pollara, representing FERI, attended the meeting and vowed to hold the long-delayed forum in February or, at the latest, in March, when she has new visual materials available. We voted to endorse that presentation and, more importantly, a poll pro or con to be taken among those assembled. Will this be a statistically significant sample of the Island’s population? Probably not, but as I’ve said many times, decisions are made by those who show up. So show up!
I will speak at a joint meeting of the Roosevelt Island and Parks Committees of Community Board 8 on Tuesday, January 22 at 7:30 P.M. at Good Shepherd Community Center, and the meeting is open to the public. My hope is that the committees will recommend our resolution to the full Board, and the full Board will pressure FERI, and more to the point, RIOC, a New York State Public Benefit Corporation and the landlord for those three acres, to listen to "We the People." With less than $6 million raised of the $40 million necessary for this scheme, it behooves all involved to take the temperature of the public before sinking the first shovel into public parkland. Last time I looked, it was the client, not the architect (not even a great architect like Louis Kahn) who calls the shots.