Friday, October 21, 2011

Roosevelt Island Main Street Retail Town Hall Presentation By New Landlord Hudson/Related - Here's What Happened

The gloomy, dreary, depressing and empty presence of Roosevelt Island's Main Street retail corridor will soon be nothing more than a bad memory. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC), a NY State Public Benefit Corporation, that operated as the Landlord for our Main Street Stores turning Main Street into a replica of a commercial corridor in the former Soviet Union is now out of the Roosevelt Island retail business. RIOC has been replaced by a private sector developer, Hudson/Related, the developers of Southtown Riverwalk Buildings, as the Master Leaseholder for Main Street.

David Kramer, a principal of Hudson, and his retail team presented their vision of a revitalized and thriving Main Street last night at a Town Hall Meeting organized by the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA). Here's what Mr. Kramer had to say.


You Tube Video of Main Street Retail Town Hall Meeting (Part 1)

Following Mr. Kramer's remarks, Hudson/Related's architect and brand designer spoke of the physical changes they were considering for Main Street.


You Tube Video of Main Street Retail Town Hall Meeting (Part 2)

And then came a question and answer session with Roosevelt Island residents, organization leaders and merchants.


You Tube Video of Main Street Retail Town Hall Meeting (Part 3)


You Tube Video of Main Street Retail Town Hall Meeting (Part 4) Audio/Video is out of Synch

Will have more on this later.

UPDATE 10/22- Here are some before and possible after scenes of the new Roosevelt Island Main Street from Hudson/Related.

East Arcade Store Before


East Arcade Ice Cream Store After - wood ceilings, better lighting, open view of arcade.


West Side of the Street Before,


West Side of the Street After - appears to be a restaurant in the Cleaners Space.


East Arcade Corridor Before - dark, dreary and dirty,
East Arcade Corridor After - wood ceilings, better lighting, colorful signage and clean.


View of East Side of Main Street From West Side of Main Street Before

and after. Open view of the East Arcade