Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Audit Committee Meeting Today On Proposed RIOC Budget For Fiscal Year 2012 -13


According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Audit Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.
1.
AGENDA
Review of the Proposed RIOC Budget for FY 2012-2013.
More on RIOC's budget from previous posts and here is the proposed RIOC fiscal year 2012-13 budget. (You may not be able to access RIOC's proposed budget at the moment since I am told RIOC is experiencing web hosting problems at the time of this posting.)

An audio webcast of RIOC's Audit Committee meeting will be made available a few days after the meeting. That is assuming the web hosting issues do not affect the recording.

UPDATE 12/12 - Audio webcast of Audit Committee meeting is available here.

Roosevelt Island Residents Association Meeting Tonight 8 PM At Good Shepherd Community Center - Come Learn What Is Going On And Add Your Voice To The Process - State Senator Jose Serrano Constituent Office Hours Today Too From 4 - 7 PM

Image of June 2011 RIRA Common Council Meeting

The Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) will be meeting later today, 8 PM at the Good Shepherd Community Center (543 Main Street). As always, prior to the start of each meeting there is a public session in which any resident can come and address the Common Council Delegates on any issue of concern. The Agenda for the meeting is below.
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Time: 8:00 P.M. - Finish
Place: Chapel of the Good Shepherd, 543 Main Street

(If convenient, would you please arrive 10 minutes in advance to help set up chairs, or stay 10 minutes late to help clean up? We are guests in the building and need to be good neighbors. Thanks in advance!)
1. Public Session (8:00) Lisa Douglass-AVAC feasibility study Julie Palermo-Chamber of Commerce
2. Roll Call (8:15)
X3. Approval of Agenda (8:20)
X 4.Approval of Minutes– November 2, 2011 (8:25)
5. Treasurer’s Report (8:30)
President's Report (8:35)
Committees (8:50)
Housing
Constitution Committee
Island Services
Planning/SCRC sub-committee
Public Safety
Social, Cultural and Educational Services
Communications
Government Relations/MTG sub-committee
X Committee chair election
8. Old Business (9:50)
9. New Business (9:55)
X Motion to support holiday lights
10 Adjourn
X Agenda items requiring action Next Meeting: Janury 4, 2012 (Mailing Deadline: December 30, 2011)
Below is the Island Services Committee report submitted to the RIRA Common Council.
RIRA –ISLAND SERVICES COMMITTEE (ISC) REPORT TO COMMON COUNCIL MEETING, 12/7/11

The ISC did not meet in November. However, thereʼs been new developments on our Red Bus issues.
At two meetings in November with RIOC (Martinez & Opperman), RIRA resolved the main issues we had with Red Bus operations:

o It was agreed that the main bus stop for the Tram will be at the east side of the Tram station.

o Unfolded (open) strollers and shopping carts will be permitted on the bus at all times unless the bus operator specifically requests that the stroller or cart be folded. Folding will be required when the bus is crowded and the stroller/cart will pose a safety hazard or there is simply no more room on that particular bus. Signs will be posted on each bus stating: “”Strollers and Shopping Carts must be folded at operatorʼs request”.

Cy Opperman (Bus Manager) will train each bus operator individually in the application of the new policy emphasizing they should request folding only when absolutely needed.

o Bus service to Southpoint Park may begin as early as January by the Q- 102 subject to completion of the installation of the bus stop (opposite the Park entrance) and signage. Red Bus service to Southpoint Park is expected to begin one or two months after the Q-102 service starts....
Roosevelt Island State Senator Jose Serrano's staff will also be holding their monthly constituent office hours today.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011 
4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
591 Main Street 
Roosevelt Island, NY 10044 
Meet with Senator Serrano's staff to discuss any concerns or suggestions you may have to improve your community.
If you have any questions to ask Senator Serrano's staff or are in need of any assistance that may require the help of your elected representative stop on by RIOC HQ. Also, bring photocopies of any paperwork related to your situation so that the Serrano staff can effectively and efficiently address the issue.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Other Roosevelt Island Elected Officials Seek Explanation From Transcanada For Deafening Noise Resulting From Release Of Steam Early Monday Morning - Better Communication For Future Incidents Too

 Image Of Transcanada Big Allis Ravenwood Power Plant Across East River From Roosevelt Island

As reported in this post last Monday:
Some Roosevelt Island residents were woken up and startled early this morning at around 6 AM  by the sound of what appeared to be a loud explosion. One resident sent me this message asking:
Any idea what this deafening jet engine sound is coming from the bridge/tram area is at 6 am? Been going on for 30 min.
The NYC Office of Emergency Management discovered the source of the deafening noise:
Source of loud noise near Vernon/40th Ave, QN was pressure relief valve at Ravenswood Power Plant. No public/environmental hazard.
Commenting on the post, Riradu shares sound level measurement of the noise:
Steam is released everyday. Obviously, this morning's venting of hot steam wasn't "business as usual" at all (NY1 even mentioned a transformer might have been involved). It sounded like a jet was taking off from Ravenswood Generating Station. No kidding. The level of that noise reached 94dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level), on the West side of the island. I attached the figure measured at 6:39AM. I live on this island for 25 years and I don't remember another steam release of this intensity, at any time of the day.

In the light of some other recent events concerning the plant (and  lack of subsequent info about actual causes - I understand that too much info is not very healthy), all I can hope is that our safety is being really and seriously taken care of by all responsible factors... 
 Image From Riradu

and Mookie reports:
Those of us who live in the courtyard bldgs are constantly assaulted by noise beginning in the evening and lasting all night. Calls to 311 are useless. This a major health hazard and would definitely be classified as noise pollution. What happened Monday morning was absolutely not "harmless" as RIOC and Trans Canada describe it. It was ear shattering and terrifying. The fact that this was a planned release and they weren't required to make the surrounding communities aware that this was going to happen is insanity. It is lunacy that the OEM didn't measure decibel levels and issue fines and warnings. Think about it - ice cream trucks are under noise restrictions regarding the little tune they play and this plant can emit a noise that can be heard for miles at 5:30am and nothing is done??

I'm hoping that the dangerous noise levels Monday morning may unify RI residents to take action. I've contacted Scott Stringers office and spoken with Jennifer Ashley who seems to comprehend our plight and willing to assist in defining noise guidelines regarding time, decibel levels etc. She requested for RI residents to contact her via email to relay their experiences with noise from the plant. Her email address is jashley@manhattanbp.org Let's take this opportunity to ensure a healthy RI for everyone.
Earlier today, I received this message from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office:
Early Monday morning a deafeningly loud noise rattled Roosevelt Islanders and was audible across the East River in Manhattan - the culprit was a steam release conducted by a Long Island City power plant.

Today Manhattan BP Stringer and other local elected officials penned a letter to Ravenswood Power Plant in Long Island City, Queens, asking that residents and representatives be notified in advance of planned pressure releases, that they be limited to daytime hours, and to strengthen accountability and communication with the community at large.

The letter, co-signed by Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, Councilmember Jessica Lappin, Assemblymember Micah Kellner and State Senator Jose Serrano was addressed to Paul Elliot, Director of Government Relations at TransCanada, the corporate owner of the Ravenswood plant. Staff members from the Borough President's office had difficulty reaching a central point of contact in the New York area for the company, which is based out of Calgary in Canada.

The Ravenswood power plant is a 2,480 megawatt plant that consists of multiple steam turbine units. Roosevelt Island residents called the Borough President's Office with complaints about the noise that they feared had been an explosion.
Below is the December 7 letter referenced above sent to Transcanada's Director of Government Relations, Paul Elliot:
We write to you in response to a recent steam release conducted in the early hours of Monday, December 5th at the Ravenswood Generation Station located in Long Island City, Queens. The release of over-pressurized steam created a deafening and sustained noise heard by residents of Queens, Roosevelt Island and Manhattan, and prompted the New York Fire Department to dispatch seven fire trucks to the facility in an emergency response.

Our offices have heard from constituents on Roosevelt Island who are concerned not only about the disruption caused by this particular incident, but also about the level of noise emanating from the facility on a routine basis. One constituent has likened the noise to the persistent firing of machine gun rounds into the air.

In light of these issues, we strongly urge you to take the following steps to mitigate noise disturbances resulting from your facility operations and to improve communication processes with the surrounding community:

1. Share details of your pressure release schedule with the public so that nearby residents have a better sense of when the associated noise is likely to occur. It is unacceptable for residents in Queens, Roosevelt Island and Manhattan to be awakened in the middle of the night to unrelenting, ear-shattering sounds with no indication of the source of the noise and its public safety implications. This schedule should be shared, at a minimum, with local elected officials, the local Community Boards, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association and the Ravenswood Houses Tenants Association.

2. Limit any pressure overload release activity to daytime hours so as to minimize disturbances to the surrounding communities. If possible, activities that produce loud noise should not be conducted late at night when most residents are in their households asleep. If there are legitimate reasons why pressure overload release activity must happen overnight, we ask that local residents be given notification and explanation.

3.    Establish a local point of contact at the Ravenswood Generation Station for residents to call if they have any concerns they would like to address directly with the facility. It is our understanding that a line of communication was made in the past between the Roosevelt Island community and the KeySpan Corporation, the previous operator of the Ravenswood facility, which proved to be a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties. We respectfully request that such a protocol be adopted and that local elected officials, the local Community Boards, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association and the Ravenswood Houses Tenants Association be provided with the appropriate contact information.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please contact Kristen Ellis in Borough President Stringer’s office at (212) 669-7877 if you have any questions about these requests.
Stay tuned for response by Transcanada.

Weekly Computer Classes At The Roosevelt Island Public Library - Word, Internet, Excel and Email Instruction In December Starting Thursday December 8

Image of Roosevelt Island Library From Travis

Do you wish to improve some basic computer skills. If so, the following message from the Roosevelt Island branch of the New York Public Library may be of interest:
Upcoming computer classes at the Roosevelt Island Library
Intorduction to Word- Thursday, December 8th, 10:30 AM.
Introduction to the Internet- Friday, December 9th, 10:30 AM.
Introduction to Excel- Friday, December 16th, 10:30 AM.
Introduction to Email- Thursday December 22nd, 10:30 AM.
Anyone interested in attending a class should sign up in advance at the Library.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Information Learning Session Last Night For Parents Interested In Their Children Attending Roosevelt Island's Neighborhood School, PS/IS 217 - Here's What Happened

Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 Principal Mandana Beckman and Southtown Developer David Kramer spoke to a group of parents last night about our local neighborhood school.

Here's what they had to say.




More information on PS/IS 217 available from previous posts, PS/IS 217 portal and PS/IS 217 PTA.

Curbed 2011 Neighborhood Of The Year Cup In Play Again - Get Your Roosevelt Island Nominations In, But No Ballot Stuffing This Year Please


The 2011 Curbed Cup New York City Neighborhood of the Year contest is scheduled to begin next week and nominations are now being accepted. From Curbed:
Every December since 2004, Curbed readers have chosen the New York City neighborhood of the year, bestowing upon it a little award we like to call the Curbed Cup. (We promise the real fake trophy is nicer than our temporary graphic at right.) Voting will begin next week, but first, we need your input.

The Curbed Cup is a bracket-style, 16-neighborhood tournament, and we're open to your nominations for which neighborhoods to include. Put 'em in the comments of this post or e-mail 'em our way. And tell us why your nabe of choice is where the most happened in terms of development, new restaurants and retail, and general goings-on in 2011....
If you think Roosevelt Island should be the NYC Neighborhood of the Year, click here and tell them why.

Last year, Roosevelt Island made it into the Sweet 16 round but after an apparent victory was defeated in a slim margin by neighborhood powerhouse Park Slope. Ballot stuffing by both sides was involved. Curbed explains what happened:
Folks, a quick word on yesterday's wildly popular and controversial Park Slope vs. Roosevelt Island matchup, and Curbed Cup voting in general: Cheating makes us sad! Our tech team detected ballot stuffing on both sides, including 401 Roosevelt Island votes from the same IP address (an average rate of 1 vote every 5 seconds). After clearing out the obvious fakes, Park Slope is the victor by a slim margin. Better luck next Cup, Roosevelt Island
Get your Roosevelt Island nominations in and then be ready for battle.


You Tube Video of St. Crispins Day Speech In Henry V

Monday, December 5, 2011

What Was That Loud Noise Heard On Roosevelt Island This Morning? Not An Explosion, Jet Engine or Machine Gun Fire But Transcanada's Big Allis Ravenwood Power Plant Pressure Relief Valve Releasing Steam Says NYC OEM And RIOC

 Image Of Transcanada Big Allis Ravenwood Power Plant Across East River From Roosevelt Island

Some Roosevelt Island residents were woken up and startled early this morning at around 6 AM  by the sound of what appeared to be a loud explosion. One resident sent me this message asking:
Any idea what this deafening jet engine sound is coming from the bridge/tram area is at 6 am? Been going on for 30 min.
and Toasty Ramirez tweeted:
does anyone in roosevelt island/astoria/LIC/QueensBridge hear that sound outside? sounds like a bunch of machine guns going off
The NYC Office of Emergency Management was looking into the source of the noise and tweeted at Notify NYC:
Loud noise near 40 Ave and Vernon Blvd, QN, audible in QN and MN. FDNY on scene, no explosion, fire, or impact to utilities occurred
then OEM found out what happened:
Source of loud noise near Vernon/40th Ave, QN was pressure relief valve at Ravenswood Power Plant. No public/environmental hazard.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) also reported:
the loud noise that is being heard on Roosevelt Island is the steam being released from the power plant in queens.

It is not a hazardous condition.

Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group
Another Roosevelt Island resident asks:
Could you please find out why Keyspan feels the need to vent steam from their power plant at 6 AM. This started today at 6.04 am and is still going on. It sounds loud enough to wake the dead! Thanks...
The Ravenswood Big Allis Power Plant is no longer owned by Keyspan but by Transcanada. Here is their contact info. Let them know what you think.

Previous posts described sirens going off, water cannons spraying and black billowing smoke blasting from Big Allis.

UPDATE 12:30 PM - Here's a You Tube video of an incident at the power plant from February 2011.



According to the video maker:
The ConED plant just east of Roosevelt Island in Queens just went nuts making this LOUD electrical arc noise... A little scary even the boats left the area...

It's over now, but WTF? did something happen? Accidents? Deaths? Incompetence?
Again, the incident shown in the video did not happen this morning but in February 2011 and it is not a Con Ed power plant but Transcanada.

UPDATE 12/6 - Roosevelt Island elected officials respond here.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Roosevelt Island Emergency Management Preparedness Update/Lessons Learned Discussion At RIOC Operations Committee Meeting - More Community Involvement Planned, Communications Back Up and Seawall Needs To Be Fixed Too

Image of Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park Flood From Hurricane Irene by Michael Girard

This previous post following Hurricane Irene reported on Roosevelt Island Assembly Member Micah Kellner's letter to Mayor Bloomberg seeking improvements in Roosevelt Island's emergency preparedness management. An excerpt from Mr. Kellner's letter:
... I am concerned about protecting and evacuating the residents of Roosevelt Island, which is located in my district.

Roosevelt Island requires special consideration when it comes to emergency planning; the Island is home to two acute-care hospitals, Coler and Goldwater, and nearly 14,000 residents, many of whom are elderly or disabled. Further, as the Island looks to expand with the possible location of an applied sciences center, with the accompanying residents and staff, it is more important than ever to focus on emergency procedures. Had the City faced a more severe storm that required the evacuation of Zone “B”, there is currently no practical plan in place to safely evacuate Island residents....
The subject of Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness was discussed during the September 28 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Operations Committee meeting (audio webcast of entire meeting is here).

RIOC Vice President of Operations Fernando Martinez provided an update/lessons learned to the RIOC Directors on Roosevelt Island emergency management preparedness and informed them that some staff have received more advanced emergency management training subsequent to Hurricane Irene. Mr. Martinez also reported that RIOC will start planning on improving  community involvement in Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness Management by involving the Roosevelt Island Communty Emergency Response Team (CERT), RIRA and other stakeholders in the emergency planning process.

When asked if the Roosevelt Island CERT Team was called into service during Hurricane Irene, Mr. Martinez said that it was not because the CERT Team comes under the jurisdiction of NYC Office Of Emergency Management (OEM) and was not activated by OEM during Hurricane Irene though several members assisted at the Long Island City Newcomers High School evacuation center.

One question that always arises regarding Roosevelt Island emergency preparedness is if there is an emergency evacuation plan and why does the community not know about it? RIOC Director Howard Polivy said that there was a plan, that he and RIRA President Matt Katz have reviewed it but that for security concerns, certain elements of the plan could not be made public. Mr. Polivy asked to the extent possible, the plan should be made more public and disseminated to the community.

RIOC Director Margie Smith wants to make sure that RIOC has a back up emergency communication system in place after the experience of Verizon phone service being down during the Hurricane as reported in this post at the time:
 ...Please be advised that due to the Verizon telephone outage, we are providing the Public Safety Department with temporary phone numbers....
Below is the RIOC Operations Committee meeting discussion on Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness Management.


You Tube Video of Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness Management Discussion

There was also a discussion on fixing the Roosevelt Island seawall particularly in light of the seawall break across the East River in Long Island City following Hurricane Irene as pictured below.

 Image Of Queensbridge Park Seawall Break From RIHS President Judy Berdy via Waterwire


Image of Queensbridge Park Seawall Break From Katie Ellman via Waterwire

Here's a Hurricane Irene aftermath video interview with Mr. Fernandez and more information on Roosevelt Island Cert Team from member Frank Farance here.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Straight Or Angled Parking Stripes For Roosevelt Island's Motorgate Parking Garage - Which Is The Better Layout?

Image of Confusing Angled/Straight Motorgate Garage Parking Stripes

Riradu, a reader of this recent post on new straight parking stripes replacing previous angled parking stripes on the third floor of the Motorgate Garage comments:
My main concern is still the re-re-re-striping of the garage, or the study which led to the new layout, and I am specifically seeking an intelligent answer if and how it was real-life tested with the real-life variety of cars found now in the garage.

Perhaps not too may people understand what may be coming to their cars. Simply speaking, I see an issue in safely getting in and out of a parking space if one has a larger car or is adjacent to larger cars - or there are longer/larger cars parked in the opposite parking spaces, even if they are all parked correctly.

A car must enter/exit a parking space pretty parallel to its edges, and that - since the spaces will be perpendicular to the curb - means that one will need more space in the isle to position correctly for entry. If the isle width is limited by large SUV's or vans, then you can figure out the physical consequences to your and your neighbor's vehicled. This is my main concern. I don't want to be part of the problem, I want to be part of the solution, this is why I try to raise this issue before it costs too much to fix.

Of course, every layout has its own engineering challenges, but that's why good engineers exist. I salute the initiative of repairing and renovating the garage, I see them testing new LED lighting fixtures, and may also be great things that I dind't see yet. I am concerned about the striping issue and I wish I am wrong... I only need someone to come up with real, rational arguments (other than immeasurable talk) that my worries are not warranted.
Riradu adds:
... I surveyed several parking garages and concluded that Motorgate is about 6' short of the minimum space needed to implement safe parking slots perpendicular to the curb in most areas.

There is also supporting engineering documentation on the Web, with clear design standards, quite different than what is proposed at Motorgate. I attached an example to this post.


Every project must be approved and signed by at least a PE licensed in NY State, so I am really curious who  risked his/her reputation signing that layout.
During the November 28 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Operations Committee meeting, the issue of straight or angled parking spaces was discussed by RIOC Vice President Of Operations Fernando Martinez and RIOC Directors. Mr. Martinez reported to the RIOC Directors that making the spaces more uniform and straight with a width, for the most part, of 8 1/2 feet was done with the consultation of Central Parking and the contractor. Mr. Martinez said that he feels straight parking lines was the right decision to make.

Below is video of the Operations Committee Meeting Motorgate Parking stripes discussion as well as a discussion on the state of the Garage/Warehouse employee work area.



An audio webcast of the entire November 28 Operations Committee meeting is here.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Santa Claus Visits Roosevelt Island Tonight For Tree Lighting Ceremony - A Wonderful Time, Here's What Happened

Image of 2011 Roosevelt Island Christmas Tree

Wonderful time this eventing at the 2011 Roosevelt Island Tree Lighting Ceremony. The temperature was crisp and cool, the crowd festive and entertainers terrific. Then came the big moment with the arrival of Santa Claus and the lighting of the Roosevelt Island Christmas/Holiday Tree.

If you were not there, or just want to see it again, here's what happened


You Tube Video of 2011 Roosevelt Island Tree Lighting Ceremony

and a walk around the lit trees.


You Tube Video of Roosevelt Island Tree Lights

Kudos to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) and particularly Community Relations Specialist Erica Spencer-El for staging the festivities.

Prior to the arrival of Santa Claus and the Tree Lighting, the crowd was treated to Holiday Carols from the Main Street Theater & Dance Alliance and a Gospel Choir as well as a ballet performance of the Nutcracker from the Deb Dancers. Videos of the performances will be posted later.

UPDATE 12/2 - Here's how the Festivities began with co-hosts Ms. Spencer-El and Roosevelt Island Seniors Association President Delores Green,



followed by a song from the Main Street Theater & Dance Alliance,



an excerpt from the Nutcracker Ballet by the Deb Dancers



and Silent Night from the Gospel Choir.

What's In The Works For Roosevelt Island Parking - Uniform Rates For Street Parking, Encourage Visitors To Use The Motorgate Garage - No Motorcycle Specific Street Parking But Half Priced Monthly Motorcycle Parking At Motorgate

 Image of Roosevelt Island Smart Parking Meter on West Channel Road

During the November 28 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Operations Committee meeting, the subject of street parking was discussed. RIOC VP of Operations Fernando Martinez reported that with Roosevelt Island becoming more populated and a popular visitor destination, street parking has become a greater challenge.

At present, Roosevelt Island has various street parking rules and regulations including 2, 4 and 6 hour parking areas which RIOC intends to change with a more uniform street parking system. RIOC wants to encourage Roosevelt Island visitors to use the Motorgate Garage and will price street parking to complement, not compete, with the Motorgate Garage.

RIOC plans to integrate smart solution street parking meters, which use wireless devices to inform drivers of available parking spaces, on an Island wide basis. This will  expand the current pilot project of 3 such meters on Southtown's West Drive. RIOC has received 2 Proposals from companies interested in implementing such a system.

Roosevelt Island motorcycle parking has been an issue raised by resident Trevre who commented on this post:
It would also be great if the island provided some type of Motorcycle/scooter parking.  I have contacted RIOC about implementing some on the island without any response.  You could park 5 or 6 motorcycles/scooters in the space of one car.  Not to mention there are plenty of underutilized spaces on the island where motorcycle parking could be implemented (Under both bridges, where the zip cars are, etc.)....
and it was discussed during the Operations Committee meeting. Mr. Martinez said that the spaces suggested by a resident were not available for motorcycles because they are, or will be, used for other purposes but noted that the Motorgate Garage has half priced monthly rates for motorcycles. Mr. Martinez also noted that motorcycles can be parked on the street but there is no discount rate for parking motorcycles on the street.

Here is video of the RIOC Operations Committee meeting discussion on Roosevelt Island Street Parking.



An audio webcast of the entire Operations Committee meeting is here.

Roosevelt Island Christmas Trees On Sale Saturday At Motorgate Plaza and Tree Lighting Ceremony Tonight 7 PM At Blackwell Plaza


A Roosevelt Island resident asked yesterday:
Do you know if cub scouts r selling Christmas trees this year on R I?
By coincidence, after receiving the question I saw the Roosevelt Island Boy Scout Troop Leader and asked him that question. He told me that yes, the Boy Scouts will be selling Christmas Trees starting this Saturday in their usual spot  at Motorgate Plaza.

Christmas Trees are already being sold by street vendors near the Tram including this one on Second Avenue and 61 Street.

Also, don't forget Santa Claus will be arriving tonight

 Image from 2010 Roosevelt Island Tree Lighting Via Senator Jose Serrano

 for the Roosevelt Island Tree Lighting Ceremony 7PM at Blackwell Plaza. Don't miss that!

Image of Roosevelt Island Tree Lighting Ceremony From RIOC

UPDATE 12/6 - The Boy Scouts were at Motorgate Plaza last weekend selling Christmas Trees.


Below are the days and times of the Roosevelt Island Boy Scout Christmas Tree Sale


and pricing.