Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Stolen Property Reported Inside Roosevelt Island Motorgate Garage - Was It A Car, Motorcycle Or Something Else? Will RIOC Tell Us?


Reported in February 14 post of a Grand Larceny at 540 Main Street, Roosevelt Landings, and my request of Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department for more information:
The 2/11 - 12 Public Safety Report indicates that a Grand Larceny occurred at 540 Main Street.

Grand Larceny - At 540 Main Street.  Search made with negative results.   NYPD filed a report.

Yesterday, I asked Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) to provide additional details as to what was stolen, any damage or injuries involved, what time of day the incident occurred and any other relevant information. Will update when RIOC responds with information.
On February 20, I received this response from RIOC's Press Spokesperson:
The Grand Larceny incident at 540 Main Street occurred on 2/11 at 5:35pm.  There were no injuries.
RIOC provided no information regarding what was stolen - just place, time and whether there were any injuries.

How about RIOC performing a public service by informing the Roosevelt Island public
  • what was stolen, 
  • if the stolen property was taken from a person or from inside an apartment when nobody was home,
  • If the property was stolen from a person, was the person threatened, was a weapon involved, was the victim an adult, child, male or female,
  • If the property stolen, was taken from inside an apartment, how was access gained?
The press spokesperson is not at fault here - they are only following orders from RIOC staff.

Earlier today, I sent this message to RIOC President Leslie Torres, Vice President of Operations Fernando Martinez and Public Safety Director Keith Guerra:
The 2/17 - 18 Public Safety Report indicates:

Stolen Property - Inside Motorgate. NYPD and PSD on scene.

What was the item stolen - was it a car or something else and what time did incident occur.

It would be very helpful and a public service if RIOC will inform what item was stolen in this case as well as other incidents in which there was a robbery, burglary, grand larceny or any other similar incident.

For some reason, RIOC's Press Spokesperson has been told not to report any information regarding what has actually been stolen such as the 2/11 - 2/12 Grand Larceny asked about below.

Will you change RIOC policy to include information disclosing the type of item stolen.
UPDATE 2/22 - RIOC's Press Spokeperson concerning the Motorgate Stolen Property:
This incident occurred at 3:00pm and there were no injuries.

26 comments :

YetAnotherRIer said...

I am fine with the info the RIOC provides. I understand that it is a bit frustrating for the blogger but do we really need to now if there was a victim involved and how old/what sex the victim was? Or what was stolen?

Westviewer said...

Yes.  

wordtothewise said...

Cant be a car because it would have been Grand Larceny Auto as the crime classification, which is an index "7 major" crime, the lowest on the list. In decending order.. murder, rape, robbery, burglary, grand larceny and gla.

If you open the nys penal law, under pl section 155.30, there are 11 subsections.

I am sure if it was a huge matter that the public needs info on, there would have been an advisory out.

My guess was money or a credit card theft.

Now only if psd was converted to a 10000% police department. I hope they get the thief.

RooseveltIslander said...

Would you like to know what the stolen property was at the Motorgate Garage and any other relevant info? If no, you probably don't use the Motorgate.

If yes. you are not going to find out because the response received earlier today from RIOC was only the time of the incident and that there were no injuries.

How is that a helpful response from a government agency that works for you?

Same for any other Roosevelt Island location - people should know what is going on in their neighborhood and easily available information which does not violate any privacy rights or ongoing investigations should be disclosed on a regular basis.

YetAnotherRIer said...

I am sorry, Rick, but I am a realist and understand (and accept) the fact that you will never get more information on a voluntary basis out of law enforcement. This is just a fact of life. If you want to know more you have tools at your disposal.

zoilalexie said...

I agree with YetAnotherRIer, we don't need to know more than what is already provided.  And, I do use the Motorgate.

wordtothewise said...

540 main is not the motorgate. 540 is listed as the incident location. So therefor your ? Is answered.

RooseveltIslander said...

except the very same Public Safety information being asked for was disclosed when Steve Shane was RIOC President. I question, and will continue to do so, why current RIOC staff decreased the openness and transparency that existed during Mr. Shane's tenure as RIOC President.

Such practice makes them appear to be hiding information from the public.

Jesse Webster said...

Why not request the information using FOIA? It might not be timely, but could set a precedent.

RooseveltIslander said...

 take as long as a month to get info - no longer of much use at that point and don't want to establish precedent of of FOIL requests for such easily available information.
The current RIOC staff leadership clearly does not want to provide info but there are other solutions being explored.

CheshireKitty said...

The news media, such as the Daily News, the Post, the Times, all the local television and radio news programs and so forth, in NYC has long reported the details of crimes - all the details. 

There's no reason we can't have access to this type of information here on RI as well.  

It is interesting that Rick had more access to the details of crimes on RI when Mr. Shane was head of RIOC.  Mr. Shane wasn't "hand-in-glove" with the developers, like the current RIOC Board, which ousted him.  It would be interesting to know if the current RIOC Board also instructed PSD to withhold uncomfortable information from Roosevelt Islander blog - since the current Board is more "in tune" with the developers and the developers would no doubt not want crime information about RI to become public since it might upset current or prospective renters/owners.  

Or, to put it plainly, the more crime-ridden RI appears, the less the developers investment is worth! 

wordtothewise said...

Um cheshire, you really need to get out more often if you think the nypd releases all the info on every crime that happens.

Reality check, they release info on maybe one or two, out of maybe a thousand. Yeah keep believing the ny post blotter has it all listed.

YetAnotherRIer said...

All these newspapers have an army of journalists, money to throw around, and contacts into all the establishments they need. Rick could start developing some sort of relationship somehow with the RIOC to get a way in but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

wordtothewise said...

Yea they have " contacts'. Thats why their stories are barely accurate.

Chris Pepe said...

high risk of theft or car damage likely. hope you have full auto coverage!!!

theohiostate said...

Without sounding like I'm criticizing, because I'm not, why don't you work something out with the current folks at RIOC in a nice & courteous manner? 

Instead, I see you taking shots at them here in your blog because they haven't really given you everything you want.

Seems to me, you might "get more flies with honey", or however that saying goes. 

Blasting them here doesn't seem to be working for you.  Try another approach.

doesntwork said...

Well for one, this is a BLOG. Not exactly a real publication. Second, as noted, cheap shots or feeling priviliged or expected doesnt work to get the info.

If I was rioc, i wouldnt give you info either.

Hostility...doesnt work.

RooseveltIslander said...

 I don't think I have ever blasted or taken shots at RIOC staff unless you consider fair and accurate reporting to be taking shots and blasting.

Can you give me some examples  of incorrect or unfair treatment of RIOC Staff from my reporting?

In my opinion, I have always treated RIOC staff with courtesy and professionalism within the context of reporting on their actions.

wordtothewise said...

I guess what we are trying to say is.. dont out them in public as not cooperating. You might have hurt someones feelings. On the other end of the screen, theres someone reading what you say. We have all been guilty of misunderstanding a situation on the internet, especially forums and blogs.

RooseveltIslander said...

From a reader using pseudonym wordtothewise 

"I guess what we are trying to say is.. dont out them in public as not
cooperating. You might have hurt someones feelings. On the other end of
the screen, theres someone reading what you say. We have all been guilty
of misunderstanding a situation on the internet, especially forums and
blogs."

This is in reply to my comment below that I don't think I have been bashing RIOC staff.

For some reason, wordtothewise and some other pseudonym comments have not been accepted by Disqus commenting system. If anyone is having problems with posting comments, please let me know and I will do my best to fix the problem.

CheshireKitty said...

Information about crime on RI is being minimized or even withheld by RIOC - so as not to scare off potential buyers/renters of property on RI.  Also - the more crimes that are fully reported, the worse PSD looks.  So there are multiple reasons why RIOC might not want us to know exactly what happened or what was stolen in Motorgate.

RIOC should reveal if a car broken into; if so, what was stolen; or was someone robbed within the parking structure?  Whatever happened, we should be advised so as to be on the lookout etc.  

Motorgate is supposed to be a secure parking facility with regular PSD patrols.  Maybe more surveillance cameras are needed if despite the patrols robberies are occurring within Motorgate.  

wordtothewise said...

Why is everyone assuming this was in motorgate? This was not in mototgate, as it says 540. The grand larceny was a personal matter, not vehicular matter. That was obvious by the short snip of info we have. If it was motorgate, the reprt would have said motorgate, or its address.

What robberies are going on in motorgate? The seawalls yes, motorgates, no.

A robbery is force used upon a person, or use or display of a weapon.

A car break in is not robbery.

Thats law enforcement 101 for you guys.

theohiostate said...

I don't know if I necessarily agree.  First off, from what the RIRA Public Safety Committee reports, the PSD is trying to increase their staff.  Why would they try to minimize their statistics if they're trying to get more officers.  Second, nowhere in Rick's report is there any mention of a Robbery.  He said Larceny, which means something was stolen (like from a car) - not someone was Robbed.  While i don't personally like either, there is a difference.

heads are rolling for this said...

Again, shoddy "reporting". This has nothing to do with motorgate.

Westviewer said...

It is more in the interest of PSD to exaggerate crime in order to justify a larger force than it is to play it down.  A hard look at the crime blotter shows the trivial nature of the vast majority of the listings.   

Jimmy Laroche said...

Trivial? All crimes are documented with the fbi. These are not made up stats as they will be in a bad pickle if they were investigated.

I think you have a bad grasp on how or what public safety is. They are law enforcement officers, although they are not armed with a firearm( beyond silly as 4 nypd officers were shot so far this year). They, psd are still respobsible for everyday activites on the island, in partnership with the nypd.

I am not knocking the nypd, but i believe psd stats over nypd stats. All you have to do is read the paper and see the nypd crime number fudging.