Open Dialogue Tonight With RIOC Board Directors At 8 PM, Come Join The Conversation and Get Answers To Your Roosevelt Island Questions - RIOC Board Meeting Earlier At 5:30 PM
Do you have any questions or comments regarding how Roosevelt Island is governed? If so, tonight is an opportunity to get answers from some of your neighbors, the resident members of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board of Directors, to your concerns. According to RIOC:
The Roosevelt Island community is invited to attend a open dialogue session with the RIOC Board of Directors on Thursday, May 24th at 8:00 p.m. at the Manhattan Park Theater Club located at 8 River Road. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the RIOC Board of Directors and present the board with Island related questions and concerns.Prior to the open community dialogue with RIOC Directors, a RIOC Board of Directors meeting will take place:
We look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group
AGENDA
MAY 24, 2012 MEETING OF
THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
THE MANHATTAN PARK COMMUNITY CENTER,
8 RIVER ROAD, ROOSEVELT ISLAND, NEW YORK
5:30 P.M.1
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Approval of Minutes
1. April 19, 2012 Board Meeting (Board Action Required)
IV. Old Business
V. New Business
1. Presentation of the FY 2011-2012 QTR 4 Procurement Report
2. Authorization to Enter into a Contract with Everbridge for Public Notification System (Board Action Required)
3. Authorization to Enter into a Contract with LaPoma Site Work & Structure Inc. for Restoration of the Meditation
Steps (Board Action Required)
4. Authorization to Amend License Agreement with Riverwalk Landing, LLC for Zipcar Parking at Southtown
(Board Action Required)
5. Authorization to Issue a Change Order for Shawn Construction, Inc. Contract for Installation of Platform
Enclosures and Concrete Repairs at Tram Stations (Board Action Required)
6. President's Report
7. Committee Reports
a. Audit Committee
b. Governance Committee
c. Operations Advisory Committee
d. Real Estate Development Advisory Committee
8. Public Safety Report
VI. Adjournment
The RIOC Board Meeting will commence following a public comment period. The public comment period is not part of the meeting.
The rest of this November 2011 conversation with RIOC Directors is here.
16 comments :
This will be an opportunity to complain about the removal of the arcade windows from Eastwood this week. Instead of doing 1 initially as a demonstration, Kramer destroyed two bays of windows and seating today, and the demolition workers at the site confirmed that they have been hired to continue to remove the rest of the windows. Why has Kramer reneged on his promise to first consult with the community before destroying our community recreational/seating space?
Because we, the community in form of our resident directors on RIOC's board, have given them the permission to do so. Personally, I am looking forward to a renovated arcade.
Not so sure this is absolutely accurate. But whatever..
Don't you understand. This is theit way to stop the people who live in eastwood to stop sitting in front of the building.see it looks bad to have these people sitting in front of the building when these new fair market
Rent paying tenants come home from work.see they must make eastwood. Look like a place where all tenants are paying hight rents and the people in eastwood are all paying the same fair market rent they are. So they cannot have people hanging out in front of the building.it looks like we are living in the hood.
But these new people only stay up to a year and then move out.
It is accurate. And, I too, welcome the "new look" on the dreary side of Main Street.
Not all the Directors want the arcade windows demolished. And not all residents want the windows to go either.
It's interesting you refer to the dreary side of Main St - isn't that just a "nice" way of saying the "poor" side of Main St? You reveal your prejudice against the poor and minority population on RI with your choice of epithet.
Because more than anything else, you want the population along Main St in Northtown to be "similar" to the population in Southtown - whiter, "shinier", more "professional", more "enterprising", better "educated", of course richer, less "dreary" overall, and less "minority".
Sorry to disabuse you of your illusions - but, no matter how much the decor of Main St is changed, it will only serve to better highlight the glorious diversity of the population along Main St Northtown, I guess to your continuing great annoyance.
I don't think anyone was trying to bring such things into the conversation. Roosevelt Island was not gifted with great architecture.
The dark overhangs on that side of the street, coupled with the dirty windows (and a few missing panes here and there) are, in fact, somewhat dreary-looking. One would be hard pressed to point out almost any brutalist design that someone isn't going to consider "dreary".
Mark Lyon - As a Roosevelt Islander, you should be ashamed of yourself! Do any of us have any choice but to live in our buildings, "great architecture" or not? And is most of the architecture in the rest of the City any better really? Most apartment buildings are basically "cereal boxes" maybe with slight tweaks like balconies. Actually, the Landings is notable for progressive architecture and innovative apartment layout design.
All of Northtown was designed to include sheltered, welcoming arcades or colonnades - they of course create shaded walkways.
If all the buildings on RI are crumbling, you can thank the number of years they are up for that, as well as the air pollution, acid rain, etc. That plus landlords or especially RIOC not wanting to spend the money to keep up building exteriors/walkways. RIOC is responsible for replacing the glass panes when they break. In fact, RI could use more sheltered walkways - for example, an extension of rain-proof sidewalks extending to transportation at the train or tram. What is not "great" is that Southtown did not continue the arcade/colonnade amenity that is available to folks in Northtown and Manhattan Park! All Southtown has is a few exposed benches on the grounds here and there - not really very inviting, in addition to the Commons. These public amenities are all impractical in the rain. Southtown people have to dodge the raindrops going to the train or tram or to shop - but Northtown people can get from one end of Northtown to another in the rain pretty much without having to use an umbrella!
I agree - the walkways are very nice to have. I like the slightly less cluttered design at MP, plus the brick buildings feel more inviting. On a windy island, the walkways are an excellent idea.
Several of the buildings on the island incorporate rather innovative features - the triple deck design, for instance, which has some significant advantages over the "every other floor" elevator setup at the housing project near my old apartment that forced half the residents to go down some rather unwelcoming stairwells to get to their apartment. The design details, though, are (intentionally) far more functional than (traditionally) beautiful. RIOC and the landlords do share a lot of responsibility for the current state of repair on a lot of the structures, but brutalist designs haven't reacted well to the weather in almost any environment. I also understand from others that significant corners were cut during construction, making maintenance even mroe difficult than necessary. I see that in my apartment - the studs in the walls are so far apart that the walls are wavy; former tenants obviously had beds without headboards and put enough weight against the voids to cause the walls to bow in little waves.
Pointing out these issues, or even noting that the buildings look dreary, is hardly a dig at the people who live there. We could all live elsewhere if we desired, but every place has its trade offs. I still suppress my desire to sing Государственный гимн СССР on the red bus, but some of the elements that went into the island's design helped create a great community of neighbors that can't be found elsewhere in the city. Our limited transit forces people to greet their neighbors in a way that isn't required elsewhere. I continue to be amazed by how friendly and welcoming people are here. For that, I'll take an ugly building or two.
But, I'm not going to complain if someone tries to brighten them up a bit or, forbid, takes a power washer to some of the grime.
Again, leave it to Kitty to phrase everything in terms of class or race. Nobody, absolutely nobody here implied anything about poor or rich.
One more thing: we can celebrate diversity without embracing the current looks of Main Street.
Yet again, you show how racist you really are ChesireKitty. If you had taken even a second to read his comment (before going on a viscous racist rant), you would have noticed that he was talking about the covered side of Main St. vs. the open side (by Trellis/Church/etc). No one mentioned Southtown. I think you owe him an apology and you should stop jumping to conclusions before comprehending what other write.
There is no cause for the outlandish statements you've made in this thread. People are not trying to persecute you nor should a difference of opinion be taken as an insult.
I never indicated that the buildings should be razed; I noted that "dreary" was an apt description. I don't, however, think the buildings are historical landmarks that should never be touched. I personally have no issue with the removal of the panels, benches or other obstructions from the walkways. If anything, I hope that doing so makes it more attractive for businesses and people. Of course, not everyone agrees. Once we've seen how it looks and works, I hope everyone makes their opinion heard on the issue. Complaining to the Governor, however, is inappropriate. RIRA and RIOC are the appropriate venues for such discussion.
Kitty, I am an African-American with a Master's Degree and live in Roosevelt Landings. Leave race & status out of the conversation. Look up the word "dreary". You will not find any of the words you used in the definition.
When people complain about the "dreary" side of Main St it's too much of a coincidence that the "dreariness" happens to coincide with the side of the street containing not only the single largest building on RI but also one which is primarily filled with moderate income folks. It therefore forms the largest concentration of moderate income people on RI. For the record, I do not perceive the folks or the walkway as dreary in any way despite the state of disrepair RIOC has permitted it to lapse into; to the contrary, I think the walkway adds to the quality of life of all the residents.
No, roozevelt - you are wrong in not connecting socio-economic status with the discussion of the walkway, since it affords an amenity primarily used by the moderate-income residents living above the walkway.
The powers that be have for years tried to reduce the socializing amenity afforded by this walkway, first by converting some of the benches to planters, and now by removing all the benches as well as the windows.
These were measures intended to cut down on people of moderate means socializing in the walkway (although that is exactly what the walkway benches were intended for) and these measures now continue with the planned final destruction of walkway benches.
Taking away the benches is just a way to take away the visibility of a portion of the population Kramer does not wish to highlight. After the benches are removed, they will have no place to sit along Main St and thus will be "out of the way". You can be sure that if these benches formed part of an expensive, luxury development, they would be carefully maintained and preserved for the use of the "1%" that can afford expensive luxury accommodations. For Kramer, these are the kind of people he would love to showcase - the "non-dreary", those that have means, those that are not necessarily elderly, those that are not poor, those that are not disabled, those that are not retired and living on a fixed income, and so forth. Or, to put it briefly - those people that can afford his expensive, luxury apartments.
Say what? How is RL any different from the other WIRE buildings? I think you need to stop grasping at straws here, we all get it, you personally like the benches/etc, but trying to make your personal likes into a crusade for some made up imagined hire cause just isn't working.
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