Saturday, September 21, 2013

Roosevelt Island Gallery RIVAA Mystical Island Exhibition Opening Reception Tonight 6-9 PM - Come Meet Your Friends And Neighbors And Enjoy The Art

Gallery RIVAA will be holding an opening reception for their new exhibition, Mystical Island,


tonight from 6- 9 PM and you are invited.


Come meet your friends and neighbors at Gallery RIVAA and enjoy the art.

All Images From Gallery RIVAA

Gallery RIVAA's Mystical Island will be exhibited from September 21 - October 27 at 527 Main Street.

Friday, September 20, 2013

No Roosevelt Island F Train Serice To Manhattan This Weekend - Or Following 2 Weekends As Well Says MTA


According to the MTA:
F Coney Island-bound trains run via the E from Roosevelt Av to 5 Av/53 St

Weekends, 11:15 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon, until Oct 7

Trains resume regular service at 47-50 Sts.

No Coney Island-bound F service at 21 St-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Av/63 St and 57 St.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) adds:
The MTA has advised that there will be no Manhattan bound F trains beginning September 20th-23rd from 11:15 PM Friday to 5 AM Monday.

The F train service disruption to Manhattan will continue on the following weekends:

September 27th -30th & October 4th -7th

Trains will be rerouted via the M line.

For service to Manhattan, take the Queens - bound F train to Roosevelt Ave and transfer to a Manhattan bound F train.

For up to the minute F train service updates, visit www.mta.info or call 511. To sign up for real time alerts on planned service changes, visit MYMTAALERTS.com.

Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Roosevelt Island Blackwell Park Playground Now Open And With Children Playing - What Do You Think Of It?

Rebecca Knell shares this photo of Roosevelt Island's new playground/tot lot at Blackwell Park which had its Grand Opening earlier this afternoon

 Image From Rebecca Knell

adding:
And now with children! 
Anybody try it out yet? What do you think?

UPDATE 9/20 - Here are some scenes from the Grand Opening and a succinct review by one young lady in the playground who simply said:
YAAAAAYYYYYY


Before the playground opened, excited children and their parent lined up for the ribbon cutting.

Image From RIOC
Image From RIOC

RIOC shares these scenes from yesterday's Blackwell Park Playground opening and reports:
Fay Christian emceed the event,


 then Ellen Polivy said a few words


before we proceeded to the ribbon-cutting. Sarah Willard of Hudson-Related, Fay Christian of the RIOC Board of Directors, Howard and Ellen Polivy of RIRA and Louis Schwartz of Monadnock Construction cut the ribbon


before the excited crowd of children rushed onto the playground to have fun.

More scenes of yesterday's playground opening from RIOC





and Roosevelt Island residents.



UPDATE 9 PM - A Roosevelt Island mom is concerned with the safety of the new playground equipment. Susy del Campo Perea writes:
The screws are falling down


and one was just laying around the floor, now on my possession out of kids harm way.

This playground is not safe at all.

 Image of parent (Susy) holding equipment screw found on playground From Brianna Warsing

I have the screw with me at home. And I am not giving it back until a real engineer on behalf of the state and/or city could really assure me and the rest of the families that the playground is safe. Cause so far it isn't.

By the way, the door of the swings is also broken



and it also is a hazard for our little ones (all ages).
UPDATE 9/23 - More here.

Roosevelt Island Assembly Member Micah Kellner In Twitter Smackdown With NYC Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson

Roosevelt Island/Upper East Side Assembly Member Micah Kellner, who lost the Democratic Party nomination for NYC Council District 5 earlier this month (covering roughly the same geographic area), got into a Twitter smackdown


with NYC Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson today.

From the Twitterverse:



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Roosevelt Island Blackwell Park Playground/Tot Lot Grand Opening Thursday September 19 3:30 PM

 Blackwell Park Playground/Tot Lot Grand Opening Tomorrow

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):
The RIOC Board Members and the Hudson/Related Southtown team invite you to celebrate the official opening of the children’s playground at Blackwell Park with your friends and neighbors from the Roosevelt Island Community. The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at the north gate (south of Blackwell House) of the new playground next Thursday, September 19, 2013 at approximately 3:30 PM. So bring the kids and join us to celebrate this much anticipated opening!

Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group
More info on the Blackwell Park Children's Playground/Tot Lot at previous posts.

Roosevelt Island Youth Program Soccer League Opening Day Off To A Good Start With Cops and Kids Partnership Between RIYP And RIOC Public Safety Department - PSD Director Jack McManus Coaching One Of The Teams

The Roosevelt Island Youth Program (RIYP) 2013 Soccer Season began last Saturday at Octagon Field

RIYP Soccer Season Opening Day At Octagon Field September 13

with over 250 children participating under the direction of Executive Director Charlie DeFino and Soccer Directors Adib Mansour and Andrey Ganeev. This year the RIYP soccer league is collaborating with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department (PSD) in a Cops and Kids program

RIYP/RIOC Cops and Kids Soccer Program with Players and PSD's McManus (in hat) and Officer Martinez

described by RIOC President Charlene Indelicato as:
... the beginning of a new partnership between the Roosevelt Island Youth Program and RIOC PSD. This fall a PSD officer will serve as an assistant soccer coach with the Youth Program. I would like to thank all involved, especially Interim PSD Director McManus and Officer Martinez for all their help in organizing this event....
PSD Director Jack McManus is coaching one of the teams.

RIYP's Mr. DeFino adds:
Both the Roosevelt Island Youth Program and the Public Safety Department are fully committed to bringing the youth community and the PSD closer through sports and a wide-range of activities to be detailed in the future. The RIYP/RIOC Cops and Kids Soccer collaboration is a great start and I think in about six months everyone will notice a difference in the interactions of PSD and the community.
PSD's McManus and Martinez with RIYP's DeFino and Soccer Players

Here are some scenes from last Saturday's RIYP soccer games



and the after game handshake between the teams which includes  a sportsmanship lesson in



appropriate game language from RIYP Soccer Director Adib Mansour.

The kids had fun playing soccer and the RIYP/PSD Cops and Kids partnership is off to a good start.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Meet Buddy The Roosevelt Island Squirrel Chewing Nuts In A Tree

Danielle Samon introduces us to her new Roosevelt Island squirrel friend and reports:

Meet my new friend Buddy

Image From Danielle Samon

enjoying the nuts I got him
Awwwww - cute picture!

UPDATE 10:40 PM - Looks like Buddy the squirrel has some more Roosevelt Island friends. Karine Wong shares these photos

Image From Karine Wong 

adding:
Buddy is a food lover...
yesterday must have been his bday because he was having Doridos :)
Images From Karine Wong
Doritos, yum.

Roosevelt Island Fall For Arts Festival October 5, A Mystical Island - Call For Artists To Paint Outdoor Murals At Southpoint Park

Roosevelt Island's 2013 Fall For Arts Festival is coming up soon.


Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelciato reports:
The date is set for our annual Fall for the Arts Festival. In partnership with Gallery RIVAA, RIOC will be hosting the Festival on October 5th at Southpoint Park and on the lawn south of Rivercross. There will be music, art, food and fun for all!

I understand that the painting of large outdoor murals is the Festival’s most loved tradition. I look forward to viewing them both in the Park and later at the Motorgate Gallery.

The theme for this year's event is "A Mystical Island." It is free to participate - paint and brushes are provided!

We invite you to submit a sketch of your design or any inquiries to Anna.Rankin@rioc.ny.gov along with a title and short description. The deadline for sketches is September 21, 2013....
RIOC has put out a call for artists to show their works.

According to Arthash, RIOC is seeking:
... several artists to each paint a 6 ft x 8 ft mural outdoors at Southpoint Park during the 2013 Fall for Arts Festival. Every year, the Fall for Arts Festival inspires and engages Roosevelt Island's creative community with music, displays of art and interactive workshops. One of the festival's most-loved traditions is the painting of large outdoor murals - a large and enthusiastic audience comes out each year to watch these paintings take shape. After the festival concludes, the murals are left on display in the park for a short time, then moved into the Island's Motorgate Gallery for display through late 2014.

The theme for this year's event is "A Mystical Island," so designs should reflect a sense of magic or fantasy in some form. It's free to participate, paint and brushes are provided!

We invite you to submit a sketch of your design or any inquiries to Anna.Rankin@rioc.ny.gov along with a title and short description. Deadline for sketches is September 21st, 2013. Good luck!
More info on 2013 Roosevelt Island Fall For Arts Festival here and scenes from 2012 Fall For Arts

Murals From 2012 Roosevelt Island Fall For Arts Festival

at this previous post.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Report From RIRA President Ellen Polivy - Roosevelt Island Hurricane Preparedness And New Evacuation Zone Locations

Click here for the new NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map.

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Ellen Polivy sends the following Report To The Community:
Our new evacuation zones:

RIRA was pleased to join with City Councilmember Jessica Lappin and RIOC to bring you the presentation on August 27 by OEM about Roosevelt Island’s new evacuation zones. Public Safety Director John McManus joined two presenters from OEM for part of the presentation.

Roosevelt Island has now become two upgraded evacuation zones. Under certain circumstances we might be more likely to be asked to clear out in advance of an expected bad weather event.

If Hurricane Sandy were to happen under our new zones, our entire Island would have been advised to evacuate. The categories of hurricanes are not aligned to the evacuation zones categories. Storms are evaluated individually by projecting when and where they are likely to hit land. With that in mind, the Mayor decides with OEM’s advice , which areas to call for evacuation. Since we are now more likely to need to evacuate in advance of mega storms or hurricanes, we should take the longstanding advice to be prepared. Preparation starts with having a plan, creating a go-bag (and supplies to “shelter-in-place”) , knowing where to go, and how to get there.

The OEM presenters Christina Farrell and Roosevelt Island resident Rachel Sulaymanov gave useful information. They emphasized that we will be given ample warning to leave the Island in case an evacuation was called. We would be notified about 2-3 days in advance to give us ample opportunity to temporarily relocate to our families and friends who live outside of the evacuation zones, or to one of the recommended shelters.

Disabled people should call 311 to get transportation. OEM contracts with hundreds of companies to respond to any calls for assistance in evacuation. During Hurricane Sandy, they had hundreds of companies ready to help disabled people leave for shelters. But very few were actually used. The speakers emphasized the usefulness of that transportation system for disabled and other special needs like elderly, small children, pets etc.

Depending on the number of people being urged to evacuate, OEM might open additional shelters. They explained that hurricane related evacuations do not happen in the middle of stormy weather, but usually on a nice day two to three days beforehand. We are urged to notify our neighbors who might not have heard the news and to take care of each other. Their description of the shelters sounded a bit like going to camp for a few days. Families are kept together and you can go with your pet. Pets will be well cared for at the shelter in the pet area. People who don’t like pets are not forced to be with them.

You can find out lots of information online by searching for keywords such as “hurricane maps NYC”, “ReadyNYC”, "hurricane guide” or “evacuation centers” or “NYC go-bag”. Most of these searches will bring you to the huge database of information at the NYC OEM website.

Register at “Notify NYC” (nyc.gov/notifynyc) for free notifications about emergencies like severe weather, school closures and subway disruptions. You can have the messages sent by text message, email or Twitter.

Our shelters

Our closest shelters are two schools on either side of the East River. In Manhattan our shelter is Julia Richman School at 317 E 67 Street in Manhattan. The other is the Newcomers High School at 28-01 41 Avenue in Long Island City.

The Roosevelt Island Evacuation plan is under update by the RIOC Public Safety Director McManus and he sees "no reason" why it should not be made public after it is updated. This plan will inform us on how the island population would evacuate in a sudden need when there is not the usual two to three days of time or if the standard means of transportation do are not working or if the bridges are closed. We will keep in touch with Director McManus about this topic. We expect that there will be another community forum when the plans have been updated.

Why not just tough it out at home?

Hurricanes don’t just cause floods and wreckage and occasional loss of life. They sometimes cause temporary loss of basic services such as electricity, phones, gas and water and sewage, making homes unlivable. Those who try to live in their homes after evacuation orders are called put added stress on systems that need to be repaired. Leaving for a shelter gives the repair people time to restore the services without the extra load.

Those who decide to stay home after evacuation orders have been given risk more than just themselves. If the storm turns worse than expected, teams of first responders must then risk their lives trying to evacuate the stranded.

You can find the presentation online at

http://rooseveltislander.blogspot.com/2013/08/mandatory-evacuation-of-roosevelt.html .