Thursday, January 9, 2014

Bike New York Coming With Free Programs For Roosevelt Island In A Very Big Way - You're Invited To Community Forum Tonight 7:30 PM To Learn More And Share Ideas

Image From Bike New York

Bike New York President Ken Prodziba and Roosevelt Island Community Outreach Manager Caitlin Goodspeed spoke during last night's Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Public Session.. They described Bike New York's ideas to help make Roosevelt Island a more bike friendly community and are looking for input on what residents would like to happen with bicycles. According to Mr. Prodziba, Bike New York wants:
.... to do everything we can to make Roosevelt Island a more bike friendly place. What you want we will do what you don't want we won't do

We learned that there is not a bike shop on Roosevelt Island so we want to create our own pop up bike shop. Everything we do is free so the bike shop will be free, free maintenance, free repairs, all of our classes our free, our camp program is free, our after school program. We're here to serve Roosevelt Island....
Here's full remarks by Mr. Prodziba and Ms. Goodspeed.



Bike New York is hosting a Roosevelt Island Community Forum tonight. According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):
Please be advised that Bike New York will be hosting a community forum on Thursday, January 9, 7:30 PM in the Manhattan Park Community Room (4 River Rd.). Come hear about Bike New York's free bicycle education classes that are now being offered on Roosevelt Island, and let them know what you think. Light refreshments will be served and free t-shirts will be available.

Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group
This is great news for Roosevelt Island! More on Bike New York from previous posts.

7 comments :

CheshireKitty said...

Considering Roosevelt Island was redeveloped as a disabled-persons-friendly and accessible island, and there is a chronic care facility located on the island as well, and it is well-known that many residents with mobility problems prefer to use the tram to travel to Manhattan, it is a disgrace that Mike Shinozaki's RIOC Operations Advisory Cttee for years has punted on replacing the decrepit tram elevator. By now, because of the shameful inaction of Mike Shinozaki's RIOC Operations Advisory Cttee, the elevator is *usually* not operational.


Mike Shinozaki, the resident RIOC Board Member who heads up the RIOC Operations Advisory Cttee which is responsible for oversight of RIOC on questions of infrastructure such as the tram elevator, has once again failed in his responsibilities. At least Charlene Indelicato correctly identified the problem (it certainly didn't take her a long time to do so, yet Mike Shinozaki could see the elevator was subject to increasingly frequent breakdowns for years yet did nothing) and has had a million dollars allocated for replacement of the elevator.


This is another example of the uselessness of Mike Shinozaki, a resident RiOC Board Director who was elected to the Board by RI resident with high hopes of serving as a good director, responsive to the concerns and needs of all residents - young and old, rich and poor, able-bodied and disabled, black, Latino, Asian and white.


Instead, we see in this instance, of Mike Shinozaki's complete obliviousness to the needs of the large population of RI resident that use wheelchairs or who otherwise have mobility issues, in addition to stroller moms, and bicycle users, that Mike Shinozaki just doesn't care about his putative constituency, those that with the best of intentions, voted for him to be appointed into his cushy Director position by the Governor.


Mike Shinozaki did the same thing - ignored the needs and concerns of a large sector of the population, i.e. Island youth - when he continued to renew the employment contract of Keith Guerra year after year, when it was clear after only a few months of Keith Guerra's tenure that Keith Guerra was carrying out a policy of over-enforcement.


Mike Shinozaki was oblivious for 5 years to residents' complaints about Keith Guerra, when he, as Guerra's boss, could have fired Guerra at any time. Once again, it took Indelicato to clean up the Guerra mess - within a month of her taking office; just as it took Indelicato to act on the tram elevator disgrace, within a few months of taking office. We are certainly lucky to have Indelicato - but her efficiency and responsiveness to the community only highlights Mike Shinozaki's inefficiency and obliviousness.


Mike Shinozaki is no good as resident RIOC Board Director. Mike Shinozaki should resign immediately, to be replaced by a new Director who will hopefully care even a little bit about all RI residents.

Mark Lyon said...

Why, Helen Chirivas, do you feel the need to run people down and make personal attacks?


The elevator is far more broken now than it has been in the past and, while it is an issue, it seems RIOC is dealing with it. There is a non-trivial amount of infrastructure that needs repair on the island, not all of it could be addressed with the existing budgets. There need to be priorities and, when staff was able to keep the elevator mostly operational by performing repairs, it likely made more financial sense to do that (though, I certainly wish it had been replaced during the station rehab).

Bill Blass said...

I think you just made a racist statement. Oh my

CheshireKitty said...

(A) I have been incorrectly linked with a person named Helen Chirivas on Disqus. Please disregard Mark's statement - although I am linked to that identity through Disqus, the Kitty is not Helen.


(B) Why do you take it upon yourself Mark to defend RIOC Bd Members? What's in it for you to shield them? Not only did Mike Shinozaki fail, so did the other members of the RIOC Operations Advisory Cttee: Howard Polivy, Faye Christian, Margie Smith, and Dave Kraut! The tram should never be disabled-inaccessible because both elevators are down simultaneously, as is currently the case.


Let's hear, Mark, how you would suggest disabled persons who may wish to take the tram are supposed to climb up and down the stairs at the tram station.


Luckily, we do have the disabled-accessible train station on RI, with a fully disabled accessible station @ 63rd St - that is certainly an alternative for the disabled population. But what if a disabled person doesn't wish to take the train? They are at a distinct disadvantage are they not if they wish to take the tram - if the tram elevator isn't working. The same goes for older folks, people carrying heavy bundles, etc. - anyone who might have possibly wished to use the tram elevator. They are all at a distinct disadvantage.


Keep in mind, the RIOC Operations Advisory Cttee is supposed to be on top of needed infrastructure repairs. And the tram elevator is vital infrastructure - it should have received prioritization long ago, long before Indelicato got here. Don't keep making excuses for RiOC, Mark. Has RIOC retained you as its PR man? I doubt it - so why not simply admit: Mike Shinozaki failed.


Remember: RIOC - i.e. the RIOC Board didn't prioritize the tram elevator upgrade/replacement until Indelicato came along. Therefore, we must absolutely blame Mike Shinozaki and all the other somnolent members of the RIOC Operations Advisory Cttee for letting down the disabled residents, the stroller moms, even the cyclists, who may have been using the tram elevator. Mike Shinozaki: Shame on You!

CheshireKitty said...

All Roosevelt Landings tenants should do a rent strike until adequate amounts of heat are sent up by the landlord. This is an issue that will unite the building. Imagine how much worse it will be if and when sub-metering is imposed. Unless the heating units are placed on a separate circuit that the land-lord will pay for, with sub metering, you will have to pay to freeze because of inadequate heat.

OldRossie said...

I certainly hope you're not Helen Chirivas. What a loser that one is. Anyway, good luck with riling up the locals for a RIOC hanging and roosevelt landing uprising! Revolucion!

CheshireKitty said...

Yeah, I've heard the same thing about Chirivas. Let's have fun burning Chirivas, Rossie. What have you heard that makes you think Chirivas is a loser?