Last Saturday night, a Roosevelt Island resident reported the following incident at the Roosevelt Island Tram Circle (picture taken Sunday afternoon).
According to the resident:
Did anyone else just hear or witness the explosive noise (and subsequent smoke) near the north side of the tram station? My concierge thought it involved a car chase and someone else thought she saw a gun.
The concierge says the main car spinning out over and over was a high end Mercedes. I could only see the smoke (after the noise) off to the east side of my bldg and at least 2 men run to a red truck, get in the truck, and drive off super fast.
The concierge says someone was outside walking their dog while the main car (Mercedes?) was doing circles, and she thought they were pointing guns at one another. The smell of burning rubber was in our building after that.
After I visited with the concierge about it, I came back to my apartment and 30 minutes later decided I should let the Roosevelt Island police know about the red car that I could see out my window (not the main car involved per the concierge). When I called the police to give the details he said that their patrol had just completed, and the area was fine. I tried again to explain that the incident was 45 minutes prior but that I thought they should be on the look-out for the types of cars involved. The person I was speaking with was not interested in details.
It was 10:30pm on a warm Saturday night so anyone could have been hit through recklessness (if that is all it was). I wish the police had been interested in hearing these details.
A Tram rider saw the incident and added:
It was some lunatic doing donuts with their car at the roundabout near the tram. It happened as I was boarding it earlier.
I saw the tire marks very clearly from the tram cabin. Likely someone recklessly showing off their new ride. Some people really don't deserve a license.
Another witness reported seeing a car speeding down East Main Street past Riverwalk Building at over 50 mph.
Roosevelt Island's Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance is hosting a Broadway Boot Camp during this week's school winter recess for students in Grades 1-8.
According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):
The Roosevelt Island Tram is scheduled to undergo two major maintenance projects that will reduce operating service to one cabin only beginning on February 14th and continuing for at least 12 weeks, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) announced....
... To help facilitate Island residents’ commutes during this period, RIOC will operate Red Bus shuttles between 58th-Street-and- Second-Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and the Roosevelt Island Tram Station during the weekday afternoon peak commute, 3 PM - 8:30 PM.
In discussions with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority which operates the New York City subway and bus system, RIOC officials received assurances this week that there will be no disruptions to the subway’s F Train line that services Roosevelt Island, including weekends up until April 19.
Additional service will be provided via the E Train line, weeknights March 18 – March 22 and March 25 – March 29; and all four weekends March 23 – April 25.
RIOC has also asked NYC Ferry officials to consider expanding ferry service – to and from Roosevelt Island, Queens and Manhattan - during the weekday peak periods and weekends; and is awaiting their response....
There is Roosevelt Island ferry service on the Astoria Route. Here's the Winter Schedule for Roosevelt Island ferry service.
Amazon announced today that they are abandoning its plan announced last November to develop a campus headquarters on the Long Island City East River waterfront - a short 5 minute ferry ride from Roosevelt Island - and their plan to create more than 25 thousand jobs on this site.
After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.
We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion—we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture—and particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, forward-leaning community leaders, small business owners, and residents. There are currently over 5,000 Amazon employees in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and we plan to continue growing these teams.
We are deeply grateful to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and their staffs, who so enthusiastically and graciously invited us to build in New York City and supported us during the process. Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have worked tirelessly on behalf of New Yorkers to encourage local investment and job creation, and we can’t speak positively enough about all their efforts. The steadfast commitment and dedication that these leaders have demonstrated to the communities they represent inspired us from the very beginning and is one of the big reasons our decision was so difficult.
We do not intend to reopen the HQ2 search at this time. We will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada.
Thank you again to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and the many other community leaders and residents who welcomed our plans and supported us along the way. We hope to have future chances to collaborate as we continue to build our presence in New York over time.
Opponents of the Amazon Long Island City HQ were pleased including Long Island City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer
Defeating an anti-union corporation that mistreats workers and assists ICE in terrorizing immigrant communities is a victory. Defeating an unprecedented act of corporate welfare is a triumph that should change the way we do economic development deals in our city & state forever.
“When Amazon said we are anti-union, and we’re going to remain anti-union and we’re going to fight the rights of workers to organize, I think that was really something that broke them,” says @NYCCouncil’s @JimmyVanBramer about $AMZN canceling NYC plans. #CheddarLIVEpic.twitter.com/MadXRVN1zk
Rep. @AOC on Amazon: "We should not be giving away our infrastructure, our subway system, our schools, our teachers' salaries, our firefighters' budgets, to a company that has not shown good faith to New Yorkers. And we can ask for more because we deserve more." pic.twitter.com/LEDqb0gDhG
"This is, quite honestly, one of the saddest days in New York City's history." A Long Island City business owner told NY1's @MylesMill that it is "beyond crazy that there could be any situation where Amazon coming to New York could be viewed a negative by anybody." pic.twitter.com/ZWHISdfhLW
Amazon chose to come to New York because we are the capital of the world and the best place to do business. We competed in and won the most hotly contested national economic development competition in the United States, resulting in at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality of life improvements. Bringing Amazon to New York diversified our economy away from real estate and Wall Street, further cementing our status as an emerging center for tech and was an extraordinary economic win not just for Queens and New York City, but for the entire region, from Long Island to Albany's nanotech center.
However, a small group politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community -- which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City -- the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state. The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage. They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity.
The fundamentals of New York's business climate and community that attracted amazon to be here - our talent pool, world-class education system, commitment to diversity and progressivism - remain and we won't be deterred as we continue to attract world class business to communities across New York State.
And Mayor de Blasio:
You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. We have the best talent in the world and every day we are growing a stronger and fairer economy for everyone. If Amazon can’t recognize what that’s worth, its competitors will.
Roosevelt Island and Long Island City Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney adds:
The deal could have been improved. There were legitimate concerns raised and aspects that I wanted changed. I was ready to work for those changes. But now, we won’t have a chance to do that and we are out 25K+ new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new investments. 2/
I'll continue working with the residents of Queensbridge, Ravenswood, Astoria Houses, & Woodside and all #LIC & #NY12 to strengthen our economy & bring good paying jobs to NY. 4/4
During the November 13 Amazon protest, Roosevelt Island's NYC Council Member Ben Kallos stated reasons for his objecting to the proposed Amazon LIC deal.
But, there are those 25 thousand good paying jobs.
"I think it's a loss both for New York and for Amazon," says Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks on the company's decision to back out of building a new headquarters in Long Island City https://t.co/EnppGOEHWcpic.twitter.com/mPta8Xffq0
Amazon is abandoning Queens but says it's still committed, on some scale, to New York City. The lesson for policymakers: Big fancy companies will come to New York for free, but if we want a new downtown for Queens, we'll have to pay. https://t.co/3ATfWzgpkQ
One factor that concerned Amazon executives was how activists in New York City broadened their attacks from the specifics of the deal to the company’s practices far beyond the five boroughs, on unions and working with ICE, per two people familiar with Amazon's decision.
Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.
The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.
