Skyscraper at Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island Update

Remember this post of the You Tube video showing a proposed skyscraper for Southpoint Park at Roosevelt Island entitled "Trilogy" that received much attention? Curbed referred to it as the "Roosevelt Island Tower of Death and stated:

it might be the finest architectural vision for New York City, and Roosevelt Island in particular, we've ever seen. You must watch it immediately, and this must be built. Make it so.

I received the following message from the creators who are from Italy.

This video was made for a degree thesis on Architecture. Our thesis was about the application of fractal in architecture,we participated on internationel competition called skyscraper07, we didn'win, but this experiance was the starting point about our degree thesis.

There seems to be some connection between Italy and Roosevelt Island. More to come. UPDATE - 12/12/28/- The Curbed 07 Awards are now out and this proposed Skyscraper for the northern part Southpoint Park's Roosevelt Island has been named by Curbed the most:

Awesomely Absurd Art Project We Wish Had Been Real

Below is a more detailed message from the Trilogy creators explaining the project:

This project it was about a thesis in architecture. I studied in Turin at the Politecnico of Turin. This thesis aims to demonstrate how the concept of fractals can be applied to architecture and to urban planning.

Participation in the competition held by "eVolo Architetture", entitled "07skyscraper", was the pretext to develop the theme of the skyscraper. What does "skyscraper" mean at the beginning of the XXI century? What is the historical and social context in which these megastrucures are inserted? How does the skyscraper connect with the city and the city with it? Can the skyscraper, taken on its own, be considered as a city within a city? Has the human scale been lost in the planning of skyscrapers?

These are the questions that we asked ourselves and to which we have tried to find answers through our research. The natural world has inspired all of the project design process. Observation of natural forms, especially their structure and their development mechanisms, has brought us to study fractals, which are considered as the minimum common multiple of living things. Therefore, the project design process has been sustained by a solid study on the meaning of fractal both in the geometric sense and in the topological sense.

Regarding the application of fractals in the geometric sense, we have elaborated a planimetric concept closely connected to the volumetric concept, in fact, the latter evolves from the three-dimensional modelling of the fractal generator. In this phase of the project the fractal dimension, chaos and the characteristic of self-resemblance emerged. The generator was iterated several times with the aim of obtaining a hierarchy in the different levels of scale, urban planning and architecture.

Study of the fractal in a topological sense lies in the ability to connect to all levels of scale. The connection between architectural scale and urban planning scale must come about through an interface, which in our case corresponds to the ground floor, or, in other words, the most important level because it represents the link between the building and the urban fabric. floor,  For ground floor we mean level zero of the building, which is that of its original plot. It is a reception area, where people must be encouraged, through planning, to use urban spaces, spaces which are very precious and which aim to promote communication and relationships among and between people. We can, thus, understand the importance of level zero: it must be a liveable environment, in which all elements are planned on a human scale.

It is a reception area, where people must be encouraged, through planning, to use urban spaces, spaces which are very precious and which aim to promote communication and relationships among and between people. We can, thus, understand the importance of level zero: it must be a liveable environment, in which all elements are planned on a human scale. To obtain a clear picture regarding the insertion site of the building, we analysed the complex urban fabric reconstructing recent phenomena. The methodology of the study followed a logical hierarchy, that means that the information regarding the urban environment were observed passing from the widest level down through the various level to the smallest one. We sought to understand how cities have changed, both on a global level as well as on a local level, focusing on the new organisational, socio-economic and environmental characteristics. So we studied geography in various forms, in terms of environment, population and global networks, furthermore, we sought to under stand the way in which forms of transport and urban planning can promote justice and social equity, and we examined the relationship between the shape of the city and sustainability, highlighting the potential for cohesion deriving from public spaces. 

To obtain a clear picture regarding the insertion site of the building, we analysed the complex urban fabric reconstructing recent phenomena. The methodology of the study followed a logical hierarchy, that means that the information regarding the urban environment were observed passing from the widest level down through the various level to the smallest one. We sought to understand how cities have changed, both on a global level as well as on a local level, focusing on the new organisational, socio-economic and environmental characteristics. So we studied geography in various forms, in terms of environment, population and global networks, furthermore, we sought to under stand the way in which forms of transport and urban planning can promote justice and social equity, and we examined the relationship between the shape of the city and sustainability, highlighting the potential for cohesion deriving from public spaces.

The historical/critical analysis of the site was very useful in the planning phase where we sought to value the context, even influencing some of the planning decisions in order to maintain a certain constructive tradition through the choice of materials. During the development of this thesis we discovered the existence of an intimate link between mathematics, architecture and urban planning, which in our project allowed us to connect the skyscraper to the city and to interact with it, thus connecting two parts of the city which, historically and traditionally have been very different. where we sought to value the context, even influencing some of the planning decisions in order to maintain a certain constructive tradition through the choice of materials. 

I love NY, for this reason I chose this city to site THE TRILOGY, and while I examined the city I discovered that Manhattan and Queens don't communicate, so I think that Roosevelt Island can became the "key" to connect two part of NY City that are very different. Sorry for my bad english...(I'm italian) If you would like more specific information about the project, or some immage about the plan or masterplan contact me.

Public Restroom Update

RIOC President Steve Shane reports in his Main Street Wire Column (PDF version) that:

At the suggestion of the RI Blog, RIOC is following up a DOT program to make some additional restroom facilities available, It is a competitive process, so we shall see. We understand the need and are studying possible solutions.

I am not sure if Mr. Shane is referring to Roosevelt Islander as the "RI blog" but if he is, I appreciate the mention in Roosevelt Island's paper of record, the Main Street Wire. However, for the record, the suggestion to apply for the DOT public rest room came from fellow blogger Roosevelt Island 360 as a comment to this series of Roosevelt Islander posts. He deserves the credit for identifying the particular DOT program.

Leases Renewed for Six Main Street Merchants

Main Street Wire (PDF File) reported that 6 Main Street merchants have had their leases renewed. They are:

1. China 1
2. M&D Deli
3. Roosevelt Nails
4. Full Service Hair Salon
5. Roosevelt Island Cleaners
6. Accountable Financial Management

Now that these establishments are no longer operating on month to month leases and have the security of at least a 10 year lease term will they upgrade their storefronts and interior spaces? Let's hope that RIOC included a provision in these renewal leases providing for some commercially reasonable standard of storefront and interior space appearance.

Indestructible, Herculean Rock Impedes Construction on Roosevelt Island

A neighbor had been complaining about the unusually loud pounding sound directly outside his window coming from the new Related/Hudson Riverwalk Condo construction site. I had originally thought that the description of the noise as being unbearable and horrendous was due to not being accustomed to living so close to a new construction site. Apparently there is more to this because I am told that there is a very large boulder on the construction site that has proven to be almost indestructible to the construction crew. This Herculean piece of Roosevelt Island rock has resisted destruction by being broken up into little pieces by heavy construction equipment as well as an injection designed to shatter the rock, all for the benefit of future Roosevelt Island condo owners.

I don't know if this is the injection method being used here on Roosevelt Island but found this article fascinating for the future of the construction industry. The article in the Steamboat Pilot describes:

a breakthrough technique that
could dramatically change the way engineers and large contractors break up
rock in major construction projects. Young's controlled foam injection method
even could make it less costly to dig single-family home foundations on lots
with large, buried boulders

The technique uses:

compressed air trapped in a viscous foam that has the power to break up solid
rock far more efficiently and safely than dynamite can. The ingredients in the
foam include guar gum, which makes pudding thick, and a benign sodium
compound that allows toothpaste to get foamy when it mixes with water in your
mouth.

And

...a machine that drills holes in
rock and then injects pressurized foam into the hole. Young's device seals the
hole, so that the expanding air shatters the rock without sending dangerous
shards flying over large areas, or creating the toxic fumes that dynamite
creates in closed areas such as tunnels.

But the rock resists.

Another Roosevelt Island

Did you know there was another Roosevelt Island? The other island is named Theodore Roosevelt Island and is located on the Potomac River in the Washington DC area.
This weekend, the artist Jenny Holzer is using Theodore Roosevelt Island as a backdrop for her projected text installations. She:

will use high-powered projectors to cast text from the River Terrace of the Kennedy Center across the Potomac River and onto the island. Quotations from the two memorials' namesakes -- Presidents John F. Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt -- will scroll like movie credits from 7 to midnight each night through Sunday .

and:

Holzer has compiled an hour's worth of quotes, which will run on a loop. Her design calls for the words to start on the river and then rise to the trees on the island. The white text will be so huge that only one line will fit on the trees at a time.

Here is a You Tube video of the project.

It's Nice to Be Here - Original Indian Name for Roosevelt Island

The Main Street Wire has compiled a Timeline of Roosevelt Island History. From time to time I will be posting portions of that timeline beginning with the 17th Century. Image above came from Harpers Magazine via Roosevelt island Historical Society.

XVII Century

• 1637 - Dutch Governor Wouter Van Twiller buys Minnahannock from two Chiefs of the Canarsie tribe. Minnahannock means It's Nice to Be Here or Long Island, the latter readily explained by the dimensions: 107 acres (later expanded to 147), 2 miles long, 800 feet wide at its broadest. It runs North-South, opposite what will become 40 Manhattan blocks from 46th to 86th Streets. The Dutch raise hogs on the island, so it becomes known as Varcken (Hog) Island.
• 1639 - A succession of Dutch farmers works the Island under land grants from the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company.
• 1642 - Farmer Jan Claessen Alteras makes a claim for improvements costing 300 guilders: a house, goat-pen, garden. Over the years, he is succeeded by Francois Fyn, Jonas Bronck, and Laurens Duyts.
• 1652 - Governor Stuyvesant declares the Indian sale to Van Twiller void. The Island is granted to Captain Francis Fyn. The Island is seen as "particularly useful for the [West India] Company in the imminent or any future differences with the English, being adapted for fortifications to be built thereon."
• 1658 - Laurens Duyts defaults on his lease for the Island and, in a separate scrape with the authorities, is banished from the province "for selling his wife into immoral slavery and for gross immoralities committed by himself."
• 1666 - After Dutch capitulation to the British, Captain John Manning acquires the island and it becomes known as Manning's Island.
• 1667 - Manning is appointed, on July 24, Sheriff of New York. In the absence of Governor Lovelace, he commands Fort James.
• 1671 - Manning moves to the island.
• 1673 - While in command of Fort James, on August 9, Manning surrenders the City of New York to the Dutch.
• 1675 - Manning is court-martialied, accused of treachery and cowardice. He is publicly disgraced, his sword borken in a City Hall ceremony, and he retires to his Island. The Rev. Charles Wooley later notes in his journal that Captain Manning is condemned to exile "to a small island from his name called Manning's Island, where I have been several times with the said Captain whose entertainment was commonly a Bowl of Rum-Punch."
• 1676 - Manning's step-daughter, Mary Manningham, marries Robert Blackwell. Manning appears to have lived until at least 1685. The will of Matthew Taylor of New York, dated February 20, 1687-8, there is mention of "a mortgage of John Manning, his Island."
• 1686 - Manning's son-in-law, Robert Blackwell, becomes owner of the Island and gives it his name.

Flash-Flash-Flash- Duane Reade is Now Open

The long awaited Roosevelt Island Duane Reade store at 425 Main Street is now open.
As a service to retail deprived, overly excited Roosevelt Islanders, they will have free blood pressure testing on Saturday between 11AM-2PM
A positive first impression was made for me by their stocking of Jewish New Year cards, unlike the Gristedes which does not, demonstrating that at least in this instance they are aware that in the city of New York there are people who wish to send Rosh Hashanah greetings to others.

Roosevelt Island Tram Sponsorship Update

Earlier posts inquiring of the potential for corporate sponsorship of the Roosevelt Island Tram have been supplemented by Roosevelt Island 36o who reports that this idea was considered in May 2002 and that RIOC even placed advertisements soliciting ads for the Tram as well as the Tramway Station. I seem to recall such an ad in Crains. Roosevelt Island 360 also:

discovered a May 2001 NYC Council Resolution where it was resolved that NO advertising be placed on the exterior or interior of the Tram cabins. To my understanding as Resolutions are not bills and do not transform into laws it appears that the City Council was trying to express its desire to the State Legislature.

Thanks for the additional information!

Roosevelt Island Subway Escalator

I just got off the subway at Roosevelt Island to find that the Up escalator not working but the down escalator is. I am sure the MTA must have a reasonable explanation why when work is being done on one of two escalators the working escalator is taking passengers down to the station level while there is no Up escalator service from the station but would love to hear it. Is it possible to insure that when there is only one working escalator, it goes up from the subway station so that the many elderly and not so elderly subway passengers have the option to take the escalator up.

Roosevelt Island Hurricane Insurance?

Via Brownstoner, New York magazine has an article about insurance companies dropping home insurance coverage or raising fees on Brooklyn properties. According to the article:

“[The letter] alluded to Hurricane Katrina and said they’re unable to carry the risk of living in coastal areas,”

and

New York is certainly not immune to hurricanes. Ours is a coastal island city, and even if you’re a half-mile inland and can’t see the water, that’s a small distinction to a swirling storm a thousand miles wide.

Also,

According to the Climate Institute, a nonprofit environmental group, the city is “quite vulnerable” to hurricanes and nor’easters, thanks in part to “the area’s nearly 1,500 miles of coastline, and that four out of five boroughs are islands.”

How does this impact Roosevelt Island? We are certainly surrounded by water. I recall a Roosevelt Island Town Hall Meeting several years ago that included a presentation on flood protection insurance. The Main Street Wire has an article about preparation for a hurricane and briefly mentions the issue of insurance here.

Zog Sports on Roosevelt Island

Have you ever wondered what was going on with the large groups of people walking around in their Zog T-shirts and softball gear? I received this email explaining:

ZogSports, the charity-focused, social, co-ed sports league for young professionals in their 20s and 30s, is gearing up to start its fall leagues in a few weeks and we’ll be back on Roosevelt Island for a few of our sports. I know a lot of residents on the Island have wondered who we are since on several weeknights and weekend afternoons our participants travel to the Island in large groups sporting brightly colored ZogSports t-shirts!
...ZogSports has spent the last four years helping young New Yorkers break the monotony of the typical day – work/gym/bar/home - by offering sports leagues, trips, social events, and volunteer opportunities for young professionals in their 20s and 30s. To date, they have brought together 33,000+ participants and given more than $290,000 to charity.
This fall, ZogSports will be playing a portion of its Outdoor Soccer, Touch Football, and Softball leagues on Roosevelt Island.
Participants can sign up as an entire team or as an individual/small group and we’ll place them on a team. Teammates get to know each other at the organized post-game happy hours at local bars.
As a philanthropy-focused organization, ZogSports donates a portion of all proceeds to charity, and helps all participants Play For Your Cause by making donations to winning teams’ charities of choice. Teams have the opportunity to win both on the field as well as off, with awards given for Best Team Name, Best Team Spirit, and Best Happy Hour Team. ZogSports also partners with local charitable organizations to promote/co-sponsor their events, and organizes charity events of its own.

It sounds like fun.

Assembling the Tribute in Light to 9/11

I have always thought that the Tribute in Light should be the permanent World Trade Center memorial.
According to the NY Times, The Tribute in Light began:

as a catch-as-catch-can improvisation, this one-night event has become something of a civic tradition. It is the celestial, silent taps that brings a day of remembrance to a close, a shared experience open simultaneously to almost anyone around the city.

Its future seems assured for the next two years. But after that?

''I'd say there's a question mark,'' said Kent L. Barwick, the president of the Municipal Art Society, the organizers of the Tribute in Light.

For one thing, the project may run out of money after 2008. For another, it may lose its current staging area atop the Battery Garage, six blocks south of ground zero; a rare expanse of secure open space downtown. A long-range redevelopment plan for the nearby area, known as Greenwich Street South, calls for demolishing the garage, though this is not on the immediate horizon.

And there is no guarantee that it will have a permanent home at the World Trade Center memorial, which is to open in 2009. ''I haven't heard anybody say, 'Let's forget about this,' '' Mr. Barwick said yesterday. ''At the same time, it has to be addressed.''

Also :

...its creators believe the Tribute in Light has an enduring value, in part because its silence and simplicity permit viewers to invest it with their own meaning or message. ''One of the best things about this is that it is what it is,'' Mr. Ahern said. ''There are no speeches attendant to it.''

A poll question on this topic is posted on the right side of the page below the Statement of Purpose. The question is "Should the Tribute in Light be made a permanent fixture to the New York City Skyline"?
Link to You Tube video is here.

9-11-01

On a beautiful sunny, blue sky Tuesday morning six years ago today, New York City and Washington DC were attacked by terrorists because both cities are world wide symbols of what is great about the United States of America. Immediately after the attack there was a national unity of purpose and resolve to punish those who committed these acts and insure that such attacks would never happen again. Unfortunately, that national unity has not existed for a very long time though it is not my purpose here to engage in an endless dialogue debating the reason for the change.

What I would like to do is share two email messages I received from a friend who was that morning, and still is, a volunteer fireman in Nassau County. He relates what it was like on the World Trade Center pile right after the attack. I am sorry for the length of the post and the disturbing video above, but think it is important to remember what it was like only six years ago today. Below are the email messages. Friday, September 14, 2001:

I hope that you and your families are all OK. If you know any of ourfriends who are injured or missing, please let me know.

I had the radio on at work, and heard about the first crash right after it happened, and we followed it throughout the morning. When the first tower collapsed, I left work, and reported in at the fire department. The City called on the Nassau departments around noon. We were asked to set up a staging area at Belmont Race Track. By the time we got there from Syosset, there were well over 100 engines and trucks there ahead of us. Most of them were being detailed to City firehouses in Brooklyn and Queens, to cover for those companies as they were called into Manhattan.

Syosset has a confined space rescue unit and a collapse rescue unit, as well as a heavy rescue truck (which I'm assigned to), so we were called directly in to the scene. The staging area was around the federal courthouse. From about this point onward, you had to wear a dust mask. The fallout from the collapse was horrendous - a fine, white, powdery dust, together with a heavy smoke condition. As you moved south and got nearer to the Trade Center, the air got darker and heavier. Within a couple of blocks of the Trade Center, it was so dark, you couldn't tell if the Sun was still out.

At first they set us up near City Hall. They were unable to move heavy equipment to the scene because there were fire hoses running across town from the east side to the Trade Center. Our collapse rescue unit is a large panel truck which carries lumber and tools, so we were put to work building ramps over the hoses running across Broadway at Ann Street, Fulton Street, John Street, Maiden Lane and Liberty Street.

Once we reached Liberty Street and secured the hoses there, we were sent down Liberty and were set up at the corner of Liberty and Church, just opposite the spot where 4 World Trade Center had been, by the entrance to 1 Liberty Plaza. All that was left of the building 4 was a portion of the easterly wall, which was broken into shards, and was pitched over Church Street at about a 20 degree angle. All up and down Church Street were the blasted hulks of the trucks and engines from the first responding units. The crews, of course, were all gone. We found out the next day that the
building we were set up under, where the triage unit and food was set up, was deemed to be in danger of collapse, and was evacuated.

There was nothing we could at the collapse site itself. There were still fires burning, and the smoke and dust made it impossible to get far into the rubble. We concentrated on getting a crane set up, and on clearing a plaza across the street, so that debris could be dumped there as clearing began.

The mood was pretty grim. Usually at large fire scenes, the firemen will engage in gross and macabre humor regarding the victims - it's a method of dealing with it - but there was none of that here. Notwithstanding the trucks, bulldozers, cranes, etc. the place was eerily quiet. There was one small humerous incident. At about midnight, I was sitting on the back ofour truck, with my back to the scene. Suddenly, guys were running past me - cops, firemen, construction workers, medics - at least 50 people, running like their lives depended on it. I jumped off the truck and looked back, but couldn't see what the hell they were running from, so I grabbed a firemen and asked him why he was running. He says "Because everyone else is!" A pretty good answer. What had happened was some facing had fallen off the building across the street, and they were afraid that there would be another collpse. It didn't (so far).

We got into the rubble at about 2:00 am, after the wind shifted, and visibility improved. All you could see was steel, concrete, paper and dust. Everything else was pulverized or crushed beyond recognition. There was one exception - office waste paper cans were everywhere. I guess that their lightweight construction caused them to be blown out the windows, and they sailed down slowly, and landed on top. The paper was everywhere in the rubble, and in the blocks around. It was unsettling to see letterheads,memos, etc, from firms whose names you recognize. Our search was entirely fruitless. We found no survivors, or signs that there might be any. I believe that there must be some people still alive in there, but I can't
imagine how anyone is going to get at them. You can not imagine the size of this disaster without seeing it. It's disheartening to work for two hours at moving this stuff, and ten to look around and see how insignificant your effort is.

Our relief crew arrived at 4 am. It's just as well. After breathing this crap in and working all night, we were pretty bushed, and they were looking to get us out of the debris so that the crane could start working anyway.

It's still impossible to grasp the enormity of this catastrophe. There is no retaliation we can take against these people that's ever going to provide a real sense of satisfaction for me personally. It's a fucking waste. It makes me ill to think what people will do when they believe that they have some kind of religious mandate. I hope that ultimately, there will be some kind of victory for common sense and reason from all of this, but historical precedent does not suggest that this will be the case.

At any rate, I hope again that you are all well, and that we can rebuild from this lunacy. Take care of yourselves.

And this on Saturday, September 15 ,2001:

Hey, Bros!It's funny, the emotional gyrations this business puts you through. Theinitial shock, disbelief, anger, disgust are all too much to process effectively. At Topaz we simply stayed at our desks, trying to work while listening to the radio. It was difficult to get any substantial amount of work effectively accomplished, but we felt the need to keep going because it's essential that we all continue to do our jobs. We continued to do what we're paid to do as well as we could because we understood that this was now the priority of the moment and was the best way that we could contribute tothe national well-being. When I came back to work on Thursday, a co-worker said that she was surprised that I stayed at work as long as I did. Of course, it had never occurred to me that the City would call on the volunteer departments until the first tower collapsed.

The emotional gyrations we went through at the scene were greater by orders of magnitude. There was an inescapable exhilaration that comes from being part of a colossal and historic undertaking; and from being right at the center of it all; from being a trained rescue worker with a defined mission. There was a counterbalancing guilt that this exhilaration on our part coming on the heels of the deaths of hundreds of our brothers who were doing the same job.

There was an immediate sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when we were able to open up Broadway to emergency vehicles and construction equipment simply because we had arrived with a truckful of lumber. This feeling gave way at the end of the night when we actually got to attack the pile of debris. The staggering, indescribable size of this task made our efforts and abilities seem insignificant. As we began to move the stuff, I attempted to do the mental arithmetic concerning the value of my own efforts, but the realization of the insignificance of my own efforts was too depressing to face. I felt like one ant in a colony of ants trying to move
a mountain. So I stopped thinking about it and just kept going.

Afterwards, it occurs to me that the reason that ants are successful is that they just keep going. If you stomp on an anthill, the ants simply clear the corpses and debris out of the way and go on about their business. The colony survives - and prospers - regardless of the assault. We humans don't like to think of ourselves as insignificant parts of a greater whole, but this is how we must view ourselves in a time of crisis. We are always important to ourselves and to our families and friends, but when there's real work to do, you have to stop feeling sorry for yourself, you have to stop being afraid for your own safety and your own well-being and you have
to do your job, regardless of its relative significance to the overall task.

We all have an opportunity to be heroes now, and the method is simple. Show up at your job when you're supposed to. Do your job to the best of your ability. If you were planning to fly somewhere next week - do so! Don't start selling off stock in a panic. Don't start hoarding goods and commodities. Understand that the actual damage inflicted is insignificant in terms of our gross national product. This will only be an economic disaster if we panic. Finally, do not call on the president with demands
for immediate and pointless retaliation. Let him do his job while we do ours.
Keep in touch.

That's all.

Hogging the Beach Chair at Manhattan Park Pool

Who would have thought that a post about a new Roosevelt Island swimming blog would have struck such a chord. A reader unhappy with the Manhattan Park Pool comments:

... I would just like to comment on the Manhattan Park Pool. I live in Manhattan Park and I was a member of the pool Summer of 2006. My husband and I considered the price to be outrageous but since it was our first summer on the island we decided to give it a try. We both work and do not arrive home until 7pm or later so we only used it on the weekends. Our experience was beyond disappointment. If you did not arrive at the moment it opened you could not find a lounger. Many people would claim a chair with their towel, swim for an hour and then go home and expect to come back to that same chair. This summer we considered joining again but due to the insane cost (no pool club in Manhattan costs as much) we decided to forgo the membership and go out of town for the weekends. I understand that the management has added more lounge chairs which is great but if the fee for a couple is more than $500USD for essentially which may amount to 24 days a season we will not be taking a membership again next summer. Manhattan Park has turned out to be much much more expensive than what we were told when we first moved here. That topic is probably better for a new blog topic completely.

It is unfortunate that this issue has arisen at the end of the summer. Perhaps by highlighting this issue now changes can be made in time for the pool season next summer. Link to the image is here.

Tarp Remains at Southpoint Park Despite Mayor Bloomberg's Request

I was advised that during Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey's tour of Roosevelt Island last month (RIRA Column Main Street Wire PDF File), Mayor Bloomberg's top deputy expressed dismay at the ugly tarp remnant from the Ranan Lurie art exhibit with the United Nations that still remains at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park nearly a year after the closing of the exhibit.
They indicated that Mayor Bloomberg has seen the tarp remnant and wanted it removed. As the above picture taken last Saturday indicates, the tarp is still there.
When will it be removed?
9/13 Update. RIOC President Shane reports that the Tarp was:

Removed yesterday. We got a release from the artist

Rosh Hashanah Services on Roosevelt Island

The Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation will hold Rosh Hashanah services in the RIJC Sanctuary within the Cultural Center at 548 Main Street starting Wednesday evening 7 PM. (Click on the image for a larger picture.)
Happy New Year!

Has Descendant of Pale Male Found a Home on Roosevelt Island?

The Main Street Wire published the above photograph of a red-tailed hawk at Capobianco Field on Roosevelt Island taken on Sunday, September 2. It is speculated that the hawk could be a descendant of the famous Pale Male who resides on Fifth Avenue and dines in Central Park.
More on Pale Male here.
Update - NY Magazine Daily Intelligencer Neighborhood Watch comments that:

Roosevelt Island:The winged progeny of Central Park West celebuhawk Pale Male may be roosting here. Talk about generational downward mobility.

Roosevelt Island 9/11 Candlelight Vigil

Via Roosevelt Island 360, there will be a 9/11 candlelight vigil outside the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at the Memorial Plaque and Tree on Tuesday, September 11, at 7PM.

Swimming on Roosevelt Island

For those of you interested in swimming on Roosevelt Island, a new Roosevelt Island blogger has emerged to provide the aquatic information you seek. Swimming on Roosevelt Island is:

A Single destination for Roosevelt Island Residents interested in swimming to share information and ideas on how to improve the Island's swimming facilities and amenities including the pools in Manhattan Park (MP), Westview (WV), SportsPark (SP) and RiverCross (RC).

Jump in the Pool everyone!!!