Repaving Roosevelt Island Streets and Pothole Repair - Bye Bye Z Bricks

RIOC President Steve Shane responds to the following two comments by readers of this recent post on Roosevelt Island Pothole repair and street paving:

Who is in charge of fixing potholes on RI? The NYC DOT or the RIOC? Can I call 311 and report a pothole or do I have to call the RIOC?

And:

Bye, bye z-bricks. Little by little all the character is being sucked out of the Island.

From Mr. Shane:

Call RIOC to report potholes. We are responsible for fixing them, hence the present advisory about street closings for such repair program.

Repaving will ultimately do away with the z brick which are a constant source of problem and presently unreplaceable. We will continue their use in plazas.

Five years ago the RIOC Board set aside funds for the maintenance of the Z Bricks in their 5 year Capital Plan. The April 3, 2004 Main Street WIRE reported on this exchange between previous RIOC Board Director Ponton and RIOC President Berman concerning the Z Bricks.
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...RIOC President Herb Berman, responding to a question from resident Board member Mark Ponton, said that it is “absolutely not the case” that RIOC management has decided to discontinue maintenance of sections of Z-brick on the Island, and substitute asphalt or blacktop. Board Chair Mary BethLabate said the five-year capital plan includes funds for the higher cost of maintaining the Z-bricks....

Perhaps it is just not feasible to maintain the Z Bricks on Roosevelt Island streets any longer but what happened to those funds allocated during previous RIOC administration for Z Brick repairs in referenced 5 year capital plan? Were they spent and proved that Z Bricks on Roosevelt Island streets were not practicable?

Other interesting items from the 2004 RIOC Budget include:

• ...Certain items of Island infrastructure, in particular the street lighting, will be maintained in the future by the City when and if all elements are converted to the City standard.

• Discussion indicated that RIOC will retain some control over commercial uses of ground-floor space in Southtown buildings #3 and #4. Berman indicated attention would be paid to the concerns of competition in the Island’s micro-economy.
• In his President’s report, Berman said RIOC is hiring an elevator expert to develop and implement a permanent solution to the problem of frequent elevator outages and erratic operation at Motorgate....