Report From RIOC's President - Enforcement Of Roosevelt Island Dog Curbing and Parking Rules, Resident Sign Up To Address RIOC Board, Tram & More

Image of Octagon Field

RIOC President Steve Shane sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents. Mr. Shane updates us on:

• Enforcement Of Dog Curbing Rules
• Enforcement Of Parking Rules
• Addressing RIOC Board By Residents Prior To May Meeting with advanced sign-up
  
• Tram On Schedule
• Q102 and Red Bus
• Southpoint Park Closed For FDR Memorial and Wild Gardens/Green Rooms Construction
• Octagon Field Resurfacing and Other Construction Projects
• Blackwell Park and Good Plaza planning as well as
  
• future of vacant Grog Liquor Store premises
  

April 22, 2010

1. Dogs: Please do everything possible to encourage those who walk their dogs to do the appropriate thing by keeping the dog on its leash, curbing it, and cleaning up after it. Public Safety is increasing its enforcement, but voluntary participation is better.

2. Parking: Increased requests for stricter enforcement of parking rules to promote turnover on the street will undoubtedly cause some to feel that they have been ticketed unnecessarily. Note that the increased stringency of enforcement comes from the residents. Also note, despite comments to the contrary, that RIOC gets not one penny from writing summonses, as it all goes to the City, where it is subdivided to pay a portion to the State. Again, voluntary observance of the applicable regulations for both placard holders and meter rules would be better.

3. Board of Directors: No meeting in April, but next meeting on May 6 at 5:30 p.m. with a brief public-comment period before the official start of the meeting. Anyone wishing to speak should sign up in advance at either the RIOC office or on the RIOC website at RIOC.com.

4. Tram: After eight weeks, the construction is proceeding on schedule. Cables and old cars have been removed, demolition and removal of old machinery is complete. Dismantling of tower tops and erection of new structure is next. We are monitoring closely.

5. Bus service:

(1) Red Bus Shuttle to Manhattan: Weekdays, operating on the hour beginning at 10:00 a.m., pick-ups starting at Riverwalk Caf‚, then 546 Main, and, finally, on the east side of Main opposite PS 217; returning from Manhattan on the half-hour. Passenger drop-off is in front of PS 217, Good Shepherd, and Riverwalk Caf‚. The Manhattan stop is the west side of Second Avenue, at the north end of the 58-59th Street block. No shuttle into Manhattan during 3:00-6:00 p.m. afternoon rush hours except one bus into Manhattan departing the Island at 3:30 p.m. and picking up in Manhattan at 4:00 p.m. to accommodate returning schoolchildren. Resumption of hourly service into Manhattan at 7:00 p.m. and returning until 11:30 p.m.

Weekends, shuttle service into Manhattan starting at 10:00 a.m., hourly throughout the day until 11:00 p.m. Same pick-ups, returning on the half-hour with the last at 11:30 p.m.
See the schedules posted on RIOC s web site and on the posters throughout the Island. Note that if the F train is not in service, the frequency into and out of Manhattan will be increased to every half-hour weekdays, and, on weekends, hourly on the hour from the Island starting at midnight until 10:00 a.m. and every half-hour thereafter, returning from Manhattan 30 minutes after departure. This worked pretty well the weekend of April 10-11. Fares are $1.00, with seniors, disabled and children (5-16) at 50 cents.
We are keeping ridership statistics, and will make further decisions about keeping these shuttle bus runs, in consultation with the RIOC Board s Operations Committee, depending on utilization. It does appear that the F train and the MTA are servicing the needs of the residents so far, and we hope it will continue. I am aware of the discomfort, but it is temporary.

(2) Q102: The MTA continues to operate the Q102 bus on the Island on its published schedule, with a route change to eliminate the alternating loops to Coler and Goldwater. Now, the buses all turn right after entering the Island, go north to Coler, run south to Goldwater, then north to the helix before exiting the Island.

(3) Red Bus: Service continues on the Island, but because of the increased construction activity at the Tram site and the elimination of the Tram stop during the outage, all regular Red Bus service runs a continuous loop southbound along the East Drive, stopping at Riverwalk Cafe‚, then looping around to the front of the subway station. Passengers may disembark for the subway at Riverwalk Cafe‚ or ride around to the subway. With the occasional closure of the west road to accommodate the assembly, operation, and dismantling of the crane for work on the tower, all traffic will be diverted to one-way southbound on Main Street, then west across the Island south of Sportspark.

6. Southpoint: The Southpoint area is closed while active construction is under way on both the FDR Memorial and Green Rooms/Wild Gardens.

7. Projects:

A. The contract for engineering study of the status of the helix leading to the Island from the bridge is under way.

B. Octagon Soccer Field resurfacing: Work is under way. Some trees were cut down to permit the field to be properly dimensioned and a new light stanchion to be installed. When the field work is complete, with consultation from the landscape architect and with the Tree Board's input, new specimens will be planted at designated locations that will accommodate all.

C. Other: AVAC, Sportspark, Motorgate, fiber-optic cabling, Good Shepherd HVAC, Octagon sewer, street lighting, tot-lot improvements, etc., all keep Engineering very busy. We are going to do a pilot test to see how LED lighting would work both at Motorgate and in the regular street lights. Energy conservation and ecological correctness are very much in the plan.

8. Blackwell Park and Good Shepherd Plaza: Community participation in the planning process continues. Meeting in evening of May 5 to discuss, along with Cornell University students, concepts for green space.

9. Grog Shop: There is a lot of interest, and we hope to move forward very soon with releasing the store. We are well aware of the loss of an important service establishment, and will do everything possible to facilitate a favorable resolution for Island residents.

This message also published as the RIOC column in the 4/24/10 Main Street WIRE.