RIRA President On Roosevelt Island Blood Drive, Gifted & Talented Class, Town Hall Meeting On Master Leaseholder & More
Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Frank Farance sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents. Mr. Farance addresses:
1. RIRA Blood Drive on June 19, Roosevelt Island Day. Roosevelt Island Day is my favorite day here. The weather looks good so far. RIRA will have it's bagel and coffee breakfast at 9AM. I and other RIRA volunteers will be serving. Please remember to donate blood. Matt Katz has done a great job organizing this and I hope we have a good turnout.The RIRA President's message is also published as the RIRA column in the 6/19/10 Main Street WIRE.
2. Gifted and Talented at PS/IS 217. I had an opportunity to speak at the meeting at PS/IS 217 and emphasize how important this school is to the community. The principal, her staff, the PTA, and the community have worked together for an upward trajectory for this school. Although not every student is in the gifted and talented program, it is an important attraction for all families (even if only one child is the G&T program) and makes the Island itself a more attractive place to live. I will be following up with the RIRA Common Council and the CB8 education committee to get support for continuing the G&T program on Roosevelt Island.
3. RIRA Town Hall meeting on Main Street storefronts. As promised, we will have a town hall meeting to inform the community. The WIRE covered this is the last issue. RIOC President Steve Shane will attend. I'm expecting RIOC board members to attend, too.
4. RI-311 reloaded. We met with RIOC's Operations Committee to discuss the collaboration between RIOC and RIRA. It sounds like a good fit. Hopefully a couple screen snapshots and demos by my next column.
5. RI Trambots? I believe the WIRE has covered this story: a team of mostly 8-year old competes city-wide against 14-year olds and comes in 7th place (of 24 teams), including taking home a First Place Trophy for teamwork. Wow! Thanks to Charlie DeFino, the RI Youth Program, NYC DYCD (Department of Youth and Community Development) for supporting our efforts.
6. RIRA elections this November. We reach out to the community to become more involved. You can volunteer to be a RIRA Common Council member. We have building-wide representatives (several for each of the housing complexes) and Island-wide representatives (President, Vice President) -- all are directly elected positions. If you'd like to see what this is like, please come to one of our meetings. It's rewarding, you get to know your neighbors and community, and you can have a positive effect on things around you.
7. Upcoming RIRA meetings. The next meeting is on September 15 at 8:00 p.m. in the Good Shepherd Community Center; future meeting is October 6. Upcoming RIRA Town Hall meeting (in preparation for RIOC Board meetings) is on June 23 (note the new date). Have a great summer!
1 comments :
I am a little amused by this week's editorial in the WIRE. Since my child is taking one of those buses that take kids to their school in Manhattan the writer should not forget that there are rules the OPT is using to determine if a bus will run or not. One of those requirements is that there are enough kids on a route. I think the number is 11. If you cannot get 11 kids together there will be no bus. If you do you will get a bus. That has nothing to do with the school or the DOE not wanting to help out. I understand this is kind of chicken and egg for 217 but that's reality. I don't think 217 is the right place logistically to have a district-wide program that is viable.
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