You Tube Video of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution
Roosevelt Island's Riverwalk Commons area will be hopping and bopping this Sunday afternoon starting at 3 PM to the pageantry and sounds of New Orleans Mardi Gras and Brazilian Carnaval music presented by the Roosevelt Live free summer concert series.
Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra will bring the New Orleans-style Mardi Gras & Nation Beat will bring the Brazilian-style Carnaval as a wave of dance, song, and celebratory culture takes over ROOSEVELT ISLAND in the middle of the East River.
Also at ROOSEVELT L!VE on July 18th: Your Maine “Hook-Up”: Red Hook Lobster Pound will be serving lobster rolls, shrimp rolls and crab cake sliders! Red Hook Lobster Pound takes great pains to deliver the freshest lobster and lobster rolls to the good people of New York City. They drive up to Maine several times a week, to bring home the best that Maine has to offer!
Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra is a 12-piece explosion of righteousness that blends New Orleans party music, Soul in the style of Ray Charles and Al Green, a good helping of jam-bandy Roots Rock and a righteous splash of good, upbeat Gospel without the religious overtones (We like to call it secular gospel)...
...At the heart of Nation Beat's Legends of the Preacher lies a totally original 21st century fusion between thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming and New Orleans second line rhythms, Appalachian-inspired bluegrass music, funk, rock, and country-blues. Their explosive live show -- which is frequently known to burst into crowd-wide Carnaval-style drumming and singing -- is attracting music fans from a wide demographic: bluegrass and country music fans, Brazilian music lovers, outdoor festival-goers, and pretty much anyone who loves to dance and loves great music...
The big crane is in place so work will begin this weekend to replace the Top of the Roosevelt Island Tram Tower 1 in Manhattan this weekend. RIOC has issued a Traffic Advisory for the area surrounding the Queensboro Bridge Upper Level and the Manhattan lower ramp exit on First Avenue. From RIOC:
Please be advised due to work being done on Tower 1 in Manhattan, East 60th street will be closed on Saturday, July 17th from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, July 18th between the lower ramp exit and 1st Avenue.
In addition, the Queensboro Bridge upper Roadway will be closed on Sunday, July 18th from 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sincerely,
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group
Image of Roosevelt Island Tram Tower 1 and Crane
Work was completed on Manhattan's Tram Tower Top 2
Tram Tower On Roosevelt Island With New Tower Top (click to enlarge)
Once Tram Tower Top 1 is replaced all three tower tops will be done. The most recent projected date for resumption of Tram service announced by RIOC is October 1, 2010.
The original construction schedule for the project planned a September 1 return of Tram Service. Here is the original construction schedule.
IF present conditions continue and there are no further unanticipated delays due to permitting, etc. we hope to be able to open one side of the Tram to service by the end of September and the other the first week in October. There are steps beyond our control - including : "re-commissioning" review by NYS Dept. of Labor and the NYC Uniformed Services reviews. We're assuming they will be conducted in a timely fashion prior to re-opening.
Regarding station re-design, a presentation of modifications to both stations will be presented to the full community on July 29th at 5:30. A full announcement will be made as soon as a meeting place is identified.
Are you interested in a job working on Roosevelt Island in the residential real estate business? If so, a Resident Services Specialist position is available at Related's Riverwalk Crossing Luxury Building. According to the Related web site:
Industry leader, Related Management, has a great career opportunity for an outstanding and energetic professional at our luxury building located on Roosevelt Island. The Resident Services Specialist professional we seek will be directly responsible for creating and maintaining exemplary resident relations while managing general office administration, specific site administration tasks and miscellaneous/special projects. Requirements: Superb customer-service must be your constant goal; Exceptional interpersonal and problem resolution skills; Strong administrative and organizational skills; Excellent written and verbal communication skills; Excellent telephone presentation skills; High energy level; Residential real estate experience helpful; Working knowledge of Microsoft Office. Additional hours may be required in this demanding, but rewarding job. Salary: 50K As an employer of choice, Related offers a generous benefit package...
Image of Roosevelt Island F Train Subway Escalators
Do you ever get annoyed at people walking down the Roosevelt Island F Train Subway escalator very slowly or blocking your way by standing two abreast? Well, here's a possible solution from the folks at Volkswagen - The Fast Lane Slide.
For those looking to move a little quicker, auto giant Volkswagen has created a 'Fast Lane' slide at the Alexanderplatz subway station in Berlin, Germany. So the commuters have the choice to either take the staircase or have fun and save time by sliding down the Fast Lane.
Wouldn't it be really fun to begin your New York City subway ride if the MTA installed these subway escalator slides at the Roosevelt Island F Train subway station to be used when the down escalators are not in service or for those in a real hurry to catch their train? Weeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Or, how about a little music on your way up and down the Piano subway stairs?
”Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator and feel better” is something we often hear or read in the Sunday papers. Few people actually follow that advice. Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do? See the results here
So if you had your choice, would you walk down the steps to the Roosevelt Island subway station, take the escalator or ride the Fast Lane Slide down? What about if the piano steps were added to the mix?
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC) Board Of Directors Audit Committee will be meeting this afternoon. ( A webcast of the meeting will be available soon thereafter.) According to RIOC:
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Compensation Subcommittee of the Audit Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.
The Subcommittee will meet to:
1. discuss and make recommendations concerning the payment of formerly-authorized performance awards; and 2. discuss any other matters current and relevant to the subcommittee's mandate.
The newly formed NY State Authorities Budget Office (ABO) oversees NY Public Authorities of which RIOC is one of more than 700. The ABO issued it's first report earlier this month. According to the report:
The independent Authorities Budget Office (ABO) was created pursuant to the 2009 Public Authorities Reform Act (PARA). The ABO and the Act took effect on March 1, 2010. Prior to this date, the ABO existed for four years as the Authority Budget Office pursuant to the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005 (PAAA). From its inception, the mission of the ABO has been to make public authorities more accountable and transparent, and to act in the public interest consistent with their intended purpose. The ABO carries out its mission by: collecting, analyzing and disseminating to the public information on the finances and operations of state and local public authorities; conducting reviews to assess the operating and governance practices of public authorities and compliance with state laws; exercising its enforcement powers; promoting good governance principles through training, policy guidance, the issuance of best practice recommendations and staff assistance; and investigating complaints made against public authorities for non-compliance or inappropriate conduct.
Consistent with its original statutory powers and duties under the PAAA, the Authority Budget Office focused its initial efforts on collecting and analyzing standardized budget, financial, program and operating information submitted by public authorities, conducting 21 onsite reviews of the management practices of certain authorities and their compliance with state laws, and training the directors of public authority boards on their fiduciary responsibilities. The ABO will continue these efforts under PARA and exercise its additional oversight and enforcement power to assure the compliance of public authorities...
The ABO report mentions Roosevelt Island and RIOC 3 times.
Page 16 - Public Authorities Reporting No Debt During 2009
Page 17 - 2009 Staffing Levels of 165 total and
Page 20 - number of 2009 Procurement contracts of 194
... New York’s public authorities racked up more than $17 billion in new debt in 2009 and many failed to comply with the reforms contained in the new law, according to the report released this month by the Independent Authorities Budget Office.
The $17 billion in new debt brings the total debt accrued by authorities to $133 billion, the report states. The largest contributors to the total debt are the Dormitory Authority, which accounted for more than $38 billion, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which contributed more than $28 billion.
More than 140 authorities failed to provide budget reports to the Independent Authorities Budget Office and 175 did not provide annual reports, the report said....
The Roosevelt Island Outdoor Movie Series continues on Sunday, July 18, with the showing of Zoolander starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. The festivities start at 7 PM at Firefighters Field.
Twitpic Image of Roosevelt Island Outdoor Movie Night from scpijim
The movie was originally scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed the previous Friday due to weather forecasts which predicted rain and thunderstorms that never arrived. Let's hope for a good forecast and weather on Sunday night.
The theme of this year's outdoor movie showings are films that were shot on Roosevelt Island.
Roosevelt Island Public Safety Officer Daniel Coyle has been hired by the New York City Police Department and was sworn in on Tuesday July 6, 2010 to begin his training at the NYPD Police Academy. Officer Coyle was hired by RIOC on March 30, 2009. While employed here, he received the NEW YORK STATE PEACE OFFICER CERTIFICATION and his NYC SPECIAL PATROLMAN Status. Officer Daniel Coyle also received training which will be valuable to him while in the Police Academy. He received two Meritorious Service Commendations and one Life Saving Medal. Officer Coyle was an asset to the Roosevelt Island Community, and we are proud to wish him well in his new challenge.
Good Luck Officer Coyle and thank you for your service!
Are you a Roosevelt Island Mom looking for some help with baby food cooking tips or just want to meet some other Moms like yourself. If so, you might be interested in this message I received from blogger RI Moms:
Moms/Dads/Grandparents/Cooking Enthusiasts are invited (Baby/Kids will have to be left in the care of other non attendees. It might be difficult to cook with the kid around!)...
Image of Roosevelt Island Canadian Goose From Chedpics
Roosevelt Island Geese may soon have more to worry about than being hit by speeding vehicles on the East Channel Road adjacent to Coler-Goldwater Hospital. According to CNN:
Four hundred Canada geese from Brooklyn's Prospect Park were herded into crates and euthanized last week in an effort to reduce their number near New York's airports, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Measures to lower the number of Canada geese close to John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia international airports have been in place since last summer, said Carol Bannerman, spokeswoman for the USDA's Wildlife Services...
... Carol A. Bannerman, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Wildlife Services Division, told NBCNewYork that the program began last year as part of the Aviation Passenger and Property Protection Act.
In January 2009, two geese flew into the engines of US Airways Flight 1549, causing Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger to make his infamous emergency landing in the Hudson River...
But it's not only Brooklyn's Prospect Park Geese that are in danger but all Geese within 7 miles of Kennedy and La Guardia Airports which would include the Roosevelt Island Geese. According to the NY Times City Room Blog:
... The Prospect Park geese were not the only ones removed in the last month. The goal is to remove all geese within seven miles of La Guardia and John F. Kennedy airport.
Roosevelt Island is within range. The Geese better watch out.
The June 5 2010 Main Street WIRE interview with former Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC) President Steve Shane mentioned the Roosevelt Island Geese and some residents seeking to help them.
... Did you hear about the geese? There’s a family of geese. What happened, apparently, was that they were behind the fence in the Southpoint area and, for reasons best known to them, they led their goslings outside [north of] the fenced area, because there’s a lot of construction activity down there, and now they can’t get back to get in the water. There’s no place for the goslings to get in the water, so the tenderhearted goose lovers now want to make some special arrangements for them in our wildlife sanctuary. Unfortunately, our wilderness out here is passing as we do our development. And to encourage this family of geese to reestablish their nest next year – that would probably be a mistake, because they always come back.
That’s the goose story....
Menacing- Subject in a wheelchair brandished a knife at a female. Female fled. PSD responded. Conducted a search with negative results. No injuries. NYPD refused
Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department Director Keith Guerra adds:
An anonymous male who witnessed the incident notified one of our Officers on Patrol. Upon further investigation, the Officer ascertained that an employee from 425 Main St. walked over to Firefighter's Field, while on break. A male in a motorized wheelchair approached her and brandished a knife. She immediately returned to Building 425, and the male left the area. She did not report the incident, and refused NYPD response as well. We documented the incident anyway. No further information was given.
Francine Lange captured this image of a Roosevelt Island Super Flyer Skateboarder taking air and asks:
Can you tell which trick this street skater was performing at the Tram park? Was it a backside, a Caballerial, a fakie, a frontside, a goofyfoot, a grind, a crooked grind, a 50-50 grind, an ollie, a kickflip, a McTwist, a mongo-foot, a shove-it, a switch stance or a tailslide?
You Tube Video of Deep Throat "I need to know what you know" scene
There was a small, minor problem yesterday between RIOC and myself regarding the process of gathering information posted on the Roosevelt Islander blog and my ability to ask questions of RIOC staff.
The problem started late last Friday afternoon when RIOC VP of Planning & Inter-Government Affairs Rosina Abramson responded to my inquiry regarding this You Tube video purportedly showing RIOC personnel at work. Ms Abramson looked into the matter and provided a very reasonable explanation for what occurred but prefaced her remarks with the following regarding future inquiries:
Fernando referred your e-mail/You-Tube inquiry to me. Thanks for asking and waiting for our comment. In future, please forward all press inquiries to me...
(Fernando is RIOC's VP Of Operations Fernando Martinez to whom I originally sent the inquiry concerning the You Tube Video.)
I was very concerned Ms. Abramson's statement to forward all press inquires to her would make it much more difficult and cumbersome to report on issues of concern to Roosevelt Island residents so I sent her the following message on Monday morning, copying RIOC Senior Staff, RIOC Directors and the Main Street WIRE Editor.
As to your direction to forward all future inquires to you, I question whether that is the most efficient and effective manner in providing information to the Roosevelt Island community and hope that RIOC does not establish such a policy to funnel all press/blogger/resident inquires through you.
To be clear, are you instructing me, and is it now RIOC policy, that any inquiry regarding Public Safety, which I would normally make to Chief Guerra, or Operations question such as the Red Bus, Tram, etc. to Mr. Martinez or even something as simple as outdoor movies (Ms. Wilder) and Sportpark, (Mr. Smith or Ms. Masly) now has to be filtered through you instead of to the primary source?. Am I not permitted to make an inquiry of the Interim RIOC President/CEO Steve Chironis as well? Funneling all inquiries through you, will only add an extra layer of unnecessary, time consuming bureaucracy to the Roosevelt Island information gathering process.
As has been said many times before, Roosevelt Island is a small town and RIOC is not the the massive MTA or a NYC government agency which responds to the press in this manner. It certainly did not during Mr. Shane's tenure as RIOC President who brought a good deal of openness and transparency to Roosevelt Island and did not object to staff directly responding to inquires. In fact, he encouraged staff to respond to questions within there areas of expertise. In my opinion, it is not a good sign that RIOC may change this prior practice of allowing the appropriate staff person to answer questions of interest to the Roosevelt Island community submitted by residents, even if they happen to maintain a blog.
RIOC staff members such as Mr. Chironis, Chief Guerra, Mr. Martinez and the others are all professionals who have responded to inquires in the past and provided Roosevelt Island residents access to timely, correct and relevant information of concern to them. Is there really such a need to silence them now that Mr. Shane is no longer the President of RIOC?
Please advise.
Approximately 15 minutes later, Ms. Abramson responded:
It is a desire to make things more efficient and coordinated that prompted us to create a focused channel for press communications. We will take up your concerns with Executive staff and advise.
Approximately 25 minutes later Ms. Abramson added:
If you have a specific question within someone's realm of responsibility or expertise, of course continue to go directly to them. We read the You Tube question as generic - seeking RIOC's general response. Those I will be fielding for coordination and efficiency sake.
I asked Fernando that since Related banned dogs from the lawns of Riverwalk Buildings at 405, 415 and 425 Main Street for heath and appearance reasons, would RIOC follow their lead and ban dogs from the lawn of the Riverwalk Commons between 425 and 455 Main Street. Fernando said that he would be getting back to me with a response.
Would this issue be considered under your domain or Operations.
Ms. Abramson responded:
When in doubt, come to me. We're all very close and there's no such thing as asking the wrong person. We'll transmit internally as appropriate.
Re dogs: RIOC is surveying the Island to identify all the variations on dog policies in different areas so we can develop a standard approach which balances dog owners needs with the general public. Working on it now.
Congratulations to Dave & Stella on their recent Roosevelt Island wedding at Lighthouse Park. (The Roosevelt Island scenes start at about the 3 minute 20 second mark). We all know that Roosevelt Island is a place for lovers.
I recently heard through the grapevine that there was a surprise wedding proposal made during Riverwalk Bar & Grill's Wednesday Night Karaoke and it was accepted. Congratulations to that couple as well.
Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park used to be a great place for outdoor weddings before it was closed this year for construction of FDR Memorial Boondoggle.
Dear Colleagues and Friends, welcome to our SUMMER KICK OFF MEETING!
July 12 Monday, Cocktails Start 7:30 pm, regular session starts at 8:00pm
Location: Rivercross Community Room (beside Good Shepherd Church)
PROGRAMME
· Welcome Remarks: Jill Burk
Special Guest: Sirisha Tatineni
Area Governor District 52
· Toastmaster: Carol Tanjutco
· Word of the Day: Joanne Eichel
· Table Topics Master: Deborah Drucker
TABLE TOPICS™
This meeting, each member is requested to bring a unique object of interest, for other members to talk about. All members will be called to pick an item from the table. Guests are welcome to participate, and may choose to talk about any item brought by the members.
More information about the Roosevelt Island Toastmasters available from previous posts.
I don't know how long this was in progress before I noticed it, and it took me a while to set up the camera.
Prior to posting the video, I inquired of Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC) Vice President Fernando Martinez if he had any comment or explanation for what was seen on the video. Mr. Martinez replied:
I am very upset about what I saw in the video. Please give me some time to speak to the facilities supervisor.
I agreed not to immediately post and two days later I received this explanation from RIOC's Vice President of Planning & Government Affairs, Rosina Abramson:
... After checking, we're advised by RIOC grounds supervisor that the group of temporary seasonal employees (mostly school age) had just completed lunch hour and were dropped off (red truck) as a group to go to their next assignment which was painting 20 plus light poles in Light House Park. They waited for a colleague who was finishing up a pole on the East Seawall, then helped him gather his equipment and walked up to Light House Park where all the 20 plus lightpoles were repainted in one afternoon.
If Ms. Abramson's explanation is correct that the video does not accurately reflect the entirety of what is happening with these RIOC workers, hopefully that lesson will be remembered by those in RIOC responsible for monitoring the soon to be operational Roosevelt Island street security cameras. Specifically, don't jump to conclusions based on what is seen on a video without investigating the entire context of the event.
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.
