Report From RIOC President Leslie Torres - Roosevelt Island Ground Maintenance Crews Busy, Electric Car Charging Stations Coming, Street Parking, Pianos, Summer Youth Jobs (Get Those Applicatations In) & More

Image of Roosevelt Island Grounds Maintenance at Firefighters Field

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Lesie Torres sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents.

The Island is finally in full bloom, and it looks gorgeous.

RIOC’s ground maintenance crews have been busy at work strengthening and conditioning the soil to promote healthier and greener lawns. They have also been caring for the tree pits island wide, increasing the supply of nutrients to the tree roots. All products used are environmentally friendly.

Following up on my comments about green initiatives in the March 26th column, we are pursuing opportunities to realize these projects. Jonathan Kalkin, a member of the RIOC Board of Directors, has taken an active interest in this development, and played a lead role in exploring a pathway to make electric car charging stations available. We have just received notice from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”) that a grant for partial funding of this initiative has been awarded. The installation of charging stations for six vehicles at Motorgate is expected to be complete by this fall.

We are also upgrading street parking. You may have noticed that we have installed new parking meters along West Drive, from the back of the building at 405 Main Street to the back of the building at 475 Main Street. These meters are part of a test pilot to determine the best parking meter technology for the Island. The installation process should be complete shortly. We will have information about fee structure and a user’s guide available on our website and Facebook page.

We are Hiring To help keep this Island beautiful throughout the summer, RIOC is once again recruiting for temporary summer staff positions. These opportunities are perfect for college students and graduating high school seniors. The minimum age requirement is 17 years. The positions will run from May 16th through September 9th, 2011.

We have several positions to be filled in a variety of departments, and are looking for hard working, energetic and upbeat candidates. Some of the work will be manual, and most will require working outdoors for the duration of the summer. Prior experience in gardening, cleaning, construction or manual labor is a plus, but not necessary.

We encourage Roosevelt Island’s student residents to apply. Interested candidates may apply through the Youth Center, by dropping a resume off at RIOC’s administrative office at 591 Main Street during business hours, or by e-mailing a resume to HRStaffing@RIOC.com.

Cherry Blossom Festival Showcases Island’s Beauty, Community Fun I had the pleasure this past weekend of attending the Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival. It was a great event for a great cause: all proceeds from the festival, including the food and beverage sales, will be donated to the Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund supporting the March 11th earthquake survivors in Japan. RIOC, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA), the Japanese Association of Roosevelt Island and the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association (RIVAA) also joined together to dedicate a cherry grove to
the people of Japan.

Congratulations to Lynne Shinozaki, Sherie Helstien, and the rest of the RIRA team for putting together such a wonderful event for our community and supporting our Japanese neighbors and their loved ones
in Japan.

Check out come photos on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/RIOCNY

Upcoming Events

Health & Fitness Day – Saturday, May 14 10am – 4pm

Join us for RIOC’s 5th annual Health and Fitness Day, which will feature great activities for kids, youth, adults, seniors, and pets.

Kids’ activities include rock climbing, Pee Wee Tennis with Joyce Mincheff, a Kite Flying workshop with Curtis Jones, inflatable games and more!

Youth, adult and senior activities will include free massages, Wii balance training, nutrition education, pilates, yoga, tango, free swimming at Sportpark, and much, much more. There will also be a basketball and Ping Pong Tournaments. In addition, there will be a ceremony unveiling the new outdoor concrete ping pong tables and a dedication of the "George Brathwaite Ping Pong Court".

For pets, the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC Animals will be on site to provide low cost micro-chipping and there will be additional activities and services, including free pet portraits.

For more information, check out the Health and Fitness Day tab on our Facebook page.

Sing For Hope
Sing for Hope, a non-profit organization that mobilizes professional artists to volunteer in service programs, will place 88 pianos on the streets of New York City’s five boroughs from June 18 to July 2. One of these pianos will be placed at the Island’s Blackwell Plaza.

This is the second year for the outdoor piano program, which encourages amateurs and artists alike to create impromptu concerts.

The piano at Blackwell Plaza will be available to the public for anyone to play. We will set a time when the piano will be locked to avoid disturbance to the residents of the surrounding area.

A version of the RIOC President's column also appears on RIOC's web site and the May 7, 2011 Main Street WIRE.