Report From RIOC President Leslie Torres - Updates On Roosevelt Island Street Furniture, Meditation Steps, Mobile Food Vending, See Click Fix, Southpoint Park Spraying and Condolences

You Tube Video of RIOC President June Report To Board Of Directors

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

Greetings Roosevelt Islanders! I want to remind everyone that one of the highlights of summer on the Island, the Summer Outdoor Movie Series, begins this Saturday at 8:00 pm at Southpoint Park with a screening of Captain America: The First Avenger. Bring a blanket or a chair and arrive early to join in the pre-show festivities. The park is ADA accessible and the Red Bus will stop at the nearby bus stop every 15 minutes.

Street Furniture in Good Shepherd Plaza

In response to residents’ requests for street furniture in Good Shepherd Plaza, we will be installing several eight-foot-long benches to the west side of the newly refurbished plaza. The benches will be in place by July 1. Additionally, we are working with RIRA to determine what other street furniture we can install in the plaza to meet the community’s needs.

Meditation Steps

We are happy to announce that contractors have begun work on reconstructing the Meditation Steps. With its serene setting and spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline and the East River, the Mediation Steps is a cherished public space, and this project will only enhance it. We are looking forward to re-opening the site once the work is completed.

Mobile Food Vending

In an effort to encourage mobile food vendors to come to Roosevelt Island, RIOC’s Operations Committee has decided to allow vendors to operate on the Island for free for the month of July. The permit application is available on our website.

SeeClickFix

Since we launched our partnership with SeeClickFix last year, we have received – and acted on – many requests for service that residents have made via the innovative place-based reporting platform. I would like to remind residents that using SeeClickFix is the best and most efficient way to alert RIOC to neighborhood concerns like potholes, graffiti, litter, broken streetlights or any other non-emergency issue.

Once a resident submits an issue, RI311 can acknowledge the request, route it to the proper RIOC department and update residents once it has been resolved. Through SeeClickFix, community members can also view, comment on and vote to fix problems submitted by their neighbors.

RIOC’s SeeClickFix website can be found here: http://rioc.ny.gov/RI311.htm. Residents can also download the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/apps.

Spraying at Southpoint Park

On Wednesday, June 20 RIOC closed Southpoint Park for a regularly scheduled herbicide spraying. I can assure residents that we always use an organic herbicide that is not harmful to humans or animals. While the park was closed, RIOC groundskeepers did additional work, including cutting and removing weeds. The park was back open the next day for all to enjoy.

Condolences

I want to conclude this week’s column by extending my condolences to Roosevelt Island Historical Society president Judy Berdy and her family. Judy’s mother Ruth, who had lived on Roosevelt Island for the last year, passed away last weekend. The Berdy family is in our thoughts and prayers.