Report From RIOC President Leslie Torres - Roosevelt Island Tram Station Renovations, NYC Pesticide Spraying, Steel Boat Sculpture Renovation & Good Shepherd Chapel Slate Roof Repairs

 Image of Proposed Manhattan Tram Station Waiting Area

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

Greetings Roosevelt Islanders! Time certainly flies by. It seems like just yesterday we were kicking off the summer season with Roosevelt Island Day and the beginning of our Outdoor Summer Movie Series. But now, as August winds down, the fall season promises to be equally exciting, with the opening of Four Freedoms Park among the many things to look forward to in the coming months.

Tram Renovations

RIOC thanks you for your cooperation this past week as we began our two-week process of renovating the passenger waiting areas in our Tram stations. We will need to shut down the Tram again next week during off-peak hours, from Monday, August 27 to Friday, August 31, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm each day.

For alternate transportation into Manhattan, RIOC will continue to provide Red Bus service to 2nd Avenue and 58th Street, from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm next week. And as always, you can also ride the MTA’s F-Train or the Q-102 bus for service to Manhattan and Queens.

While planning the project, our engineers determined that in order to do the renovations safely and efficiently, we would need to shut down the entire tram system. Safety is our number-one priority. Once we realized we would need to shut down the entire system, we decided to move up the renovations up from September to the last two weeks of August so that the work would be completed before the school year starts and while many residents are out of town on summer vacation.

We realize the Tram closure is a burden on the community and apologize for the inconvenience; however, the renovations to the stations are needed.

Monitoring NYC’s Pesticide Spraying

RIOC has been monitoring the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s pesticide spraying activity as it steps up efforts to reduce mosquito presence and the risk of West Nile virus. Thus far, the mosquitos carrying the virus have not been detected on Roosevelt Island and therefore the Island is not scheduled for spraying. In the event that spraying is required here, we will send out the appropriate advisories. The latest NYC spraying schedule can be found on the Health Department’s website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wnv/wnvspray.shtml

Steel Boat Sculpture Renovation

As most Roosevelt Island residents know, the Steel Boat Sculpture – or Boat Prow – to the west of the Octagon soccer field, has been in an unsightly condition due to graffiti vandalizing and exposure to the weather and tidal water. To restore the Prow, we have hired contractors who will replace the deteriorated steel panels and clean the entire sculpture. We also intend to be diligent about graffiti removal. As soon as we know about new graffiti on the sculpture or elsewhere on the Island, we will dispatch a team to paint over it or remove it.

Chapel Roof Repairs

Work to replace the Good Shepherd Chapel roof with a new, natural slate roof will commence on Monday, August 27. While the work is underway, the Good Shepherd Chapel Plaza will be fenced off and closed to the public due to safety concerns.