New RIOC President Charlene Indelicato Tells Main Street WIRE Change Is Coming To Roosevelt Island - Will Be Hard But RIOC Has Obligation To Make Changes Reasonable For All Parties She Says

Ms Indelicato Seated At Right During May 15 Real Estate Advisory Committee Meeting

May 18 issue of Roosevelt Island's local newspaper, The Main Street WIRE, has an interview with new Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charelene Indelicato.  Click here for the entire interview.

Below are some highlights.

Ms Indelicato says about Cornell NYC Tech:

... For example, Cornell. There’s an agreement that has to be made. Although it was stated that it is solely the agreement for that piece of property and an appraisal, I think there are a lot of other issues that involve the Island, like the future of the Operating Corporation, because there’s going to be an impact. It’s a good impact. But change is always hard. And we, as the Board of Directors and the administration and the governor’s office, have the obligation to make that change reasonable for all parties.

Now does that mean everybody’s going to be happy? Very rarely. It means the traditional thing: Some people are going to be happy, some unhappy, some in the middle. But the fact is that we have to have some kind of equitable solution. Now, I know there are issues of transportation – the barging or not barging, and what happens afterward – parking, impact on the City, access to the water, all those things that we worry about, and have worried about in all the construction that has gone on here. The Island didn’t start out with buildings all here, so we’ve gone through this a number of times and we’ll go through it again, and this is a little bigger vision than most, but in truth, I think it will be good for the Island, and I think it is our job to make sure it is, because if it’s not, then I don’t think Cornell will be happy. So we have that issue....

About Riverwalk Southtown development:

... Then we have the Southtown development going – David Kramer, a very reputable guy as a developer – I need to work with him to make sure he’s happy, to make sure we’re happy. I worked with him many years ago, so, knowing that he’s unhappy, we need to look at that. The [Island] master plan was done many years ago, so knowing that he wants to make changes in it, that’s reasonable; we need to look at it. I’m very pro-development, with my background, but not pro-development that is not good for the municipality that I work for....

About quality of life improvements for residents of small communities like Roosevelt Island:

... One thing I learned working in smaller communities, ...  is that it is of utmost importance. But it’s not going to happen overnight. It just isn’t. Every time I hear it from the Board or read it in the blogs and it says, We’ll wait ’til she comes in, it’s like, Hey, I am not doing this the first day. I mean, [on that standard,] already I’ve failed.

You don’t shake up a whole organization without knowing what you’re shaking it up into....

In closing:

... I am thrilled to be here.  It think it’s going to be very interesting, very demanding, but hopefully, and I don’t mean this in a facetious way, a fun job – that there are things that can be done, that we can progress, that the Board won’t have to work 24/7, that the people of the Island will see that there is a government that cares, and a Board that cares, and an administration that cares.

It was a good interview. Click here to read the entire Main Street WIRE interview with RIOC President Charlene Indelicato.