RIOC President Charlene Indelicato Appearing At Roosevelt Island Residents Association Meeting Tonight - Also, RIRA Presentation On Southpoint Park Korean Pavilion, Island Shakespeare Renovated Pier & More - Come Learn What Is Gong On

The Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) will be meeting tonight, 8 PM, at the Good Shepherd Community Center (543 Main Street).

Image of June 2011 RIRA Common Council Meeting

As always, prior to the start of each monthly meeting there is a public session in which residents can come and address the Common Council Delegates on any issue of concern.

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelicato will be making her first appearance at a RIRA meeting tonight during the Public Session. Also speaking during the RIRA Public Session will be:

• Sonia Jang President of the Korean Association presenting a plan to place a gazebo at Southpoint Park and
• Island Shakespear's Kristi Artinian presenting a proposal to renovate an unused pier

RIRA President Ellen Polivy invites all Roosevelt Island residents to come and attend tonight's RIRA meeting. Ms. Polivy reports:

The endless tug of war over land

As I write this, the RIRA Common Council is preparing for it’s first meeting of the year. I am urging everyone to come to the Good Shepherd Community Center on Wednesday September 11 at 8pm. RIOC President Charlene Indelicato will be there. It will also be a public session filled with organizations presenting good ideas about use of land on the Island and in Manhattan.

Land is at a premium in New York City. How it is used and how that use affects everyone else creates an endless tug of war.

We recently had a presentation by OEM about our evacuation zones. Did you know that our evacuation center, the Julia Richman Educational Campus on 67 Street between First and Second Avenue is a sturdy old building with excellent mini schools cooperating in the sharing of common resources. Among other resources, the school has an acoustically perfect auditorium a pool and an atrium room used as an art gallery. In 2008, it was in danger of being demolished in a land swap to make way for the badly needed updated Hunter College School of Nursing and a large science research center. This plan was halted by a vote of my class of Community Board 8.

To find alternate space, Hunter College created an alliance with Memorial Sloan Kettering to build its updated nursing school and a Cancer treatment and research center. They located the site of a long vacant former sanitation garage off the FDR Drive and 73 Street. We Roosevelt Islanders will be able to watch the construction from our windows.

The proposed construction project is working its way through the New York City land use process (ULURP) just like the one Cornell just completed. One might think it is a no-brainer to put vacant property to this good use. Think again.

The community near that project is angry over the prospect of years of construction in their back yard and then future of living with the behemoth Hunter-MSK will create. The project’s developer is asking for a larger “floor to area ratio” (FAR) than City code usually allows for that zone. In return for an allowance of this bigger, denser building, the developer has agreed to provide funds to complete a long-awaited park a mile away. The community near that park is happy. Both communities are part of Community Board 8. This vote divided our Community Board in a very close vote during our part of the ULURP.

To make everyone happy over a land use project is an impossible dream

Hope to see you at our RIRA meeting.

Best regards, Ellen

Below is the Agenda for tonight's RIRA meeting:

Common Council Meeting

Please arrive a half hour early to help set up tables and chairs

RIRA Common Council Agenda

Date: Wednesday September 11, 2013
Time: 8pm-Finish

Place: Good Shepherd Community Center, 543 Main Street

1. Public Session:
RIOC President Charlene Indelicato
UNDC-East River Greenway- Frances Huppert,

Vice-President of UNDC
Korean Association presents their gazebo proposal for Southpoint Park- Sonia Jang President
RI Shakespeare presents proposal to renovate unused pier
Kristi Artinian

2. Roll call

3. Nomination for open seat

4. Approval of minutes

5. Approval of agenda

6. Treasurers Report

7. Presidents Report:

Request for approval as in report

9. Committee reports:
Public safety

By laws
Island services
Government relations
Social cultural educational
Housing
Planning

10. Old business
Rules of order proposal / bylaws review of rules of order proposal

11. New business

Disposition of items from public session and president's report

and here is discussion on the proposed Korean Gazebo at Southpoint Park during July 16 RIOC Real Estate Advisory Committee meeting.



Come learn what is happening on Roosevelt Island at tonight's RIRA meeting.