Scenes From A Snowy Roosevelt Island Saturday - Southtown Sledding, Closed FDR Park, Good Shepherd Plaza, Blackwell House, Riding The Tram & More
Scenes from a Snowy Roosevelt Island Saturday.
Sledding on the much smaller Southtown Hill,
a closed FDR Four Freedoms Park,
Image From Trevre Andrews
Image From Trevre Andrews
Good Shepherd Plaza and Community Center,
Blackwell Plaza,
Manhattan Park,
Main Street,
Rivercross Lawn,
Riverwalk Commons,
Waterfront Promenade looking north,
looking south,
the Boat Prow,
inside the Roosevelt Island Tram cabin
Image From Volker Hage
and riding the Tram
in the snow.
6 comments :
Sidewalks around subway, west drive, and near bus stops weren't shoveled. Shame on RIOC!
residential: While shoveling might be straightforward, it's more complex for who is responsible. For example, the stretch of the church plaza back by Rivercross's blue wing is actually Island House's responsibility (within IH property line), but the store owners are responsible for their sidewalk (regardless of IH or RC property). And there is always that mysterious dividing line among RIOC, the MTA, and H-R near the subway. If it was out in front of the subway stop, I'm guessing it's MTA's (not RIOC's) responsibility to shovel.
Of course, we'd all like a simple shoveled path without having to worry who owns what. :-)
Bottom line: where was RIOC on Friday with an impending storm to coordinate with all the responsible parties to make sure that the sidewalks were shoveled and the streets were plowed. MTA does not own the sidewalks on Main Street where the bus stops. It does not own the path outside Duane Reade leading down to the bus stop. All the sidewalks near bus stops should be maintained by RIOC. And by the way, where was our beloved RIRA in all this and why weren't they involved in ensuring the safety of our community (silly question considering their other idiotic priorities...oh wait, there was no photo op. Silly me for expecting something rational).
One other thing: RIOC has overall fiduciary responsibility for this island, and that does not only mean financial responsibility. The president should have been in touch with every agency and building management that has a presence on this island to remind them about making sure that sidewalks were shoveled, and that includes the MTA, H-R, shopkeepers, Coler, and of course RIOC maintenance. RIRA and/or the RIOC directors, many of whom live here, should have and could have reminded the new president about her responsibility to make sure that the island remains safe during such weather related events. And if she got pushback from the MTA then it is her job to get that path cleaned. After all, if they use the excuse of budget cuts, they need to be reminded about what would happen to their budget if somebody gets hurt. There simply is no acceptable excuse for what my friend and I encountered at 5PM yesterday, and it must not happen again.
It's just snow. Nobody died. You see snow in the ground? Walk carefully. It's not hard.
I have to agree with residential on this question. Snow on the ground has a way of turning into ice. Ice is hazardous to all pedestrians - and especially to elderly and disabled.
Residential is correct: There should be a system whereby RIOC alerts management companies, businesses, the train station etc., of Impending snowstorms and makes sure they have snow removal plans in place, or at least are going to throw down salt or sand. It would also be nice if after a snowstorm RIOC could check to see if sidewalks are free of snow and then follow up with businesses, management cos, etc., if they aren't.
Just as RIOC has to plow the streets to enable safety of vehicular traffic, RIOC should have a system in place so that the non-RIOC maintained sidewalks are kept free of snow to enable pedestrian safety.
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