Here We Go Again, No Queens Bound Roosevelt Island F Train Service From Manhattan This Memorial Day Weekend - Tram On Rush Hour Schedule, Every 7 1/2 Minutes

According to the MTA:

F Jamaica-bound trains run via the E after 47-50 Sts to Roosevelt Av

Weekend & Holiday , 9:45 PM Fri to 5 AM Tue, May 24 - 28

No Jamaica-bound service at 57 St, Lexington Av/63 St, Roosevelt Island and 21 St-Queensbridge.

At least the Roosevelt Island Tram will be operating more often this weekend.

For the next three consecutive weekends the F train will be not serving our Island Station. For this reason, for the next following weekends the tram will be on the rush hour schedule ( every 7.5 minutes) from 7:00 AM until 10:00 PM. Saturdays and Sundays.

More information on subway service disruptions this weekend from the MTA's Weekender.

Update On Roosevelt Island Power Outage Today - Con Ed Restored Electricity To Buildings But Return To Full Normal Power May Take Until Sunday Says RIOC President

Image Of Con Ed Workers Restoring Power To Roosevelt Island

An update to today's Roosevelt Island power outage at Westview, Manhattan Park, Octagon, Motorgate Garage and Gristedes. Residents have reported power returning to their buildings but Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelicato told me that those who have had power restored may still experience periodic outages and that full restoration of electricity to Roosevelt Island may not happen until Sunday. Here's the latest advisory from RIOC received at 5:54 PM

Please be advised Con Edison is responding to a power outage that has affected Westview, and every building north of this location. Only use necessary electricity to avoid overloading the system and to prevent additional power loss to the island. Please also keep flushing toilets to a minimum. Backup generators have arrived and will provide supplemental power until normal service is restored. There is also a street light outage on the west side from 501 Main street to 645 Main street. Emergency Generator Light Towers will be erected in the area until power to the street lights is fully restored.

Con Ed has set up a Customer Information Command Unit located at the Plaza of 591 Main street (outside of the RIOC offices). In case of an emergency, please call Public Safety at 212- 832-4545 or dial 911.

Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group

OEM, FDNY And RIOC Personnel Conferring On Roosevelt Island Power Outage

A Con Ed Press Spokesperson explained the cause of today's power outage. Apparently, last night 3 Con Ed Feeder Cables to Roosevelt Island were out of service for maintenance. This morning there was a fire on the Queensboro Bridge knocking out 2 additional Roosevelt Island feeder cables which, when combined with the 3 feeder cables out for maintenance, caused the loss of power for the northern portion of Roosevelt Island. The one remaining feeder cable was able to provide power south of Westview.

More on today's Roosevelt Island power outage from earlier today.

UPDATE 9:10 PM - According to Con Ed, the electricity feeder cables for Manhattan Park and Octagon have been repaired so normal electricity service is now resumed. Westview and some Main Street lights are on a generator. The feeder cables serving Westview and the Main Street lights will be repaired within the next 36 hours.

UPDATE 5/25 3 PM - According to Con Ed, the electricity feeder cables for Westview, some Main Street Lights as well as Island House and Coler Goldwater Hospital are still being repaired. These buildings are currently being powered by backup generators. As of now it is not known how soon the feeder cables for these buildings will be repaired. As soon as they are fixed, the backup generators will be turned off resulting in loss of power in these buildings for approximately 45 minutes and then power will be restored from the repaired feeder cables.

UPDATE 5/26 - The NYC Office of Emergency Management tweets:

Roosevelt Island residents can resume normal electricity usage following a repair of the electrical network.
— NYC OEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) May 26, 2013

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Real Estate Development Advisory Committee Meeting Tuesday May 28, 5:00 PM

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Real Estate Development Advisory Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.

Agenda:

1. Chair�s Motion for Executive Session for Update on Current Negotiations Regarding Southtown Development (Building 7)

2. Any Other Committee Business That May be Brought Before the Committee

Roosevelt Island Power Outage This Morning For Manhattan Park, Octagonand Portions Of Westview - Con Ed Responding To Outage Reports OEM

Getting reports from residents of a power outage at the north end of Roosevelt Island including the Octagon, Manhattan Park and portions of Westview.

Power outage at Manhattan Park on Roosevelt Island - 5:48am.
— Mark Lyon (@markhlyon) May 24, 2013

NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) tweets.

Con Ed responding to an outage on Roosevelt Island (MN).To report a loss of electric service, call 1-800-75-CONED
— NYC OEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) May 24, 2013

A reader reports:

My husband called Con Ed. Power issue affects 625, Octagon and Manhattan Park. There is a problem with the feeder that provides power to those buildings on the island. According to Con Edison, this issue should be resolved by 11 am.

From another resident:

Note buildings like 40 river are required to have back up lighting in stair wells in case electricity is lost. 40 river does not have such back up lights installed. Stairwells pitch black. They should bring the building up to fire code standards.

UPDATE 9:15 AM:

Con Edison asks Roosevelt Island (MN)customers to reduce the use of electrical appliances and A/C units. To contact Con Ed at 1-800-75-CONED
— NYC OEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) May 24, 2013

Resident Lynn Strong-Shinozaki reports:

There is some belief that the Blackout is related to the fire on the Koch bridge and/or related to flooding with the power station or both. Students are at ps/is 217 are being given the day off as well as some of the Childschool students are being sent home. We have asked that they consider using sports park as a place for people to go if the do not resolve this quickly. They are in the process of evaluating the 2/4 River Road for the needs of the seniors and disabled. Do we know who might need to be checked in the other buildings? We hope they can set up temp. charging places... the power is also out at the RIOC office.

Robert K adds:

The south tram is also out of service right now; the expected crowds are forming. (Unsure if this is separate from the power outage or in response to con Ed conservation request)

From Nikki Leopold of Island Kids:

TO ACCOMMODATE THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED BY THE POWER OUTAGE

ISLAND KIDS WILL BE OPEN ALL DAY FOR OPEN PLAY STARTING AT 10:00.

THIS IS FREE OF CHARGE

PLEASE NOTE THAT SPACE IS LIMITED SO PLEASE ONLY COME IF YOU ARE IN A BUILDING WITHOUT POWER

WE WILL HAVE WATER AND SNACKS AVAILABLE

The address is 536 Main Street in the courtyard behind 510 and 540 Main Street under the ramp.

I'm trapped on Roosevelt Island.... F is out and only 1 tram is working! #happyFriday twitter.com/glojo57/status…
— Gloriana Lucido (@glojo57) May 24, 2013

Update 10:10 - According to Roosevelt Island Operating Corp President Charlene Indelicato, four out of five Con Ed feeder cables serving Roosevelt Island are out. Ms Indelicato urges residents to limit non essential electricity uses so that the fifth feeder cable does not go out as well.

Update 11:35 AM - After briefing by OEM, Con Ed and other emergency personnel, Ms Indelicato reports no change in power outage status but urges residents Not To Flush Toilets until power restored. The next update from RIOC will be at 3 pm

UPDATE 12:50 PM - Press Release from Con Ed earlier this morning:

Con Edison is asking customers on Roosevelt Island to conserve electricity due to problems on electrical equipment serving this area.

The company implemented voltage reduction as a precaution to protect equipment and maintain service as company crews work to repair the problem.

Con Edison is asking customers on Roosevelt Island not to use appliances such as washers, dryers, and other energy-intensive equipment and to turn off lights and televisions when not needed until the equipment problems are resolved.

Customers can report outages and check service restoration status at www.coned.com/reportoutage or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). When reporting an outage, customers should have their Con Edison account number available, if possible, and report whether their neighbors also have lost power. Customers who report outages will be called by Con Edison with their estimated restoration times as they become available.

The equipment problems on Roosevelt Island have no effect on the rest of the Con Edison system. Con Edison will provide updates to affected customers both directly and through the media as the situation warrants. The company is in constant communication with the New York City Office of Emergency Management.

Con Ed outage map states that there are 4 Roosevelt Island outages affecting 26 customers with an estimated resumption of service at 5 PM. No idea how they came up with only 26 customers affected when there is no power in the Octagon, Manhattan Park and Westview buildings with more than 2 thousand total apartments.

Roosevelt Island's PS/IS 217 Principal Mandana Beckman reported:

There continues to be no power at school. This morning the students were relocated to Good Shepard Church. We plan to remain there for the day but will walk back to the school for dismissal. We will dismiss students from the school at 2:50pm unless parents decide to pick up their children earlier. All of our staff made it to work and the few students that remain are busy.

Rabbi Zalman Duchman adds:

Chabad Lubavitch of Roosevelt Island is going to host a special Shabbat dinner tonight for all those effected by the blackout.

Contact Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Duchman via email Nechama@RIJewish.org or call 212.652.5660 for info and RSVP

Tonight, 7:30 pm at 425 Main St.

Please visit elderly and homebound neighbors to make sure they are okay.

UPDATE 1:25 - Bright Horizons Pre-School at the Octagon sent out this message to parents:

Dear Families,
While Bright Horizons does have power the building does not. The center is connected to the water supply pumps which are not operational. As the day goes on the supply of water is being reduced to the classrooms. The estimated time for power to be returned to the building is late afternoon / early evening. As per licensing we can not operate the center without running water. We are asking families to pick up no later then 3:00pm. We do apologize for the inconvenience. For the health and safety of the children and faculty we can not remain open without water.

.@conedison: Customer Outreach Vans at 591 Main Street in Plaza at Roosevelt Island. Will assist answering questions & addressing concerns.
— NYC OEM (@nycoem) May 24, 2013

UPDATE 3:10 PM - Receiving reports from Octagon residents that power is back in their building. One resident adds that according to Octagon building management:

We were asked by Con Ed to try to use minimal power as only one "grid" is up at the moment. If it gets overloaded we might loose power again. We will try to minimize usage in other areas of the building.

UPDATE 9:20 PM - Power restored - more info here.

Roosevelt Island 2013 Summer Outdoor Movie Series At Southpoint Park Starts June 29 - Hunger Games, The Breakfast Club, Pitch Perfect, Brave, Rocky and Inception Showing

Image From RIOC

The Roosevelt Island 2013 Outdoor Summer Movie Series at Southpoint Park starts June 29 with the showing of The Hunger Games. According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC), the remaining schedule is:

• July 12 - The Breakfast Club
• July 13 - Pitch Perfect
• July 27 - Brave
• August 10 - Rocky
• August 24 Inception

 Southpoint Park is a great place to watch outdoor movies with beautiful views

Image Of Roosevelt Island Southpoint Park Movie Showing of Captain America By Irina Hage

Image From Jordan Riley

of the East River waterfront skyline.

Pass the popcorn please.

UPDATE 6/29 - More here.

Cogeneration Power Plant And Cutting Edge Energy Savings Improvements Coming To Roosevelt Island's Roosevelt Landings - The Largest Multifamily Energy Retrofit In NYC Says Owner Urban American

Roosevelt Island is an exciting place for new innovative green energy projects. There is the Verdant Power's East River tidal water turbine,

Octagon building Fuel Cell,

planned Geothermal Wells for Cornell NYC Tech net zero energy campus,

future Con Ed high pressure gas service and proposed District Energy solutions.

Added to this list of Roosevelt Island green energy projects are the measures currently being undertaken at the Roosevelt Landings/Eastwood buildings (over 1 thousand apartments)

 Image of Roosevelt Landings formerly Eastwood

by owner Urban American to install comprehensive energy saving systems and a cogeneraton power plant.

Urban American's Josh Eisenberg explained these efforts last month during a Roosevelt Island real estate discussion on the Michael Stoler Report. Here's what Mr. Eisenberg had to say.



I recently spoke with Mr. Eisenberg and David Davenport of Urban Greenfit, partners on the Roosevelt Landings energy retrofit project, about conservation and efficiency improvements being made to individual apartments, common areas and building exteriors as well as the replacement of old boilers with a cogeneration plant and high efficiency boilers. We took a tour of the building including mechanical room as the old boilers were in the process of being removed.



Below is an Urban American newsletter delivered to residents last week describing in great detail the Roosevelt Landings energy retrofit currently being undertaken.

In June 2011, Urban American substantially completed over $7 million in energy‐efficiency retrofits at Roosevelt Landings through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Multifamily Performance Program (MPP). This work involved a “conventional energy retrofit” focused on certain system upgrades, including:

• Installation of submeters in resident apartments
• Upgrades of common area lighting 
• Replacement of external lighting
• Replacement of windows
• Installation of occupancy sensors
• Replacement of older refrigerators
• Installation of timers on bathroom exhaust fans
• Air sealing of air conditioner sleeves
• CFL lighting distribution
• Installation of low‐flow shower heads/aerators

With the exception of refrigerator replacements (which are still underway), all of these projects have been completed.

During this upgrade process, engineers working with Urban American determined that there were still significant opportunities to achieve even greater energy savings through a “deep energy retrofit” at the property, including a combination of sustainable‐energy and energy‐efficiency measures. Deep energy retrofits achieve much greater energy savings than conventional retrofits by taking a whole‐building approach, addressing many systems at once.

The deep energy retrofit now underway at Roosevelt Landings includes $7 million in new investments and is currently the largest energy retrofit of a multifamily building in New York City. The project involves two scopes of work:

• Energy‐Efficiency Measures: A combination of advanced energy‐efficiency retrofits composed of: a) air sealing of common spaces and resident apartments, b) smart grid controlled programmable thermostats and window sensors in all resident apartments, and c) foam insulation applied to exterior exposed concrete slabs under resident apartments.
• Sustainable‐Energy Measures: A cogeneration plant paired with new high‐efficiency boilers that will provide electricity, thermal heat, and domestic hot water (DHW) to the building.

To manage these projects, Urban American has partnered with Urban Greenfit, LLC (UGF), a new company dedicated to developing energy‐efficiency projects. The current project began in January 2013 and will be completed later this summer.

The following summarizes the work underway at Roosevelt Landings, explains how the work will impact the building and resident quality of life, and prepares residents for the upgrades and improvements that require access to resident apartments.

UGF has engaged two companies, H20 Degree and Air Barrier Solutions, to visit resident apartments to perform the necessary upgrades.

Electric Heat Control: The first group of contractors from H20 Degree will be entering resident apartments to do two things: replace older baseboard heaters with new heaters and install programmable thermostats to control the heaters.

Heater Replacement: Older model 2‐6 foot baseboard heaters will be replaced with new heaters of the same size. Older model 6‐12 foot baseboard heaters will be replaced with new 6‐foot baseboard heaters. In most cases, the decrease in size is due largely to the elimination of a utility plug or button controls on the heater. Irrespective of the size, the new heaters will provide better performance in every apartment due to faster heating coil materials and newer technology.

Installation of Programmable Thermostats: Dials and buttons on the old baseboard heaters are being replaced with wall‐mounted programmable thermostats. The new thermostats will send a wireless signal to a paired “controller” on each baseboard heater. Residents will be able to select a target temperature, and the thermostat will power the heater until the room reaches that desired comfort level.

The number of thermostats installed in each apartment is determined by the number of rooms in the apartments:

Benefits of the new thermostats:

• Residents can set the temperature on thermostat without touching heater 
• Allow residents to see and set the temperature in zone of their apartment 
• Displays ambient (room temperature) and set point (desired temperature) 
• Allows time of day and day of week programming from the thermostat
• Allows 2 way communication between the thermostat and central energy control system in building
• Room temperature, set points, and heater operation data will be collected and stored wirelessly to monitor and improve overall system performance
• Allows building management to monitor and adjust set points per tenant request, identify apartments with broken heaters, and characterize usage patterns

Apartment Air Sealing: A second group of contractors from Air Barrier Solutions will tighten the “building envelope” by airsealing resident apartments to eliminate cold air infiltration and drafts during the heating season. Air Barrier Solutions will perform six scopes of work in each apartment:

• Plug holes behind heaters and along exterior walls that allow drafts in the building 
• Caulk windows where leaks are evident 
• Install draft blocking gaskets in exterior wall electrical outlets 
• Caulk beneath the sill of the outside windows
• Seal holes around pipes under sinks that allow drafts (and pests) in apartments
• Clean and retrofit the ventilation register covers and orifices in resident kitchens and bathrooms; the metal interiors of the ventilation ducts will be brushed and wiped clean, and a new orifice plate will be installed to regulate and distribute ventilation airflow more evenly among apartments

Common Area Airsealing: In addition to the work done in resident apartments, Air Barrier Solutions is airsealing common areas, including elevator machine rooms, stairwells, and AVAC rooms. Locks will be installed on hallway corridor windows for use during the heating season. The windows will remain open during the rest of the year. Thru‐wall corridor air supply fans with filters will be installed in each corridor and operate when the windows are locked to maintain NYC Building Code and ASHRAE code guidelines. These measures will eliminate the “wind tunnel effect” that some residents have experienced when walking the halls during the cold months and keep cold air out of the hallways and from entering resident apartments.

Floor Slab Insulation: Apartments that protrude over Main Street and breezeways will have high‐density spray foam installed directly below concrete floor slabs and at wall penetrations. This will eliminate the key source of cold floors in these apartments and block cold air from leaking into the building.

New Boilers and Onsite Power Generation: Two other major improvements to building 540 are underway: the installation of new boilers and sustainable‐energy technologies.

• Boiler Upgrade: UGF is currently replacing Roosevelt Landings’ 4 original and outdated boilers that are now operating at 65% efficiency with 5 new 95% efficient boilers.
• Sustainable Energy: UGF will install 3 x 100 kW combined heat and power (CHP) modules that together have the capacity to generate 300 kW of electricity and 2.1 million BTUs/hr of DHW. Generally speaking, the CHP system will create 15% of building electricity onsite as well as preheat the boilers by 40%

What Residents Should Expect:

The retrofits in resident apartments started in building 510 and will progress to building 580 working one or two floors at a time. Residents will be notified in advance and be required to make their apartments accessible on the mornings or afternoons when the workers are scheduled to be on your floor. The entire job (including heater replacement, thermostat installation, and air sealing) will take between 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on apartment size. Although we started doing partial installs in the first buildings, the crews are now completing all of their work when they visit an apartment.

Notification will go out a week before the workers come to your floor, and building staff will knock on resident doors and leave a reminder the night before the workers come. We ask that you move any furniture away from your exterior walls and remove all items from under your sinks. If you need assistance, building staff will be available to help you move items to and from the work area the day the work is done. When the work is complete, building staff will be available to sheetrock, patch, and repair areas near the heaters, if necessary.

Once work has been completed in your building, training sessions will be provided to explain how the thermostats work. And when work has been completed in all buildings, resident education seminars on energy efficiency will be provided to help educate residents on how to be more energy efficient within their apartments.

Thus far, the work has been conducted professionally and generally on schedule. In light of the size and scale of these projects, however, we ask for your patience on a few minor issues that have arisen.

• We ask for your patience with respect to scheduling. Some apartments simply require more work than others or have a lot of furniture to be moved. This sometimes causes unpredictable delays and gaps between the work crews.
• We ask your patience with the new thermostats. In order for the thermostats to work properly, they must be installed, programmed, and connected to a computer network to be fully operational. In some cases there have been lags of up to 2 days between the time the thermostats have been installed and the time they begin controlling the heaters.
• When new baseboard heaters are first used, they sometimes burn off sediment or other materials causing smoke and/or an electrical smell. This may be annoying, but it is normal.

We appreciate your cooperation and patience as we proceed with the work in the months ahead, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the work. Our goal is to improve resident comfort and make the building more energy efficient.

Submetering

As noted above, submetering is an important part of these projects.

At present, the New York State Public Service Commission’s (PSC) “Order Reinstating Submetering Approval at North Town Roosevelt with Conditions” (the NTR Submetering Order) allows for the submetering of all of the electricity utilized by the resident(s) in each apartment. This includes both plug load electricity (i.e., refrigerator, television[s], computer[s], lights, etc.) and heat load electricity (i.e., what is used for the electric resistance baseboard heaters).

As you may recall, during the comment period before the NTR Submetering Order was issued, some residents raised the issue of paying for electricity used for the baseboard heaters. In response, Urban American tasked its technical consultants with determining whether plug load electricity could be disaggregated from heat load electricity. In other words, upon implementing submetering at Roosevelt Landings, residents would only pay for plug load electricity, not heat load electricity. Ultimately, Urban American’s consultants were successful in developing a solution by which plug load electricity could be separated from the electricity used for the baseboard heaters, thereby ensuring that residents would only be billed for their plug load electricity usage.

In implementing submetering at Roosevelt Landings as part of the above projects, Urban American intends to proceed with this new solution of separating plug load electricity from heat load electricity. Prior to doing so, since this approach differs from what the PSC previously approved, Urban American recently filed a petition for clarification of the NTR Submetering Order with the PSC (see http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId={85FED753‐D1C4‐44C1‐ A16F‐62FA8BBA514D}).

In this petition for clarification, Urban American recommitted to the following conditions at Roosevelt Landings:

• Complete all NYSERDA Energy Reduction Plan Measures
• Provide Energy Conservation Education For Residents
• Provide Energy Star Rated Models to All Residents with Refrigerators Manufactured Before 2001
• Provide Utility Allowances for All Residents
• Installing at Least One Programmable Thermostat in the Primary Living Area of Each Apartment

Further, Urban American will provide residents notice of when submetering will begin no less than two months prior to the commencement of submetering. During this notice period, and for longer if practically possible, Urban American will provide residents with “shadow bills,” which measure the electricity use for each apartment and calculate a bill reflecting such usage. These shadow bills will be provided for informational purposes to the residents, but actual submetering will not be occurring and the residents will have no responsibility to pay the amount shown on these shadow bills.

The combination of this revised submetering plan and the above investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy at Roosevelt Landings will result in clear benefits to residents, including: a) not being billed under submetering for electric heat usage, b) receiving air‐sealed apartments, providing greater comfort while requiring less heat, and c) receiving at least one networked programmable thermostat to maintain optimal levels of zoned comfort.

On May 1, 2013, the PSC published notice of Urban American’s petition for clarification in the State Register. This starts a 45‐day public comment period that ends on June 14, 2013. Comments on the petition may be submitted Jeffrey C. Cohen, Acting Secretary, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223‐1350, (518) 408‐1978, email: secretary@dps.ny.gov. Please reference Case Number 08‐E‐0838 in any comments.

Thank you for your attention as we work to complete these energy‐efficiency and sustainable‐energy projects at Roosevelt Landings. If you have any questions about this update, please contact us at: reduceenergy@urbanamerican.net

The inefficient electricity infrastructure and submetering proposal at Roosevelt Landings has been a long time contentious issue between Urban American, building residents and local elected officials. Here's more background on the issue from previous posts.

Also, reported previously on NYC Power Consumtion.

According to Modi Research Group:

The map represents the total annual building energy consumption at the block level (zoom levels 11-15) and at the taxlot level (zoom levels 16-18) for New York City, and is expressed in kilowatt hours (k Wh) per square meter of land area. The data comes from a mathematical model based on statistics, not private information from utilities, to estimate the annual energy consumption values of buildings throughout the five boroughs. To see the break down of the type of energy being used, for which purpose and in what quantity, hover over or click on a block or taxlot.

Click here for the interactive map and Roosevelt Island power consumptions statistics.

WABC TV Reports On Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department Brutality Allegations - New RIOC President Charlene Indelicato Says She Is Moving Quickly To Assess Situation And Will Properly Address It As Soon As Possible

WABC TV reported today on the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department brutality allegations made by some residents of our community. According to WABC TV:

Some young, minority males living on Roosevelt Island say they're being targeted for doing nothing wrong by the very people who are supposed to protect them....

and:

... In an attempt to find out more about the 37 Peace Officers who patrol the Island, we filed a Freedom of Information request for disciplinary records. The documents reveal that many of them have been suspended repeatedly. Ten of them have more than 7 suspensions each. Suspended for "sleeping on duty," "excessive lateness," "tampering with evidence," and "illegal or unethical behavior." Two of the officers have more than 20 suspensions. Yet none has been fired....

Click here for the entire WABC story.

Newly appointed Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelicato issued the following statement this afternoon:

I am very aware of residents’ complaints regarding the Public Safety Department and take these issues very seriously. Addressing residents’ concerns is my top priority. We have an ongoing AG investigation and have hired our own consultants to investigate operations at PSD. In my eight days at RIOC, I have initiated a top-to-bottom review, started to meet with residents and local groups to discuss PSD, and have instructed the consultants to fast-track their investigation. I am moving quickly to assess the situation and will properly address it as soon as possible.

More on RIOC's response to the brutality allegations including previous statements from Board Directors as well as information on the Public Safety Audit, Inspector General's Report and body cameras for Public Safety Officers available at previous posts. The initial report of the Anthony Jones brutality allegation is here and only public statement (from February 15) of Public Safety Department Director Keith Guerra here.

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Reschedules May 23 Board Meeting To May 30 - Agenda Item Includes Amendment To Resolution Approving New RIOC President Charlene Indelicato

Reported on April 4:

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board Of Directors today approved Governor Cuomo's selection of Charlene Indelicato (former Mount Vernon Commissioner of Planning and Development Department) as the new RIOC President/CEO. The vote was 5 for approval and 3 abstentions....

Ms Indelicato began her new position as RIOC President last week.

Ms Indelicato (seated on right) with RIOC Board Members and Staff At 5/15 Real Estate Comm Meeting

I noticed this Agenda Item on the schedule for the May 23 RIOC Board of Directors Meeting regarding Ms. Indelicato's appointment as RIOC President:

 6. Amendment of Resolution Appointing Charlene Indelicato to Position of President/Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation (Board Action Required)...

and yesterday sent the following inquiry to Ms. Indelicato and the RIOC Board Directors:

What is the reason for this amendment and what will the amended resolution say?

Have not received any response to the inquiry.

The full RIOC Board Agenda for May 23 meeting below:

MAY 23, 2013 MEETING OF
THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
THE MANHATTAN PARK COMMUNITY CENTER,
8 RIVER ROAD, ROOSEVELT ISLAND, NEW YORK
5:30 P.M.

AGENDA

I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Approval of Minutes
1. April 4, 2013 Board Meeting (Board Action Required)
IV. Old Business
V. New Business
1. Authorization to Enter into Contract with Local 32BJ (Materials to Follow - Board Action Required)
2. Presentation of the FY 2012-2013 QTR 4 Procurement Report
3. Authorization to Enter into Contract with Gandhi Engineering, Inc. for the Engineering Design Services in
Connection with the Roosevelt Island Helix Ramp Rehabilitation Project (Board Action Required)
4. Authorization to Enter into Contract with KS Engineers, P.C. for the Structural Evaluation and Feasibility Study of
the Sportspark Facility (Board Action Required)
5. Ratification of Contract with Hill International, Inc. for Owner's Representative Services (Senior Project Manager)
(Board Action Required)
6. Amendment of Resolution Appointing Charlene Indelicato to Position of President/Chief Executive Officer of the
Corporation (Board Action Required)
7. President�s Report
8. Committee Reports
a. Audit Committee
b. Governance Committee
c. Operations Advisory Committee
d. Real Estate Development Advisory Committee
9. Public Safety Report
VI. Adjournment

Earlier today, RIOC rescheduled tomorrow's Board Meeting to next week:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Board of Directors meeting previously scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2013 has been rescheduled and will be held on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. at the Child School (Legacy High School) Auditorium, 566 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.

Will update if an explanation is received regarding the amended resolution appointing Ms. Indelicato as RIOC President.

May 30 is also the meeting date for Manhattan Community Board 8's Roosevelt Island Committee.

Meeting Date:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 - 6:30pm
Meeting Location:
Manhattan Park
4 River Road, Community Room
Roosevelt Island, NY

Introduction of co-chairs and committee members.
Discussion of role of Community Board 8 and the formation and role of this committee
Review of recent island issues reviewed by CB 8 and its committees
(a) Cornell-Technion Project/Cornell-Technion Task force
(b) MTA Q102/ Transportation Committee
(c) Queensboro Bridge Bike Access/Transportation Committee
(d) CitiBank Bike Share Program/Transportation Committee
(e) Relocation of Goldwater Residents/Health, Seniors and Social Services Committee
Volunteers to be public member
Public Session – open discussion

Jeffrey Escobar and Laurence Parnes, Co-Chairs

It would be beneficial for RIOC and CB 8 to coordinate with each other to avoid such scheduling conflicts.

American Cancer Society's Relay For Life Roosevelt Island Update - Still Time to Join, Start A Team Or Perform

Here's an update from the organizers of the June 15 Roosevelt Island Relay For Life

Roosevelt Island Relay For Life Organizers Meeting At Nonno's

What is Relay?



 
Relay For Life is the signature event of the American Cancer Society and is the largest non-profit movement in the world. Its goals are threefold and simple – to raise funds to END cancer as a national health concern, to CELEBRATE SURVIVORS, and REMEMBER those that we have lost to cancer. Everyone has a personal reason to stand up to cancer and FIGHT BACK. Relay is a non-competitive walking event in which people form teams and commit to having one person from their team walking a track at all times throughout the event. Relay will be a family friendly event with something for everyone. There will be all kinds of food, activities, and entertainment the entire time – for kids, teens, and adults. Find more info here: relayforlife.org/rooseveltislandny

Interested in starting a team?
Anyone of any age can start a Relay team! You can have a team of any size, and you can even include people that can't attend the event on June 15 but want to help you fundraise. Once you register your team on the Relay website the rest of your friends and loved ones will be able to join. Register here: relayforlife.org/rooseveltislandny

Residence Building Teams
Almost every residence building complex has a team registered. Feel free to join the team of your residence building! Click the link for your building to join the team:

Westview
Riverwalkers!
Rivercrossers
Manhattan Park
Island House Fights Back!
The Octagon Makes Cancer Gone

Sponsorship Opportunities for Businesses
There are sponsorship opportunities that range from $100 - $3500. Contact me if you are interested: greg.murray@cancer.org

Business Hours
I'm holding "office hours" on the Island twice a week. As long as Alphonse will let me hang out, I'll be at Nonno's enjoying the Spring weather with my laptop on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:30 and Fridays from 3-5. Stop by to ask any question you'd like.

Entertainment
Do you know a talented musician? Are you a teenager in a garage band? Are you in a middle school glee club? Perhaps you are a child prodigy with the voice of an angel?
 
If you know anyone that is interested in performing at Relay and helping us make the day fun, give them this link:  http://bit.ly/16n5ASc

Thanks Roosevelt Island!
Greg

So far, Roosevelt Island Relay For Life has 22 teams, 63 participants and raised more than $8 thousand. More on Roosevelt Island Relay For Life from previous post.

NYC Alzheimer's Association Blondes Vs Brunettes Charity Football Game Played Saturday At Roosevelt Island's Octagon Field - Over $122,500 Raised For A Great Cause

The New York City Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association played its third annual “Blondes vs. Brunettes” Powder Puff Charity football game last Saturday at Roosevelt Island's Octagon Field to

 raise funds and support for the New York City Alzheimer’s community. The mission of the NYC Alzheimer's Association Chapter is to:

... create and promote comprehensive and humane care for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, to provide support for their families and professional caregivers, and to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research. The Chapter meets this mission in the community through increasing public awareness, providing education, creating and encouraging replication of model programs, collaborating with research centers, and undertaking advocacy.

The New York Chapter provides information, assistance and support to patients, caregivers and professionals, throughout the five boroughs of New York City....

The Blondes vs Brunettes Roosevelt Island football game raised $122,500 for the NYC Alzheimer's Association.

Final count from GameDay is in. Congratulations ladies, we are officially over $122,500! You're all athletes to end Alzheimer's!
— BvBNYC (@BvBNYC) May 18, 2013

The action on the field was well played and intense as shown here by the Brunette Team Quarterback running in a touchdown



and the Blonde Team Quarterback throwing for a touchdown.



The final score was:

Final score 52-13, brunettes!But everyone's a winner today, since you raised an amazing amount of money and awareness for the cause.
— Junior Committee NYC (@alznycjc) May 18, 2013

Here's some more highlight's from Saturday's NYC Alzheimer's Association Blondes vs Brunettes Charity Football game at Roosevelt Island's Octagon field (Click video to enlarge)



and info from WPIX

NYC Alzheimer's Association programs are listed here.

Beautiful Roosevelt Island East River Sunrise This Past Weekend Reason Why One Resident Lives Here - Manhattanhenge 2013 Coming May 28, Let's Get Some Roosevelt Island Pictures

Roosevelt Island resident Lynn Strong-Shinozaki shares this photo taken last Saturday night of a beautiful Roosevelt Island East River sunset looking north (Click on photo to enlarge)

Image From Lynn Strong-Shinozaki

and adds:

Why I Live Here.

(oops- there's a correction. The picture is of Sunrise, not Sunset).

There are many great Roosevelt Island photographers. Resident David Kraut suggested this idea for Roosevelt Island photographers.

"Manhattanhenge" is a reference to the twice-a-year phenomenon when the cross streets of Manhattan line up with the setting sun. Roosevelt Island is an ideal location to view this phenomenon because we can see across the west channel right up the streets.

In fact, I took this picture from the top of the helix by the garage, in 2009

Image From David Kraut

Neil DeGrasse Tyson of the Hayden Planetarium was the guy to name the thing. Here's the wiki:

Manhattanhenge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It might be interesting to see what kind of pictures Roosevelt Islanders can come up with. 

Manhattanghenge 2013 is coming May 28 at 8: 16 PM. According to Neil DeGrasse Tyson:

What will future civilizations think of Manhattan Island when they dig it up and find a carefully laid out network of streets and avenues? Surely the grid would be presumed to have astronomical significance, just as we have found for the pre-historic circle of large vertical rocks known as Stonehenge, in the Salisbury Plain of England. For Stonehenge, the special day is the summer solstice, when the Sun rises in perfect alignment with several of the stones, signaling the change of season.

For Manhattan, a place where evening matters more than morning, that special day comes twice a year. For 2013 they fall on May 28th, and July 13th, when the setting Sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a radiant glow of light across Manhattan's brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough's grid. A rare and beautiful sight. These two days happen to correspond with Memorial Day and Baseball's All Star break. Future anthropologists might conclude that, via the Sun, the people who called themselves Americans worshiped War and Baseball....

Let's get some good pictures Manhattanhenge pictures from Roosevelt Island!!!!

Report From Cornell NYC Tech VP Cathy Dove, ULURP Application Approved By NYC Council - Cornell Intends To Adopt Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 And Minimize Construction Impact As Much As Possible She Says

Ms. Dove Speaking at May 8 NYC Council Approval of Cornell NYC Tech ULURP Application

Cornell NYC Tech Vice President Cathy Dove sends this report to the Roosevelt Island community.

I am so pleased to report that last week we reached a significant milestone – the completion of the formal land use review process (ULURP) for Cornell NYCTech.

We are very grateful to so many members of the Roosevelt Island community for the constructive and meaningful input throughout the process. Ultimately, your great support for the vision and mission of the campus set the tone for the entire process, reflected in very strong endorsements from the Community Board, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission and finally the City Council. We all owe a special thanks to Council Member Jessica Lappin for her tireless work in ensuring community needs were addressed.

We worked diligently throughout the public review process to incorporate feedback from the community into our approach – your input resulted in a more meaningful set of commitments from us. As a result of this constructive process, we were able to understand and address those topics that are most important to Islanders, resulting in a plan that maximizes the campusʼ benefit for all. The faculty, staff and students of Cornell Tech are looking forward to being an active partner in so many ways: researching ways that technology can enhance the lives of the many Island populations; providing computers and training to senior center members and the disabled community; providing a tech fair to advance technology education for the disabled; and working with the community to program outdoor space for children, among many others.

Many of you know that one of our primary goals is to help advance science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in New York City public schools. Of course, the Roosevelt Island school is of special interest. Recently, Council Member Lappin made a wonderful suggestion during the land use review process that we embraced immediately – we will “adopt” PS/ IS 217! That means that we will engage with teachers and students in many ways, such as providing training and support, after school programming, tech events, career day options, and hardware and software programming development.

We canʼt wait to start this relationship and engage the Islandʼs young people in embracing innovation and tech. Itʼs just one piece of a larger commitment to working with schools around the City on exciting new programs. Our initial focus will be on middle school students. We will kick off the effort this summer with an immersion program for middle school girls (including some from PS/ IS217) to learn coding, web design, robotics and mobile development under the mentorship of some of the industryʼs top engineers and entrepreneurs. Classes will be held on Roosevelt Island, with special thanks to our friends at Urban American for providing space at Roosevelt Landings and logistical support for this great program.

In addition to hearing a great deal about ways our programs can benefit the community, throughout ULURP we were asked to find ways to minimize the impact of construction as much as possible. I appreciate your patience as we worked through the analysis around some very complex issues, as we did not want to disappoint the community by committing to approaches that we would later discover would not be feasible. One of the most challenging topics was to identify methods for reducing the number of trucks – especially the heaviest trucks – in order to limit the impact of construction on residents and on the Islandʼs infrastructure. Consistent with Cornell Techʼs focus on innovation in everything we do, Iʼm very proud to announce that we will be undertaking the most aggressive voluntary barging program in New York City. As a result, we expect to reduce truck trips by more than half as compared to traditional building techniques. The barging will specifically target the heaviest materials, further lightening the load on Main Street and the Helix .

Soon we will be creating a construction task force with residents and other stakeholders to keep the community updated during construction, to answer questions, and to discuss topics that arise. We will also launch a website with project and construction information as we get closer to our start date, and will provide contact information so all community members can reach us directly with questions and comments. We are committed to being accessible throughout this process.

Thereʼs still a lot of work to do before we break ground in early 2014, but we are on schedule and building momentum toward a real presence for Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island. We canʼt wait!

Below are questions and answers following May 8 announcement of NYC Council Cornell NYC Tech ULUPR approval.