When Will North End Of Lighthouse Park Be Open Asks Roosevelt Island Resident - RIOC Says End Of June
Jonathan Clements comments on the What's On Your Roosevelt Island Mind post:
Why is it -- a year and a half after Sandy -- that the north end of the island is still fenced off? Surely it can't be that replacing the small wooden bridges that were washed away is somehow insurmountable? During the summer, I love wandering through the park by the lighthouse because it feels like half the residents are there picnicking, playing and partying -- and yet a major chunk of the park still can't be used. Shouldn't somebody be embarrassed by the park's continued closure?
Image Of Northern Section Of Lighthouse Park Closed Since Hurricane Sandy In October 2012
I asked Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelicato:
I have had several inquiries regarding the opening of northern most area of Lighthouse Park and the installation of the pedestrian Bridges.Ms. Indelicato replied:
When does RIOC anticipate the bridges to be installed and the full area of Lighthouse Park to open?
I believe that the work is to start on April 21st and completed by June 9th - of course , if we have another late snowstorm .....RIOC's Engineering Director James Mortimer clarifies:
At a meeting we held with the contractor, City and County Paving, back on March 28, 2014, , they indicated they would start at the end of April. The contract time is 60 days, which would put the completion at the end of June.The northern section of Lighthouse Park was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012
which washed away the bridges to the Lighthouse
Sandy's making herself felt already--there's normally a causeway between the lighthouse a @ Roosevelt Island http://t.co/HCQPjgGN
— Kate williams (@celticviola) October 29, 2012
Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park Under Water From Hurricane Sandy Via Kate Williams Tweet
Let's hope there is no more snow so work can begin soon and the northern part of Lighthouse Park opens by the end of June, if not sooner.
2 comments :
I am pretty sure it was more than a couple of wood bridges that were broken. It's great that they say it will be fixed by the end of June, but I would like to know what the hold up was.
Mr. Andrews, Lighthouse Park disrepair is classic RIOC: on behalf of wives of RIOC Board members, $30K(?) spent in a day for Cherry Blossom Festival without RIOC Board approval and without a peep of review (putting aside from the poor financial reports from Lynne Strong-Shinozaki, the wife of Mike Shinozaki the chair of the RIOC Operations Advisory Committee, which oversees the Public Safety Department and grounds crew necessary to make this happen).
But finding the Chump Change to get the wooden bridges repaired (about $560 for 40 railroad ties at Lowe's, and a weekend job for a Long Island landscaping crew), well then RIOC needs to go through the extended then extended super duper long extended review to spend Chump Change.
At least RIOC could have put fences around the damaged area and allowed a walkway on the grass in the middle to minimize the disruption, but that would require thinking about this as if they actually used the park. Now if this were Jerry Blue's RIOC, we'd be complaining that We Need Residents On The RIOC Board to have the knowledge to do a better job. Resident David Kraut's been on the RIOC Board since the prior Cuomo administration and sits on the RIOC Operations Advisory Committee, but he do ya think he'd use some of that experience to get the job done sooner?
Nah. It'll be two years to fix, what would be, a landscaping feature in a suburban back yard. But if the wives of board members of a NYS Public Authority are throwing a bash, we'll need to immediately get All RIOC Staff working (according to the prior RIOC CFO) to handle that event to make sure the board members' wives are successful without any RIOC recoup of the costs.
Oh, but they are all "residents", so residents can do no wrong when it comes to RIOC operations and governance. And the local newspaper (the WIRE) is thoroughly infested with cross interests and conflicts of interest in the stories it reports.
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