Report From RIRA President Jeff Escobar - Roosevelt Island Day A Time For Fun And Giving Back To The Community - He Continues To Do An Outstanding Job Running RIRA Meetings

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Jeff Escobar
 

gave this report to the RIRA June Common Council Meeting requesting the Common Council Members reaffirm their commitment to RIRA during summer hiatus



and sends the following Report To The Community:

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As the coolness of spring passes into the heat of summer, life on our little ship in the East River rolls forward. Open doors and windows are replaced by lulling fans and active air conditioners, family dinners around the kitchen table are now family barbecues around the picnic table, and our Island children no longer spend their days hard at work in class, but are hard at playing outside. From Saturday Night movies at Firefighters Field to Youth Baseball practice and pool parties, life on Roosevelt Island blooms fully into an idyllic picture of what summer should be in the middle of our sometimes crazy city.

As a kick-off to summer, I encourage all to attend this year’s Roosevelt Island Day on Saturday, June 21, for a day of family fun, games, rides, and more. Not only does Roosevelt Island Day allow us to come together and strengthen the bonds that make us a community, to meet neighbors old and new, and to have another excuse to be outdoors, but it is also a day when you, as a resident, can give back to the Island. Sometimes, in the fun and hoopla, it can be forgotten that Roosevelt Island Day was originally created as a day of Island service and beautification; a day when anyone and everyone is encouraged to pick up a shovel and plant new flowers and seedlings throughout the Island, to clean up and take care of Island areas that need attention, and to generally come together as a community to make this Island a more clean and beautiful place to live, work, and play. Interested in being a volunteer or want to help out? All you need to do is show up on Roosevelt Island Day and raise your hand, and you’ll be given a t-shirt and a task. We hope to see all of you there. Make sure that you come by the RIRA Hospitality Table early that morning to get some coffee and bagels for fortification.

In conjunction with Roosevelt Island Day and its theme of service to the community, RIRA continues to hold its annual Blood Drive at the Farmer’s Market, every Saturday through Roosevelt Island Day. If planting and repairing are not your fortes, but you still want to give back to our community, then consider signing up to give blood. It takes only a little to help so many.

Lastly, during July and August, the Common Council takes its summer hiatus to reset and make plans for the upcoming year of Council sessions. Because this is an election year, the tasks to be accomplished during the summer months are especially multiplied. Please take this time to reach out to your building representative, to voice concerns or goals that you wish for him/her to undertake in the upcoming sessions, and to ask any and all questions you may have. The success of the Common Council depends very much on each of you, as the community, to let the building representatives know what they can do to better serve you and the community. And, if you are interested in taking a seat at the Common Council table, please let your building representatives know, or contact me at president@riraonline.com. Elections and campaigning begin in earnest in the fall, and we look forward to welcoming the new Council.

Mr. Escobar continues to do an outstanding job presiding over the RIRA Common Council meetings.