Department Offerings for November 20 - December 3.
Don't forget the $5 Off Any Fresh or Frozen Turkey too.
Gristedes representative Bob Capano invites Roosevelt Island residents to check out their various product departments for your shopping needs including catering your Thanksgiving Dinner.
Saturday & Sunday
December 5th & 6th
10:00AM- 5:00PM
546 Main St
(senior center)
Holiday Shopping Early
Great food….Raffles….
Tables: $25 for 1 day
$30 for 2 days
(racks $5 each)
Contact RISA Board members at Roosevelt Island Senior Center, 546 Main St. From 10am-12pm,Monday- Friday or email whersh@nyc.rr.com
THE RISA board would also like to thanks everyone who participated in the Fresh Food For Seniors program. It was a great success and we are looking forward to starting it up again next June!
Roosevelt Island Seniors Center Director Rema Townsend described some of their activities and programs during this October 14 presentation to the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Pubic Purpose Funds (PPF) Committee seeking funds for their exercise programs.
Are you a graphic artist interested in a job right here on Roosevelt Island? If yes, this position with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) may be of interest to you.
Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation - Roosevelt Island, NY
$55,000 a year
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) is currently seeking a Graphic Artist to join its Community Relations Department.
Summary:
As the Graphic Artist, you will work in the Community Relations department on a variety of exciting projects on a day-to-day basis. Examples include, but are not limited to: creating print and digital media for island-wide projects, current and new capital projects, assisting with the design and layout of a community newsletter, providing assistance with island events and more. If you enjoy finding creative solutions to diverse challenges and having a high level of autonomy, this may be the job for you....
as well as Hudson Companies President David Kramer, developer of the Cornell Residential building which is the first high rise Passive House in the world. (Fondly referred to by Mr. Kramer as the PHRAT House - Passive House Residential At Tech).
Mr. Winters described plans for the Bloomberg academic building and phase 1 (750 Thousand square feet) of the campus.
More than 20% of the campus site will be used for public space, with no gates, walls or barriers and include a public cafe open to restaurant deprived Roosevelt Island residents.
Forest City Ratner's Ms. Bicknell reported that Cornell Tech would occupy about a third of the approximately 230 thousand square foot Bridge Co-Location building and the remaining space would be a mix of co-working space tenants and a combination of established tech companies with tech start ups. She added that the mission of the Cornell Tech Bridge building is to bring together academia and industry to stir innovation.
Hudson Companies President David Kramer said the residential building is the biggest Passive House in the world rising to 26 stories and will have 500 beds in different layouts of studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments.
Have any leases at the Bridge been signed yet? No,
Ferry Service? Yes,
Proportion of faculty and students living on Roosevelt Island? 50% of students, less for faculty.
Interaction with Community and all of NYC? Lots, public space, festivals, arts, local schools,
Connection to Long Island City? Opportunity for housing and commercial development that could be tied to Cornell Tech,
Pedestrian Bridge From Long Island City to Roosevelt Island proposed by developer? Very early stage, waiting to see community reaction to proposal by the developer.
Then a walking tour of the Cornell Tech construction site. Mr. Winters began by describing elevating the campus ground level to protect from flooding. As the group was walking the construction site, Hudson Companies David Kramer reveals where he goes to get his Roosevelt Island information. Guess where?
Reaching the top of a hill, Mr. Winters and Ms. Bickel answered questions about:
Barging of construction materials,
Whether the barge can be used as dock for future Roosevelt Island Ferry service? No he said.
Phase 1 construction is 750,000 square feet of space. Future Phase 2 and 3 of the campus construction will have approximately the same square footage each.
80 Geothermal wells up to 500 feet deep providing the heating and cooling system for the Bloomberg Academic Building.
Wireless service for public space - being worked on. Don't have answer yet.
Ms Bickel indicated that Forest City Ratner is hearing from NYC Tech industry sources that there is great excitement at having access to intellectual talent, similar to that available in San Francisco, coming from Cornell Tech graduates.
She also discussed the development opportunities in Western Queens coming from companies graduating from Cornell Tech.
Mr. Winters noted that Tishman Construction is overseeing all logistics for the Cornell Tech construction site, Barr & Barr is building the Bloomberg Academic Building, Turner Construction is building the Bridge for Forest City Ratner and Monadnock Construction is building the residential building.
What do members of the Roosevelt Island community think about the new Cornell Tech campus? The issue of Roosevelt Island quality of life issues impacted by the Cornell Tech campus was discussed during the October 28 meeting of the Roosevelt Island Community Coalition (RICC). RICC Co-Chair Ellen Polivy noted (at 7 minute 20 second mark):
... When we first started there was an attempt to be cooperative and then there was a batting of heads while everybody figured out how much ground they could give up and how much they weren't willing to give up. And now, just like any negotiation, we're at a point right now where we are basically being cooperative with one another. That seems to be the place Cornell likes to be at and they are starting to give some ground....
Other members of RICC raised issues regarding:
air quality monitoring,
incorporating the Cornell students and new businesses into the Roosevelt Island community,
overcrowding
transportation,
recreational space needs and
Public Safety matters.
Here's the discussion.
RICC describes itself as:
... formed in 2012, is an advocate for the health and well being of the Island community and its organizations during the Cornell development. We work to urge the fulfillment of Cornell's verbal and written commitments to the community....
We're looking forward to current and prospective families joining us on December 10th. In addition to hearing about some of the work going on in our school over the next few years, families will have the opportunity to work with Cornell Tech mentors and create computer games.
Last April, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) approved a grant of $131,250 to the Roosevelt Island Youth Program (RIYP) to enable it to operate through the end of 2015. As reported at the time, the RIOC staff sent the following memo to RIOC President Charlene Indelicato and the RIOC Board of Directors in support of the allocation of funds to the RIYP:
... As you are aware, included in the Board approved FY 15-16 (April 1, 2015 – March 31, 2016) Budget is a $175,000 disbursement for the Roosevelt Island Youth Center (“Youth Center”) — currently being operated by the Roosevelt Island Youth Program (“RIYP”). The Youth Center through RIYP offers programs vital to the Island and its youth, consistent with the General Development Plan and RIOC’s Mission Statement.
Programs provided by RIYP include a summer day camp, fitness activities, computer lab access and music instruction. RIYP also manages extensive after school activities, an organized sports curriculum and other recreational programs as part of the PS/IS 217 Beacon Program, for which it receives NYC funding.
RIOC intends to issue a Request for Proposals in the fall of this year for an entity to operate the Youth Center. However, in order to provide for efficient continuity of these programs, the budgeted funds for the current fiscal year should be pro-rated to the RIYP through December 31, 2015, in the amount of $131,250. RIOC would also require RIYP to continue to provide an appropriate accounting of the funds.
Based on the foregoing, we recommend the approval of the disbursement of $131,250 to the Roosevelt Island Youth Program....
During the November 17 RIOC Real Estate Development Advisory Committee meeting (full audio web cast of meeting here), RIOC President Charlene Indelicato reported that the Youth Center RFP has not been issued yet and recommended extending the RIYP grant terms until the end of RIOC's 2015-16 Fiscal Year which is March 31 2016.
RIOC plans to issue a Request for Proposals for an entity to operate the Youth Center in late 2015/early 2016.
RIOC Director Michael Shinozaki expressed concerns regarding what he characterized as a lack of RIOC in depth oversight and due diligence regarding selecting and monitoring the operator of the Youth Center program.
RIOC Director Howard Polivy noted that RIOC has audited RIYP grants in the past and NYC audits the Beacon After School program, which is operated in conjunction with the RIYP. Mr. Polivy added that RIYP:
... is under a level of scrutiny and supervision...
Due to the slowness in receiving allocated funds from the City Of NY, the RIYP would have difficulty remaining open without the grant extension from RIOC.
The RIOC Real Estate Committee recommended approving the grant extension which will be voted upon during the December 3 full RIOC Board of Directors meeting.
Would you like to volunteer and help out a local Roosevelt Island organization with Thanksgiving dinner for some of your neighbors? If so, Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) President Jim Bates can use your help. Mr. Bates sends the following request to the Roosevelt Island community:
Can you ask for help out at the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association/Seniors Association Annual Thanksgiving Day dinner.
We need servers who will assist in helping in the serving of dinner to the disabled and seniors who will attend.
They will also help in the setting up and breaking down and cleaning up before and after the dinner.
No heavy lifting involved.
We expect between 30-40 people to attend.
Date is Nov 26 (Thanksgiving day)
Times of service
1 to 2:30
2 to 4:00
3. To 5:30
Location :546 Main St (Senior Center)
Roosevelt Island, NY
Please have anyone who wants to volunteer to either call me
Roosevelt Island residents have been asking for a local composting location for a long time. As one resident asked in 2008:
... i wonder if anyone else thinks about collecting kitchen scraps to compost? I have tried this but it means schlepping garbage on the subway or tram to the greenmarket in Union Square, where there is a collection stand several days a week. The people who collect there give the scraps to people who process, then use the resulting compost to fertilize farm soil
Benefits are less garbage in landfills and constructive use of our waste - and a chance to step out of our collective throw-away mentality without much effort. It isn't hard to save kitchen scraps (only those without fats - like potato peels, coffee grounds, eggshells...) what is hard is getting them to someone who can make use of them. I know there are industries who collect scraps - I wonder if there would be enough interest to get them to come here and pick up our collective contribution of kitchen scraps?...
Wonder no longer. Composting is coming to Roosevelt Island just in time to collect after Thanksgiving food scraps.
Working with several Roosevelt Island groups, RIGC has succeeded in establishing a date for the NYC Compost organics recycling initiative that is coming to Roosevelt Island! We are excited about this public/non-profit collaboration to reduce waste and encourage more sustainable urban living.
Instead of sending organics to landfills via AVAC, Island residents will be able to drop off kitchen scraps at an organics collection station at the Saturday Farmer's Market. The scraps will go to a local composting site under the Queensborough Bridge on Vernon Blvd. The compost created will also be used locally for street trees, parks, and urban gardens.
Island leadership, avid RI composters, the PTA of PS 217, the RI Girl Scout troops and the RI Garden Club are all excited to help welcome this program to Roosevelt Island. If you would like to help out as a volunteer, please contact Big Reuse or email rigardenclub@gmail.com.
The NYC Compost Project Hosted by Big Reuse is part of a community-scale composting network that works rebuild our soils by providing New Yorkers with the knowledge, skills, and opportunties they need to produce and use compost locally. We host weekly food scrap drop-off locations, train New Yorkers in urban composting best practices, and produce high-quality compost to amend our city’s soils. The finished compost is used in community gardens, on street trees, and in public beautification projects.
Roosevelt Island Parents' Network Coordinator (RIPN) Eva Bosbach reports:
You are invited to the next event in the free "Crafts with Kids" series by the Roosevelt Island Parents' Network:
"Thanksgiving Craft" for children will take place on Saturday, November 21, 10-11am at the Senior Center, 546 Main Street.
Thanksgiving is a great time to involve children in crafts that decorate our house and are also perfect keepsakes. After all one of the things we are most thankful for is our family and friends. This footprint turkey wreath
can be most welcoming when it is hanging outside your door at Thanksgiving.
We thank Dolores Green, Barbara Parker, Wendy Hersh and Marylin Atkins from the Senior Center for letting us use their space for the event.
Please RSVP to eva.bosbach@gmail.com by Thursday, November 19. Please let us know if you can bring books about Thanksgiving for the story time or for our little kids book shelf during the event.
And as always: If you have craft event ideas you would like us to include in the "Craft with Kids" series, or if you have other ideas for activities of the RI Parents' Network, please get in touch with me.
Greetings,
Neha and Eva
"Crafts with Kids" is a free workshop series for children organized by the Roosevelt Island Parents' Network. The monthly events included "Tram art and necklaces", "Matisse for Kids", "Valentines Craft", "St Patricks Craft", "Earth Day Craft", "Easter Craft", "Mothers Day Craft", "Fathers Day Craft", "Summer craft - a lady bug", a "Back to school craft", a "Halloween craft" and a "Lantern making workshop".
Peter Blumen shares these photos and reports on his encounter with a Roosevelt Island Falcon:
I was walking along the east side of Roosevelt Island Sunday and I mistook him for a wooden scarecrow, which we have in California. He was still and sitting atop the RIOC Bus Depot. His stillness, which was probably a hunting tactic, and being a rare site, confused me and I thought he was not real. How could he be a falcon here, an irrational mix. A few steps closer and he twitched and then I had to abandon that premise. He was real and far from home. On top of the bus depot he was safe but still as I got closer he flew off and along the fence that borders the island.
A minute later, I came upon him again and my camera was already out.
I walked quietly and slowly towards him, all the while taking pictures.
And when I stopped about 5 feet away, he continued to look at me, assessing me. I had interrupted his thoughts, he was staring out to the sun and some snapshot hound was pestering him. He was not fond of me and I was apprehensive of him. He looked smaller with his wings folded in, the size of a 1 year old child. At some point he realized there would be no peace with me nearby and even though I had stopped approaching, he had enough of my nuisance, looked upstream for a more secure location, spread to his full 6 foot width,
seeming to fall off his perch until he caught wind, and climbed about 20 feet in a moment.
I saw him once more, but not from so close a distance and he looked down on me, knowing he had the upper hand. I knew I would never be that close again. I wasn’t a threat to him at his new post,
the tip of the boat lowering device at the fire department station. So I took a few more pictures which the reader sees here. A rare encounter indeed.
Looks like Cornell Tech has an interest in birds too.
SUPPORTING ROOSEVELT ISLAND FAMILIES FOR OVER 20 YEARS!!
Join us every Wednesday from 10:30-11:30
This group is for new moms with babies aged 0-14 months and is free of charge. Pregnant mothers are welcome too! Our goal is to provide a friendly atmosphere for new parents to receive support, share advice and build friendships.
Island Kids is located at 536 Main Street (Roosevelt Landings) in the courtyard behind the Wholesome Factory Market (under the ramp.)
When you see the moon as a slim crescent – in the west after sunset – it’s a waxing moon. Is that Earth’s shadow on the moon? No, it’s the moon’s own shadow....
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Real Estate Advisory Committee is meeting tomorrow. According to 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, November 17, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York.
Agenda:
Review of Extension of Grant Support for the Roosevelt Island Youth Program Through 4th Quarter of Fiscal Year Ending 3/31/2016.
Discussion of Memorandum of Understanding to be Negotiated in Connection With the Coler Hospital Flood Mitigation Plan.
Any Other Committee Business That May be Brought Before the Committee
***
The Open Meetings Law of the State of New York requires that all public bodies conduct meetings, convened for the purpose of officially conducting public business, in a manner open to attendance by the general public to observe and listen.
One plan would build a high wall around the perimeter of the hospital's footprint 5 feet from its wall. The second plan would elevate the shoreline surrounding the hospital.
NYCHHC and the Mayor's Office wish to elevate the shoreline surrounding Coler Hospital. RIOC's permission is required to do so.
Not known yet is the obligations and responsibilities of RIOC, nor the impact on the entire Roosevelt Island community and infrastructure, under the plan to elevate the shoreline only around Coler Hospital.
representative Erin Olavesen asks you to consider helping students at PS/IS 217 when you are shopping online. According to Ms. Olavesen:
In case you're starting your holiday shopping, I wanted to remind everyone to try to use the PS/IS 217 Amazon link when shopping. The number of Amazon packages I see the UPS man unloading on Main Street is huge, and if a small percentage of all of those Amazon sales went to 217, imagine what we could do for our neighborhood school!
Whenever you shop at the online retailer Amazon (for books,clothes, instant video purchases, anything!), go to their website by using the school's link HERE - click on our link BEFORE you add items to you cart! It's hard to tell if you're in the right spot because Amazon does not give any signs that you've used the affiliate link, but if you enter Amazon through the link before adding items to your cart and check out within 24 hours, the PTA will receive a percentage of your total purchase. Bookmark it! Share the link with friends and family! Spread the word and share the link with your neighbors by emailing it to your building list serve! Help 217 earn more money to support enrichments and support teachers!
Thank you to everyone for your continued interest in 217 and your efforts to make our school even better for our kids.
Half Day - 11:38am Dismissal for Parent Teacher Conferences - Tuesday, November 17
Parent teacher conferences - Tuesday, November 17, 1-3pm and 4:30-7:30pm.
Pre-K - sign up sheet is located in front of the classroom door
Grades K-3 - online sign up
Grades 4-8 - online sign up.
Cluster Teachers and Related Service providers will be present and you can visit their rooms directly.
PTA Meeting - Wednesday, November 18 - 8:35am
PTA General Meeting - November 18th at 8:35am in the PTA room, following Executive Board meeting at 8am.
If you have a child at 217, you ARE the PTA! Please join us and be informed about all the amazing things going on at our school. Hear from Principal Beckman, learn about our upcoming events, volunteer opportunities and more.
All are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Open School Week Monday-Friday, November 16-20
Open School Week provides you with the opportunity to observe your child’s learning experience in action. It also allows us to reinforce our family-school partnership and commitment to each child’s success. 217 invites you to visit our classrooms on these dates:
Do not use cell phones or other electronic devices including cameras.
Do not bring food or drinks into the classroom.
Enter the classroom as if it’s a fishbowl, a space for you to see and enjoy but that you are outside of. This will enable classroom instruction and learning to proceed as usual.
Thank you in advance for honoring our request that you refrain from engaging in conversation with your child, other students or your child’s teacher. A simple wave or smile will allow your child to know that you are present. Smiles are always welcomed!
An Update on 217 Safety
School Safety Officers are expected to sign-in visitors, provide visitors with a sticker and call the office/location that a visitor is headed to so that we may ensure that a 217 staff member is present to receive each visitor.
Parents/Families: Please be sure to bring ID with you and present yourself to the School Safety Officers' Desk.
Join Ms. Valerie's Breakfast Club - Daily 7:40-8:25am
The School Breakfast Program offers kids a nutritious breakfast at school so they can start their day off right.
Ms. Valerie invites all 217 students to come to school cafeteria for FREE breakfast daily 7:40-8:25am and partake in fun games and activities, including raffles
TWO DAYS left in the Fall Direct Appeal! - DONATE by 11/15
Don't miss your chance to help your child's class win a class prize! Please donate to the PTA's Fall Direct Appeal by November 15, 2015. The PTA's general fund helps every student.
With three days left in our fall direct appeal drive, we have raised over $48,000 since the start of school, and we also have an additional $7,700 pledged thanks to our recurring contributors!
BUT we still have a ways to go. Please JOIN IN to help us reach our fundraising goal of $150,000 for 2015-2016!
For the 2015-2016 school year, the PTA is currently projected to spend at least $105,900 on supplies and enrichment programs, such as art, architecture, dance, yoga & movement, and gardening, as well as professional development for our teachers, support for the music program, science classes and the library. For more information about what the PTA funds, CLICK HERE.
Please do your part to keep these wonderful programs at our school by donating today.
The suggested family donation is $600, but please give whatever amount is right for your family. Or sign up for an automatic monthly contribution - $50 per month is $600, or sign up for a monthly donation that is right for your budget (for example, $42.50/month = $500/year and $25/month = $300/year; $10/month = $120).
To donate online now, CLICK HERE. You can also place your cash donation or a check payable to "P.S./I.S. 217" in a marked envelope and deposit it into the PTA mailbox, on the first floor of the school.
Representatives of PS/IS 217 described some of their programs during this October 13 presentation to the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Pubic Purpose Funds (PPF) Committee seeking funds for a math and science program.
Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.
The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.
