Roosevelt Island's Main Street Theater & Dance Alliance (MST&DA) is hosting An Evening Of Dance & Music Saturday evening, October 22, at the Roosevelt Island Cultural Center (548 Main Street).
October 22nd, 2016 - An Evening of Dance & Music featuring Courtney Ramm of Hawaiian based dance company RammDance in the Howe Theatre at 7pm. $10 suggested donation. Limited to first 100 audience members. Doors open at 6:30pm.
Here's Courtney Ramm performing works by Isadora Duncan in 2013
brand new Diamond Rewards customer loyalty program for October 21- November 3 is now available .
Gristedes representative Bob Capano explains the new Customer Diamonds Rewards Loyalty Program, how to sign up to receive exclusive offers and earn points that can be redeemed on your next order.
Join the Diamond Rewards loyalty program today! Get exclusive offers and earn points on hundreds of items! Get $5 Coupons for every 500 points earned, redeemable on next order.
Look for the Diamond Rewards label on the shelf or the product
Examples of featured items purchased from October 21 - November 3 that earn you big points include
Horizon Organic Eggs earn 100 points,
Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee earn 75 points,
Bounty Big Roll Paper Towels earn 50 points,
Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream earn 25 points and
many more shown in flyer below.
If you have a Gristedes Bonus Savings Card and provided your email address, you are automatically enrolled in the Diamond Loyalty Program.
You can sign up for a Gristedes Bonus Savings Card online or in store - just make sure you give your email address and whether you are a new or existing Bonus Savings Club member, in order to be eligible for the Diamond Rewards Loyalty program.
the Roosevelt Island Senior Center has been decorated
with a Halloween and Fall theme.
The volunteers also designed creative cards
to be delivered with meals to homebound seniors who live on Roosevelt Island and in the Upper East Side.
Patricia Mays, Director of Development for the Carter Burden Center for the Aging adds:
The Carter Burden Center has enjoyed a robust philanthropic partnership with Macy’s for over ten years. Not only has Macy’s generously contributed financially to the Carter Burden Center mission, it’s volunteers have tirelessly donated thousands of hours in various center activities and initiatives.
Thanks to corporate donors like Macy’s, the Carter Burden Center’s volunteers are able to offer a range of services, such as health workshops that promote wellness to body, mind and spirit, case management and supportive counseling to seniors through the Elder Mistreatment & Abuse Prevention Program, and keeping seniors active through arts programs that engage their creativity and help them learn new skills.
In addition to the Carter Burden Center’s committed staff, last year 3,500 volunteers gave over 31,000 hours of their time so that these programs could thrive. These volunteers help reach many more seniors in a personal way by assisting with grocery deliveries to seniors who are homebound, providing health education and monitoring vital signs, and teaching English as a second language.
On Monday, November 7, 2016, The Carter Burden Center for the Aging will hold its 45th anniversary gala, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in NYC, with a “Celebrating Volunteerism,” theme honoring Macy’s with the 2016 Business Leadership Award, with Peter Sachse, Macy’s Chief Growth Officer, accepting the award on behalf of Macy’s.”
If you are interested in volunteering with the Carter Burden Center for the Aging Roosevelt Island Senior Center or other Carter Burden programs, check out their web site for more information.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board Of Directors are meeting tomorrow, October 20. Late this afternoon, RIOC issued an amended agenda to include the appointment of Acting RIOC President/CEO/ and General Counsel Susan Rosenthal
as the permanent RIOC President/CEO. According to the amended RIOC Agenda:
5. Appointment of Susan G. Rosenthal to the Position of President/Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation (Board Action Required–Materials to Follow)
I don't know if any other candidates were interviewed for the RIOC President/CEO position by the RIOC Board of Directors or if any executive search process was conducted to fill the position.
Here's the amended agenda:
OCTOBER 20, 2016 MEETING OF
THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
THE CULTURAL CENTER THEATER, 548 MAIN STREET,
ROOSEVELT ISLAND, NEW YORK
5:30 P.M.[1]
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Approval of Minutes
1. September 8, 2016 Board Meeting (Board Action Required)
IV. Old Business
New Business
1. Authorization to Amend Contract with Major Systems Mechanical Corp. for the Boiler Installation and Heating System Improvements at Sportspark (Board Action Required)
2. Authorization to Amend Contract with RJ Green Construction Corporation for the Sportspark Roof and Façade Repairs (Board Action Required)
3. Authorization to Enter into a License with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Make Environmental Findings, Override Portions of the New York City Zoning Resolution and Take Related Actions for the “Citywide Ferry Service Project” (Board Action Required)
4. Authorization to Amend Contract with Hawkins Webb Jaeger, PLLC for Engineering Consulting Services (Board Action Required)
5. Appointment of Susan G. Rosenthal to the Position of President/Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation (Board Action Required–Materials to Follow)
6. President’s Report
7. Committee Reports
a. Audit Committee
b. Governance Committee
c. Operations Advisory Committee
d. Real Estate Development Advisory Committee
8. Public Safety Report
VI. Adjournment
UPDATE 10/21- Following a discussion in Executive Session, closed to the public, the RIOC Board approved appointment of Susan Rosenthal as the permanent RIOC President/CEO by a vote of 5 to 1.
RIOC Director Margie Smith was the only dissenting vote, not she said because of any objection to Ms. Rosenthal, but because Ms. Smith objected to the process of excluding the RIOC Directors from participating in the selection process once again by the Governor's office.
to the 6th workshop in the free "Parents for Parents" series by the RI Parents' Network, on the topic "Choosing a Kindergarten", this Sunday, October 23rd, 4-6pm. This is a panel from RI parents for and with RI parents about elementary school choices for RI families.
Please RSVP with the full names of everyone attending to eva.bosbach@gmail.com until Thursday, October 20.
This event is hosted by the Roosevelt Island Parents' Network, the Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation, Main Street Sweets & Eats and the Girls Scouts of Roosevelt Island. Special thank you to Janine Schaefer and Girl Scout Troop 3244 & 3245 for designing our flyer this year!
Thursday, October 20th - 2pm: Sukkot Celebration, on terrace
Friday, October 21st – 1:30-3:00pm: October Birthdays Celebration
Monday, October 24th – 12:30-3:00pm: Memory Screenings (by appointment)
Tuesday, October 25th – 1:00-2:00pm: “Balance 101” w/ NY Road Runners
Wednesday, October 26th – 11:30am: Nursing Student Presentation
Thursday, October 27th – 10:00-1:30pm: Flu Shots (by appointment, call or come into the center to sign up; walk-ins welcome if room)
Monday, October 31st – 1:30-3:30: Halloween Celebration (prizes for best costumes, refreshments)
Monday, October 31st & Tuesday, November 1st – 11:00am-1:00pm: Fresh Food for Seniors Sign Up, $8 per bag of fresh produce (bag pick up is Wednesday, November 9th – 3:00-5:00pm),
November 2, 1 PM Medicare Beneficiaries Info Seminar,
and our most recent Activities and Lunch schedule including:
Connecting industry with our curriculum and research is a key Cornell Tech tenet. In The Bridge at Cornell Tech, a corporate co-location building, established tech companies and startups are located side-by-side academic researchers with the goal of bringing tech to market faster. Developed in partnership with Forest City Ratner Companies. Learn about opportunities at thebridgeatcornelltech.com.
Forest City Ratner Companies is developing the first office building of the Cornell Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island. This building, called The Bridge, represents the first opportunity for private industry – from established tech companies to small start-ups – to co-locate and partner with the faculty, students and staff at Cornell Tech to advance and commercialize new technologies. The Bridge at Cornell Tech will revolutionize the relationship between academia and industry – creating an environment to co-create and to collaborate in order to invent solutions to the real world challenges of the future. It will be a place where industry will have access to a talent pool that represents the best of the best in technological and entrepreneurial minds, and where industry will have the opportunity to partner with faculty on the cutting edge of applied research. The building features approximately 242,000 rentable square feet.
Forest City Ratner's Kate Bicknell described the Bridge At Cornell Tech during a presentation to July 26 meeting of the Roosevelt Island Construction & Community Task Force. According to Ms Bicknell, the approximately 230,000 six story Bridge at Cornell Tech will be 2/3 leased to co-working spaces, start ups and established tech companies with the remaining 1/3 of office space leased by Cornell Tech. There will also be 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail including food and beverage operators.
Below is a rendering of the outdoor patio area. Wow, what a view!!!
Are you a Roosevelt Island resident who served in the United States Military and interested in having a place to go on Roosevelt Island with your fellow veterans?
During the October 13 RIOC Real Estate Advisory Committee meeting (full audio web cast here), Mr. Kraut (attending the meeting by phone) reported that he would like to establish the Roosevelt Island Veterans Association of America and requested RIOC's support in securing a storefront space for veterans to gather together, share information, tell war stories and receive information from the Veterans Administration.
Acting RIOC President Susan Rosenthal said she thought it was:
... a great idea...
and
... let's work together on this...
adding:
... We've been working with the State to get jobs for veterans on the Island....
Here's discussion of the issue.
If you are a Veteran living on Roosevelt Island, let RIOC and David Kraut know that you are interested in joining the Roosevelt Island Veterans Association Of America and would like to see space provided on Roosevelt Island to the group.
The RI Parents' Network's RI MoM Yoga is back! Once or twice a month, in addition to our regular RI MoM exercise on Tuesdays (thank you Saskia!) Island mom Maiko Akiba will be teaching free Family Yoga
for the RI Parents' Network. Maiko is a Japanese Yoga teacher certified both for adult and for kids yoga and will be leading the exercise with basic Hatha Yoga suitable for moms with children of all ages. Children of age 3 and older are welcome to participate in the yoga exercises.
The next RI MoM Family Yoga will take place on Thursday, October 20, starting with the walk at 9:30am
and continuing with yoga and play time indoors at 10am. The walk will be kindly lead by Sayuri.
Please RSVP to Maiko at maikoakiaki1119@gmail.com until the night before (October 19) if you would like to join and let her know the age of the children joining. Yoga location provided upon RSVP. Space is limited and in the order of RSVP.
Please bring a Yoga mat or a towel for yourself and a blanket for your child, as well as some toys to keep the little ones busy in the community room. A few pictures from our last yoga gatherings are attached.
We hope everyone had a smooth school start and is getting settled into the daily routines. You and your little (and bigger! :) ones are invited to the next event in the free "Crafts with Kids" series by the Roosevelt Island Parents' Network!
"Halloween craft"
will take place on Saturday, October 22nd, 2016, from 10-11 am. Location on RI will be provided upon your RSVP.
The children will be making pumpkins and Dracula heads on paper plates.
Those can be used as window art or as a main door decoration during the Halloween celebrations. The children will create pumpkins with glue and color the paper plates using their imagination to bring a Dracula to life by adding different shapes cutouts. Also we will have masks ready for the children to decorate and take along for dress-up.
Please RSVP by 20 October to: eva.bosbach@gmail.com. Please let us know if you can bring books about Halloween for the story time or for our little kids book shelf during the event.
Neha will be leading our Halloween craft (thank you Neha!). Another thank you goes to Natalia for the design and generous sponsoring of the supplies for the pumpkin craft! Last but not least thank you Cecilia for hosting us.
As always, you have craft event ideas you would like us to include in the "Crafts with Kids" series, or if you have other ideas for activities of the RI Parents' Network or would like to get involved, please get in touch with me.
We are looking forward to seeing you!
"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", "Valentine's Craft", "Black History Month Craft", "Spring Craft", "St. Patrick's 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", a "Lantern making workshop", a "Thanksgiving Craft", a "Holiday Craft" and the "On Roosevelt Island We... Craft".
RIRA's MSTRAC Chair Anne Kanninen provides the following summary of the meeting. According to Ms. Kanninen:
Trellis (Nisi) is scheduled for fire department inspection to be able to start its operations. The waiting list is long, we were told, therefore impossible to say when the restaurant will open.
Urgent Care is looking for practitioners for the space which will require some negotiations and legal work before opening. At this point unclear when the place opens.
The PopUp Gallery has been very successful and this model of operation will be used for other business ideas in the future.
503 Main St. Cafe ( at the south end of Rivercross) has applied for liquor license to serve beer and wine on the premises. Their business model consists of offering coffee and breakfast in the morning, lunch in midday and beer/wine combined with light snacks during the evening hours. There will be no cooking in the premises, the food will be mainly salads, crepes and similar produce.
The owners are the same people who also own the Wholesome Food Factory and the model for this particular Cafe is “Carnegie Cup Cafe” on upper east side (88St.& Park Ave.) Since the Cafe is located in a residential building the opening hours will take that fact into consideration.
548 Main St. (the former bakery space) is/will be leased very soon for an ethnic restaurant. Since the lease was not yet signed when we had our meeting Azarian did not reveal to us what kind of ethnic food it will be. The food will be prepared in that space and there will be sit down tables despite the fact that the space is small.
To attract more businesses to the Main St., Hudson has started to improve the vacant spaces. Some of them have been painted white to create so called “white box effect” and you can see the effect for example the PopUp Gallery. These spaces include 507, 521, 544 and 563 Main St.
Both Kaplan and Azarian mentioned that Hudson has been generous and has provided allowances for the tenants in addition to other negotiations regarding rents and some infrastructure improvements on the space.
It appears that the Main St. is becoming more active.
Next meeting will be in December.
Hudson Related's Alexendra Kaplan adds:
Nisi is working on scheduling their fire department inspection (a date has not already been assigned)
As of 10/13 the café at 503 Main St. was approved for a liquor license by Community Board 8.
The new Art Gallery at 507 Main Street is owned by Roosevelt Island resident Paul Calendrillo.
I spoke with Mr. Calendrillo last September about his plans for the new Roosevelt Island Art Gallery.
and the impact his new art gallery may have on the revitalization of Main Street retail.
UPDATE 4:25 PM - A tipster adds regarding the liquor license for 503 Main Street Cafe:
The approval of the license on October 13 was only by the Street Life Committee of CB 8.The full board will vote Wednesday night and then State Liquor Authority must approve.
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.
