Roosevelt Island resident, singer and songwriter Emily Mure is teaching a songwriting workshop at the Main Street Theater & Dance Alliance (MST&DA) beginning Sunday February 26. Ms. Mure tweets
No F service at 57 St, 47-50 Sts, 42 St-Bryant Pk, 23 St, 14 St, W 4 St, B'way-Lafayette St, 2 Av, Delancey St/Essex St, East Broadway, and York St.
F service operates between Jamaica-179 St and Lexington Av-63 St, then via the Q to/from Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr (skipping DeKalb Av, days and evenings), and via the D to/from Stillwell Av.
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On Saturday February 11, Roosevelt Island's very own Girl Scout Troop 3001's team "Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island"
competed in the NYC FIRST Lego League Qualifying Tournament in Marine Park, Brooklyn! The Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island took 3rd Place in Robot Design and advanced to Semi-Finals!
The Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island team is comprised of seven fourth and fifth grade girls in Junior Girl Scout Troop 3001 - Alua Zhanuzakova, Charlotte Peterson, Jayla Davis, Lily Kalb, Louisa Ersenkal, Louise Wang, and Victoria Gorain. The volunteer coach for the team is Girl Scout leader Heather Smith.
Island Kids generously sponsored the team by providing a much needed meeting and practice location for the team. Since September, the team has met for two hours each week plus many, many weekend and holiday practices.
The FIRST Lego League competition has three parts: Robot Games, Core Values of teamwork and cooperation, and a real world Project to improve the interactions between animals and humans.Teams must perform well across all 3 categories to advance to the semi-finals.
The girls excelled in programming the robot and each girl on the team programmed their own mission, They competed against teams from all over the city - collecting points when they successfully complete missions in 2 minutes 30 seconds. The girls worked together to research and come up with a solution to the issue of having guinea pigs in small apartments by designing guinea pig multi-story "high rise" cages to give more space for the guinea pig without having the cage take up too much space. The girls created a fun skit and made up a song to explain their project to judges. The girls demonstrated their awesome teamwork and "gracious professionalism" with their positive and supportive attitude towards each other while completing teamwork challenges in front of the judges.
The Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts
made us proud with their well-planned robot missions and creative research projects! Congratulations, girls!
Great job and Congratulations Roaring Lions Junior Girl Scouts Of Roosevelt Island!!!!
The Roosevelt Island Roaring Lions were also congratulated for their efforts by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.
This past weekend, Team Funny Bunny of Brooklyn and the Roaring Lions of Roosevelt Island competed in the NYC... https://t.co/6Cxs0o6ezg
Apparently a runner from the Prospect Park Track Club who likes climbing subway stairs has counted the Roosevelt Island subway station's steps and placed us third in total stairs among comparable stations:
RE: Authorization to Extend Grant Funds to the Roosevelt Island Youth Program, Inc.
RIOC seeks authorization to extend grant funds for the first six (6) months of FY 2018 to the Roosevelt Island Youth Program, Inc. (“RIYP”), the current operator of the Roosevelt Island Youth Center. RIOC intends to release a competitive Request for Proposals (“RFP”) for a Youth Center Operator before the expiration of this period.
This period will also be used to schedule and commence general rehabilitation of the Youth Center, to address leaks on the roof and terrace, ADA-compliant restrooms, remodel the kitchen facilities, mechanical/electrical/plumbing upgrades, and finishes — resulting in a more safe and attractive space for the Island’s youth.
The grant will require detailed information regarding programing, attendance, staffing as well as a six month budget of all funds necessary to operate the Center.
Based on the foregoing, RIOC requests the Board’s approval to disburse $100,000 in grant funds and enter into a six month grant agreement with the RIYP in order to ensure the continued operations of the Youth Center.
which attracted three bidders - the current operator RIYP, Island Kids and the Roosevelt Island Center of Community Developemt (RICCD). RIOC's RFP scoring of the applicants resulted in a tie between 2 bidders. RIOC did not reveal the names of the tied bidders to the public or the bidders themselves.
On January 23, RIOC announced that the two tied applicants would be further evaluated to determine the winning RFP bid but subsequently withdrew the RFP on January 27. On February 1, RIOC President Susan Rosenthal reported the reason for withdrawing the Youth Center RFP was:
... members of the Roosevelt Island community have submitted numerous communications to RIOC generally questioning the legitimacy of the review that resulted in a tie. Some communications included disparaging remarks about bidders. All such communications, attempting to influence the RIOC review committee while the RFP is pending, are inappropriate and are prohibited by State Finance Law. These communications, among other things, caused RIOC to withdraw the RFP on January 27, 2017.....
Also, the terms of the RFP (page 17) state that RIOC may withdraw the RFP at any time at it's sole discretion.
To date, the Youth Center RFP applicants did not know who the tied bidders were or the RFP scoring results.
Until now.
The RIYP and Island Kids were tied for first place with 241 points. RICCD scored 230 points.
Scoring criteria was based upon 4 separate categories:
Roosevelt Island PS/IS 217 PTA representative Erin Olavesen reminds
... parents of children born in 2013 have until February 24th to apply for free Universal Pre Kindergarten (UPK). Click here for more information.
I had a pretty large group of parents tour our Roosevelt Island PS 217 Pre-kindergarten last week, but because of winter break this week we won't have any other tours before the application deadline. We anticipate having 2 UPK classes this fall with 18 seats each. If parents have any questions about the UPK program at 217 they are more than welcome to email me at eolavesen@gmail.com.
PS 217 will host a few more tours in the spring once Gifted & Talented Class (G&T) scores have been released. These tours are geared towards families of prospective Kindergarten G&T students but all are welcome to attend.
We'll host an orientation for new pre-k and kindergarten families in June. Families will get more information when registering. Dates will also be posted to our PTA's website:
I don't want anyone to miss out on FREE prekindergarten right here in our neighborhood. I feel very lucky to have had my son in the UPK program at 217 last year. It was a great introduction to school for him.
Four Freedoms Park Conservancy seeks a creative and energetic Manager, Resource Development to strategically contribute to its fundraising and revenue generating efforts.
By working independently and in partnership with the CEO and Board of Directors, the Manager, Resource Development will support the achievement of revenue goals of over $2.5 million annually. The Manager will collaborate with the CEO to engage donors from all sectors (individuals, corporations, and foundations), build fundraising capacity and drive increased revenue...
There are also positions available for part time seasonal Park Rangers at the FDR Park:
Under the supervision of the Director of Park Operations and Facilities, Four Freedoms Park Rangers are responsible for welcoming, and engaging with, visitors to the FDR Four Freedoms Park; maintaining the Park; providing information about all aspects of the Park to the public; assuring the safety and well-being of the public; enforcing all Park rules and regulations; and opening and closing Park facilities. This job description will be periodically updated to reflect the Park’s needs....
Roosevelt Island Seniors Association (RISA) President Barbara Parker reports:
RISA's 14th Annual Black History Month
Join us as RISA celebrates their annual Black History Month Event on Tuesday, February 21st from 6:30pm to 8:30pm Senior Center 546 Main Street
"A Century of African American Life, History, Culture and Diversity"
Spoken Word, Presentations, Dance Performance, African Drumming, Songs, Art, Poems, Guest Speakers, History Trivia and more....
Refreshments will be served. For more information and to confirm your attendance contact Barbara Parker at 917-951-4137 or email riseniorsa@gmail.com
We all look forward to seeing everyone enjoy the various Island organization Black History Month celebrations and the colorful diversity of all the cultures, history and heritage that represent Roosevelt Island.
If you know of a Roosevelt Island non profit corporation seeking additional funds, let them know that the deadline to apply for NYC 2018 Expense Funding grants from Council Member Ben Kallos is Tuesday February 21.
... City Council Funding for Local Non-Profits Due February 21
Each year private non-profit corporations that serve thousands of residents of Council District 5 can apply for grants of $5,000 to $20,000 from my City Council office to supplement essential services in the neighborhood. You can review past budget results, resources funded through this process and learn more about the application at BenKallos.com/budget
The deadline this year for application is February 21. Learn more by contacting our Budget Director Sushant Harite at 212-860-1950 or Sharite@benkallos.com, or visit BenKallos.com/budget
Mr. Kallos adds:
This money is here for the community and I want as many local non-profits taking advantage of the opportunity. My main concern is that we are maximizing the return on services for every dollar my office spends.
My office holds a very open application process, anyone interested in seeing where past allocations have gone can see them at benkallos.com/budget/results. We encourage any non-profit to apply.
We are CLOSED for all regular programming this Monday (2/20) for President’s Day, but be sure to come to the Black History Month Celebration between 1-4pm here at the Senior Center. Open to the community! There will be music, poetry readings, African dance performance, special tributes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama, and more! The party will be MCed by Public Safety’s Deputy Director, Kevin Brown.
Please join us! Light refreshments will be served.
It is with pleasure that RIRA’s Children, Youth and Education Ed Hoc Committee invites you to attend RIRA’s Black History Month Celebration with Anyah, Tia, and our young ambassador Lola De Luka.
The two leadership participants will read a private essay, a poem by Maya Angelou, and will perform an African Dance. Guest speakers include Deputy Director Kevin Brown (Public Safety Department), Dolores Green, and Mary Coleman.
The event will take place on Monday February 20th, between 1 and 4PM and the Seniors Center (546 Main Street). Snacks and beverages will be served as well as goody bags presented by Lola.
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.
