Please be advised that both the North and South Cabins of the Roosevelt Island Tramway are currently in operation. This is an update to a previous advisory which stated that only one cabin would be in use.
Both cabins running will alleviate some of the overcrowding experienced with only 1 Tram Cabin in use during the Tram Overhaul Project.
We seriously need a separate line or priority boarding for residents! We could get stickers or something for our metrocards from RIOC after proof of residence. This is only going to get worse as the summer months approach!
Roosevelt Island tram packed with tourists on Friday afternoon. Cabin won’t leave because with so many passengers. @RIOCny this is ridiculous pic.twitter.com/ROXaZOheVL
#rooseveltisland residents have had to eliminate the tram as a form of transportation bc of the influx of tourists, this is unacceptable as we have no other options, the subway is a shitshow and does not even run on the weekends. @kallos WHERE ARE YOU ON THIS?? #nycrealestate
We are all still in a state of shock!! We did indeed win the NYC First LEGO League Robotics tournament today! The top two teams in NYC go to the World Championships in Detroit - It's pretty amazing!! The girls did such an amazing job!!
... Senator Serrano will be honoring Girl Scout Troop 3001's the Tech Hoppers, for their achievements in robotics and their first place victory in the FIRST Lego League New York City Championship. Next week, the troop is proudly headed to the worldwide FIRST Championship in Detroit, the world’s largest celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for students. The team of nine girls in the 6th and 7th grades, meets weekly at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island, where they are mentored and coached by Cornell students and staff. In its four years, the troops robotics program has involved over 15 Girl Scouts and has never turned a girl away because of need or experience.
"As a supporter of empowering girls and women to enter STEM fields, I am very proud of the Roosevelt Island Tech Hoppers," said Senator Serrano. "They serve as a wonderful example to other young students interested in robotics, and regardless of the outcome at the world championship, they have already accomplished a tremendous achievement."
Here's the Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Tech Hoppers practice presentation proposing their solution to the radiation problem for astronauts traveling to Mars - use an asteroid as the transportation vehicle
Here's State Senator Serrano's presentation of Achievement Certificates to the Tech Hoppers Team.
I would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of our supporters -
Cornell Tech for providing the team with an amazing space, coaches and mentors – in particular, Diane Levitt and Samara Rose Selden and Cornell Tech mentors Jillian Burns, Natalie Abrams and Jivesh Tolani!
Nathalie and Ilan from Dr. Wu's lab at Cornell Tech
Talya Stein, Anne Goodfriend and Yoav Friedland from FIRST Lab for providing a welcoming space for us to practice on weekends!
Mike Sorrenti from SpaceX for mentoring and inspiring the girls on all things space-related!
Norm Sutaria and Lisa Cai from NYC FIRST
Girl Scouts of Greater New York - Abby Whipker, CEO Meredith Maskara and the Council's fabulous fundraising team, for supporting the team and sending us to Detroit!
We couldn't have accomplished so much without all of this incredible support!!
Roosevelt Island parents -
This is our local RI Girl Scout team and we are heading to Detroit next week!!! Our wonderful Girl Scout council is fundraising to pay for the entire trip!!! If you can support the team, please consider a tax deductible donation to our council!
You can follow us while we’re there on Instagram at techhoppers.
I am so proud of how hard these girls have worked!!!
If anyone is a parent of a girl that would like to be a coach next year - please reach out to me. Our incredible coach with these amazing girls want to mentor a new team next year!!
Since 2011, Girl Scout Robotics has become an important component of our suite of STEM programs. We’re thrilled to announce that for the first time, one of our talented teams will compete in the world championships!
The Tech Hoppers of Troop 3001 won the NYC FIRST Lego League Robotics Tournament and have advanced to the international FIRST Lego League World Championshipsin Detroit!
After years of hard work, the Tech Hoppers from Roosevelt Island will join tens of thousands of students, educators, and STEM industry professionals at a multi-day competition this month. We could not be more proud!
We are working to raise $25,000 to send the Tech Hoppers to the Championship, and we hope friends like you will invest in these young engineers.
Congrats to the Roosevelt Island Girls Scouts Tech Hoppers team for your achievements to date. Roosevelt Island is rooting for you in the Championships. Good Luck.
Join neighbors from the surrounding area for an island Egg Hunt. Gather at Firefighters park (across from 405 Main Street) for a free egg hunt. Get ready for some live music, kids activities, snacks, and 10,000 Eggs filled with candy!
We will also be raffling fun prize baskets from our local Roosevelt Island businesses. This is your place to purchase your discount raffle tickets below. The day of prices will go up!
UPDATE 4/20, 10:55 AM - According to the Hope Church:
Parents and Guardians,
Sorry for the change, but we will postpone until 4PM today
We will still meet at (Firefighters field) at 4PM
Hope to see everyone there.
Get out those rain boots! It will be a messy (and memorable) egg hunt!
UPDATE 7:20 PM - After a few hours delay due to the rain earlier this morning the Roosevelt Island Egg Hunt took place with approximately 500 families taking part.
Here are some scenes.
Anticipation before start of Roosevelt Island Egg Hunt at Firefighters Field. pic.twitter.com/JqUcbDLnUd
After the rush to pick up as many eggs as possible, I witnessed a very nice act of kindness by one young Roosevelt Islander. A boy named Matthew learned that a friend was upset because she was not able to get many eggs. Matthew took some of the eggs in his basket and slipped them into his friend's basket - Well done Matthew!
ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS Apr 19 - 22, 9:45 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon Coney Island-bound F trains run via the E from Roosevelt Av, Queens to Canal St, Manhattan and via the A to Jay St-MetroTech, Brooklyn.
No Coney Island-bound F service at 21 St-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Av/63, 57 St, 47-50 Sts, 42 St-Bryant Pk, 34 St-Herald Sq, 23, 14, B'way-Lafayette Sts, 2 Av, Delancey St, East Broadway and York St.
For F Train service to Manhattan, take the Jamaica bound F to Roosevelt Ave, Jackson Heights and switch to the Manhattan bound F running on the E line. Will take about 20 minutes to Roosevelt Avenue.
Please be advised that, due to a planned F train service disruption, we will be adding free Red Bus shuttles this Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st, to and from the RI and Manhattan Tram stations. The shuttle will run between 11 AM and 8:30 PM.
The Tram will be operating with only one cabin in service this weekend.
For MTA F train service details please go to mta.info for up to the minute changes.
What are my travel alternatives?
Red Bus Shuttle- service will be available on April 20th and 21st, between 11 AM and 8:30 PM, to and from the Manhattan Tram Station, beginning from the R.I. Tram Station.
Red Bus Shuttle pick-up locations:
Manhattan: Southwest corner of 58th St. and 2nd Ave.
Roosevelt Island: Tram Station Plaza
NYC Ferry service (ferry.nyc) are available to and from Manhattan.
Q102 MTA bus service is also an option to connect to Midtown Manhattan-bound trains at Queensboro Plaza.
... a versatile vocalist known for her beautiful tone and incredible range that's topped off with blazing high notes. As a singing actress with operatic and theatrical technical training, she frequently performs classical music, musical theater and new works by composers and writers in NYC....
MST&DA Instructor and Choreographer Haley Ostir said of the most recent Broadway Boot Camp:
It was great to see the kids “doing it all”. It’s important for kids to be exposed to Singing, Dancing & Acting. I think that’s why the camp was such a success, everyone got a taste of everything. It’s great to see kids dance different styles that they typically don’t do every week.
I also think at MSTDA we are incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to have the theatre at our finger tips, giving the kids a chance to perform at the end of the day for families and friends with lights and everything!
and Roosevelt Island Parent/Community Pastor at Hope Church Amanda Sadlier adds:
Lucy (age 7) Loved the Bootcamp. It was her first experience with MSTDA. She came home from the class and kept singing, acting, and dancing all week! The teachers and environment made her feel completely comfortable and we loved being able to see what they worked on at the end of the day!
Whether you are a Seder veteran with answers to all four questions or a curious explorer with 40 questions of your own, Chabad's Seder offers a stimulating & satisfying experience.
Friday April 19, 7:15 PM
Saturday April 20, 7:30 PM
Here's a brief virtual tour of Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossoms from April 16-17. (Click on the full screen icon at bottom right of video for better view).
It was an arranged marriage. We didn’t know each other; we hadn’t worked with each other before. And when we started, we weren’t quite sure how it would work. It’s been a 20-year relationship that expanded to us taking over all the retail on Roosevelt Island together.
Did you know it was going to be a 20-year project when you started?
No. We almost sent in a resignation letter. I mean it didn’t seem as sexy to be designated to work with Roosevelt Island [in the 1990s]. I drafted a letter saying, “No thanks, love and kisses, Hudson.” But I was chatting with some colleagues, and they said that seems like too good of an opportunity to turn up. So I put the letter away. But getting there … we didn’t start construction until December 2001...
Click here for entire The Real Deal interview with Mr Kramer.
Hudson Related is currently in construction on Riverwalk 8,
... Under the proposed Building 8 Ground Lease, a 21-story building comprised of approximately 240,000 square feet of floor area and 341 rental units, will be constructed. Building 8 will be financed under the Department of Housing Preservation and Development of the City of New York and the New York City Housing Development Corporation’s M2 Mixed Middle Income Program. RIOC seeks to preserve affordable housing, consistent with its mission and statutory purpose.
BUILDING 8 GROUND LEASE TERMS
Under the Building 8 Ground Lease (i) 3% of the 341 units will be reserved as Homeless Units, (ii) 3% of the units will be reserved for very low-income families with household incomes of 40% of AMI, (iii) 14% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 50% of AMI, (iv) 10% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 80% of AMI, (v) 20% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 100% of AMI, and (vi) 50% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 130% of AMI. This breakdown provides an even greater degree of affordability than was set forth in the Fifth Amendment.
To the extent permitted under the financing programs, current Roosevelt Island residents will be given preference in any affordable housing lottery with respect to Building 8....
and here's video
of Mr. Kramer with his Related colleagues discussing the affordable housing plan with RIOC Real Estate Advisory Committee during November 7, 2018 meeting.
During the November 7 meeting, Mr. Kramer said he would love to give Roosevelt Island residents a preference for the affordable units but the NYC Housing Preservation Department, which is providing project financing said the preference is for entire Community Board 8 and not limited to Roosevelt Island residents.
It's impossible to walk down Roosevelt Island's Main Street without hearing residents talk about the transportation mess that occurred at last Saturday's Cherry Blossom Festival.
Huge line for Roosevelt Island Tram. Overwhelmed by Roosevelt Idland cherry blossom festival and visitors are still coming. Vehicles are stopped from coming over RI bridge. pic.twitter.com/UNE5mlbmP2
There are so many stories of Roosevelt Island residents and visitors safety put in danger by the enormous crowds overwhelming our local transportation infrastructure. Just one example from a resident described:
What a mess. The attendees were put in great danger. The accountability goes to the organizers and RIOC. There were not enough food vendors, the water was shut off, public transportation was insufficient and at some point almost impossible to get off the island. The subway station was so crowded that no one could go in or out of the station. That was really VERY DANGEROUS. Neighbors reported close to an hour wait to get out of the station. Where was public safety?, why was NYPD not contacted to help with crowd control?
Organizing an event of this magnitude requires many hours of work, carefully crafted contingency plans and lots of logistic organization.
We are in the midst of debriefings and will have a lot to say in the near term. But, there were no “transportation problems”, ... — there were about 3 times as many folks as last year. NYPD and RIOC made decisions based upon safety concerns. No one was hurt and no one got arrested.
A RIOC spokesperson provided a more detailed statement this evening:
On Saturday, April 13th, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) presented their annual Cherry Blossom Festival, partnering with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) and FDR Four Freedoms State Park. While the event was highly successful, with great weather, fabulous entertainment, Japanese culture, and of course the beautiful cherry blossom trees, the island experienced overcrowding in its transportation hubs, at the Tramway, Subway, and Ferry. In addition, the Roosevelt Island Bridge had an influx of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, causing intermittent delays and, at times, complete shutdowns to vehicular access were necessary as a safety precaution.
Historically, the typical crowd size for this event has been approximately 2,000 – 3,000 people, until 2018 when approximately 10,000 guests attended. As a result of this increase, RIOC anticipated an even larger crowd size in 2019 and, focusing its attention on safety, re-evaluated the event layout, travel restrictions, staffing, and security plan preceding this year’s event.
The RIOC Public Safety Department (PSD) partnered with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and NYCEM to provide additional on-island support. In addition, PSD was in contact with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to ensure there were no interruptions in subway service to Roosevelt Island. There were roughly 60 dedicated security personnel, which were comprised of RIOC Public Safety, NYPD officers, and outside security officers, on hand at the Festival. The NYPD provided an additional 16 officers, a lieutenant, and a sergeant who were on standby in case they were needed to manage the larger crowds.
This year the Cherry Blossom Festival had a record number of approximately 30,000 people attend. The Festival activities took place between 11 AM – 5 PM, however crowds continued to arrive on Roosevelt Island late in the day, reaching peak capacity between 4 – 4:30 PM. After closely monitoring the overcrowding at the Tram and subway, the following occurred:
The NYPD shut down the escalators at the Roosevelt Island subway stop at approximately 4:20 PM, allowing access in and out of the station from both directions.
At 4:45 PM the MTA stopped incoming trains to Roosevelt Island. RIOC also stopped Tram service from Manhattan so that both Tram cabins could be utilized to more quickly reduce crowd size on the island.
Bridge traffic onto the island was halted as a safety precaution.
Additional service (R Train) was added to the F line subway at Roosevelt Island.
MTA resumed incoming service at the Roosevelt Island subway at 4:54 PM.
At 6:15 PM, PSD reported trains were operating in both directions to the island and the Roosevelt Island Bridge was open to regular vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Regular Tram service resumed at 7:05 PM.
Overall, there were no incidents or injuries reported at the Festival. “Future Cherry Blossom Festivals, and other potential events of this scale, will be the subject of upcoming discussions among RIOC, its Board members, and RIRA now that greater NYC has discovered our island.” stated Susan Rosenthal, President/CEO of RIOC. “Roosevelt Island may no longer be the best kept secret in the city.” Rosenthal added.
Can you please address issue of the disruptions in lives of Roosevelt Island residents caused by the overwhelming number of visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival including the long delays getting to and from Roosevelt Island on the Tram, Ferry, subway and RI Bridge?
Also going forward, based on your experience, do you believe Roosevelt Island has infrastructure to handle events that will attract large number of visitors and do you plan on doing Cherry Blossom Festival next year?
The RIRA Cherry Blossom Festival Committee replied today:
The Cherry Blossom Festival on April 13, 2019 was a most memorable day for the following reasons:
The fantastic performances: everything from the Japanese Cultural Fair at Gallery RIVAA to the Tea Ceremonies at South Point Park, to the performances at Four Freedoms Park. The visitors were dazzled by the performers and we received endless positive feedback. The Cherry Blossom Festival Committee is very grateful to the neighbors, musicians, dancers and supporters who shared their talents.
For the first time in our nine-year history, the Committee was able to raise enough funds from local merchants, building managements and off-island organizations to pay the world-class musicians and dancers for their performances.
Members of the Committee are very thankful for the vast support and coordination among the local groups: the Roosevelt Island Residents Association, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, FDR Four Freedoms Park, Gallery RIVAA, the Roosevelt Island Japanese Association, the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance, The Noguchi Museum, the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association, the Roosevelt Island Parents’ Network, Amalgamated Bank, Bozzuto Management Company, Bread & Butter Deli, Cornell Tech, Fuji East, Gristedes, Hornblower, Hudson and The Related Companies, Island House Tenants Corp., Island Wine & Spirits, The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation, Manhattan Park, Resobox, Starbucks, Urban American, Wengerd Farms, Westview Preservation Partners and Wholesome Factory Market. Thank you as well to the financial sponsors and donors who gave in-kind items.
Our neighbor, the renowned Noguchi Museum, participated in our Cherry Blossom Festival for the first time!
The exuberant attendance exceeded all expectations. It’s safe to say no one anticipated the overwhelming number of the many thousands of people visiting. Whether visitors headed south to participate in our programmed events, or simply strolled north of the tram and subway to view the necklace of cherry blossom trees around Roosevelt Island, everyone delighted in this annual glorious spring display.
Let’s also give credit to all the employees of all the island establishments and the Cherry Blossom Festival volunteers who, in the face of an overwhelming number of visitors, maintained a calm and orderly atmosphere.
The scope of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association is the creation, production, staffing, promotion and maintenance of the cultural integrity of the Cherry Blossom Festival’s programming. One of the quintessential elements of the traditional Japanese cherry blossom celebration is to witness to the actual popping of the cherry blossoms while picnicking under the trees. We give our residents and visitors alike that rare opportunity and that special experience, not often found outside Japan, as they picnic under the cherry blossom trees around the island. This is what makes our festival most authentic. Every year is a learning experience; as the Cherry Blossom Festival continues, we will incorporate what was learned this year, and in the previous years, into our plans.
As for the issues related to transportation, to the best of our knowledge, RIOC was in regular communication with the MTA prior to the Festival regarding continuous service of the F train.
The status of our infrastructure and transportation shortcomings, which is something that Roosevelt Island residents know all too well, has again been called to the attention of our elected officials. Many of them spoke to our festival audiences and witnessed different aspects of these challenges. Let us hope this first-hand experience, plus the widespread news coverage, may serve as the basis to address and fix the shortfalls in our infrastructure and transportation.
Here's the RIRA Cherry Blossom Festival Committee welcoming crowd at FDR Four Freedoms Park and describing the origins of the Festival.
It's true that the Cherry Blossom performances at Four Freedoms Park were great
but a serious conversation must be had as to whether such events drawing huge crowds are worth the serious disruptions to the daily lives of Roosevelt Island residents.
I’ve never wanted to experience anything like Fyre Festival, but today I got way too close when we were stranded on Roosevelt Island. Had to walk across bridge to Queens just to get off! #FyreFestival#mta#fail#poorplanning#nyc@MTA
Registration is now open for Roosevelt Island's nine-week Spring youth soccer program, sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Youth Center.
The program is open to both residents and non-residents of Roosevelt Island. Boys and girls ages 5-18 are encouraged to sign-up by the April 22nd deadline.
The free program will run every Saturday from April 27th through June 29th. The program will take place at two locations: ages 9-18 will play at Firefighter’s Field between 9 AM – 12:30 PM and Ages 5-8 will play inside the Sportspark gymnasium between 1:30 PM – 5 PM. A detailed schedule will be released after the close of registration.
The program will provide varied workshop sessions of skills, drills, and scrimmages. Please note that space is limited. Registration is first come, first serve.
The plan to keep Firefighters Field permit-free on Saturday’s remains. Having the younger kids (5-8) at Sportspark was intentional, providing more focused skill development and a better understanding of the game. The spring soccer schedule will also allow for more play time on Firefighters field for the community.
Long time Roosevelt Island resident Nina Lublin reports:
I will say this about our Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department (PSD) -- on Saturday, April 13, they quickly rose to the occasion regarding a bizarre incident by the Good Shepherd Chapel
around 10 am. Please read carefully:
With the Farmers Market in high gear, early Cherry Blossom Festival arrivals out on Main Street, & the usual Saturday morning activity, only a small handful of folks saw a black van pull up to the bus stop by the Good Shepherd Chapel, saw two folks jump out from the van to grab a young woman kicking, screaming and resisting being pulled into the van, which then drove south on Main Street.
A few quick thinking RI folks ran to the PSD office while a few others looked for folks near
Nisi & the Chapel who saw what happened. The one PSD officer who was detailed to the Farmers Market & Crosswalk & closest to what was happening, was among the last to pick up on what was occurring.
In the 60 seconds it took the PSD folks to come out from the office, it was determined that the "grab" was part of a video or movie being recorded by some guy with a small video camera near the church -- WITHOUT any RIOC permit or even notifying PSO that they were even doing this.
The van was pulled over by PSD on its way back from their U-turn at the flagpole & held in front of the PSD office, with it's occupants laughing, the young woman inside saying "I'm OK, really", and with the Sargent in charge, whose name I cannot remember, lecturing the "film maker" about RIOC permits, PSD notifications, and responding to his claim that "we told the people in the bus stop what we were doing", as if that made it OK.
The mom of the two small children (about 4- & 6-yrs old) and a few others were a little traumatized after being too close to what was happening. We all did our best to calm them down.
This could have been a very different event with a different outcome... We are lucky to live somewhere that when we do see something, we do say something -- and quickly.
Bravo to the PSD for doing their jobs -- especially this time.
Here's an update to yesterday's post about the Roosevelt Island transportation mess resulting from the huge numbers of visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival.
The line to get to the Roosevelt Island Manhattan Tram Station on Second Avenue stretched almost to 3rd Avenue during yesterday's Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival as shown in picture below showing Tram riders waiting on line in the middle of 60th street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues.
Roosevelt Island residents are furious today over the long lines and delays at the Tram, Subway, Ferry and bridge caused by the overwhelming number of visitors going to the Cherry Blossom Festival today...
Today, I asked Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Susan Rosenthal:
Any statement from Rioc on the transportation problem yesterday during Cherry Blossom Festival?
Ms Rosenthal replied:
We are in the midst of debriefings and will have a lot to say in the near term. But, there were no “transportation problems”, ... — there were about 3 times as many folks as last year. NYPD and RIOC made decisions based upon safety concerns. No one was hurt and no one got arrested.
3 times as many visitors as last year would mean 30 Thousand visitors compared to last year's 10 thousand.
This beautiful Island is not prepared for big events like this, more bathrooms are needed there even in ordinary days to acomódate tourists, but some kind of system should be set up to give priority to residents when events are held or limited transportation is in order.
And
What a mess. The attendees were put in great danger. The accountability goes to the organizers and RIOC. There were not enough food vendors, the water was shut off, public transportation was insufficient and at some point almost impossible to get off the island. The subway station was so crowded that no one could go in or out of the station. That was really VERY DANGEROUS. Neighbors reported close to an hour wait to get out of the station. Where was public safety?, why was NYPD not contacted to help with crowd control?
Organizing an event of this magnitude requires many hours of work, carefully crafted contingency plans and lots of logistic organization.
And:
"Roosevelt Island residents were held hostage today on their island. Couldn't leave or return for hours. No toilets, no porta potties for the thousands of guest that visited the cherry blossom festival. No garbage pickup. Heads should roll on this."
And
"I’d like to know why, on a day temps were reportedly going to be in mid-seventies, all water fountains were TURNED OFF??!! We were directing visitors to them & they told us they weren’t working!! Another reason having a State Agency, RIOC, run a community just doesn’t work...no one in Albany listens or gives a damn. Welcome to our lives fellow New Yorkers!"
CM Kallos - We're seeing these reports at the Rail Control Center and are sending every other R train (in both directions) via Roosevelt Island to help provide more service to help alleviate the crowding in the station. ^SS
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.
