Watch Video Of Roosevelt Island Southpoint Park Shoreline Project Virtual Town Hall Hosted By Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright With RIOC President Shelton Haynes

The Roosevelt Island Virtual Town Hall meeting on Southpoint Park Shoreline Restoration Project ended a few minutes ago. Here's video of the meeting.



Click here for more info and background on the issue.

Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATE 7/15 - According to Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright:

Roosevelt Island residents, constituents, and stakeholders raised legitimate concerns on the Southpoint Park project at last evening's Town Hall Tuesday Livestream, which I hosted. We had a lively discussion about the much-needed reconstruction of retaining walls, the integrity of the adjacent wildlife habitat, the bird sanctuary, and the environmental site that hosts dozens of mature, shade bearing trees.

I'm pleased that RIOC is stepping up its efforts with much-needed communications, including weekly bulletins, and an energized website to function as an action line that responds to questions from residents and stakeholders within 48 hours. These are positive signs, but we must do much more to restore community confidence.

The next step will be on Friday, when RIOC will offer, at my request, special information tours of the site to the public between 10 and noon.  I urge all interested to reserve a place on the tour by emailing my office at seawrightr@nyassembly.gov.

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Acting President Shelton Haynes adds:

Last night’s Town Hall went well and was a good platform to share the details of the overall project and to respond to real time inquiries via Facebook.

Our subject matter experts provided a good overview and visuals of the current conditions of the seawall. I was happy to hear and answer the concerns that were expressed and hope that it gave way for a better understanding as to why this project is so important for Southpoint Park.

Going forward, we will be taking several steps to educate the public on the SPP Shoreline Restoration Project and highlight the necessity for the work to be performed. In response to the community concerns regarding the impact of the project and next steps following the Town Hall, we will continue to provide more information and respond to inquiries from the community. Questions can be submitted to an email created for this project: SPPprojectinfo@rioc.ny.gov. In addition, a section on our website has been created for the project and will serve as an information hub where residents and stakeholders can learn more about the history, present conditions and future plan of SPP (rioc.ny.gov/513). We will also utilize other communication outlets such as notices, social media and RIOC Advisories to share information when it becomes available.

As I mentioned in last night’s Town Hall, we have invited the community and our stakeholders to a scheduled walkthrough of the areas included in this project, led by our project team, on Friday, July 17th, from 10 AM- 12 PM. We will meet groups, no more than 10 per group, at the entrance of SPP and tour the project. We hope to move forward soon after taking these necessary to convey the dire need to begin this project that will address a very serious seawall condition.

I hope you can join us.