... will be having a Fundraiser this Saturday January25th, to support the reconstruction efforts for the Australia Bushfire Crisis.
The crisis is unprecedented and the situation is very alarming. RI is a place where a lot of us come from different countries, and our Girl Scouts have the opportunity to make this World a better place and to help out.
Gallery RIVAA (527 Main Street) invites you to a New Year2020 Celebration later today, Friday, January 24 starting at 7 PM. You are encouraged to bring your good humor and wear a Hat.
Are you a teacher interested in working very close to Roosevelt Island? If yes, there are several job opportunities available for elementary and middle school teachers, as well as classroom assistants, at the Voice Charter School located in Long Island City just a few blocks from the Roosevelt Island Bridge.
Open Mic Jazz Night is a fundraiser for L18 Infinity's Environmental Legacy Project. All proceeds will go to the Sierra Club Foundation to plant 1,000 trees to combat climate change.
Saturday January 25, 6-9 PM.
Roosevelt Island Seniors Association 546 Main Street, Roosevelt Island NY 10044.
Light refreshments will be served. Tickets are $25.
RISA Secretary/Community Outreach Andrea Jackson adds:
LI-8 Infinity is a team of 28 intergenerational students from the Altru Learning Center. They have selected and partnered with The Sierra Club to fulfill Sierra Clubs need to plant 1000 trees in April with the NYC Parks. Dept. LI 8 means Legacy Infinity Project #8 - The Sierra Club. The Goal is to leave a legacy of assisting in Environmental Sustainability to combat Climate change.
The youngest of the Roosevelt Island Girl Scouts will be having a Fundraiser this Saturday January25th, to support the reconstruction efforts for the Australia Bushfire Crisis.
The crisis is unprecedented and the situation is very alarming. RI is a place where a lot of us come from different countries, and our Girl Scouts have the opportunity to make this World a better place and to help out.
The 2020 Census is around the corner — and it will shape New York City’s future for years to come.
Once every ten years, the United States Census takes a count of every person in the United States. The taking of the census is mandated by the United States Constitution and has occurred every 10 years since 1790.
But the census is so much more than just a count. Census information is used to determine New York City’s fair share of $650 billion in federal funds for public education, public housing, infrastructure, and more — as well as the number of seats we have in Congress.
Because so much is at stake, it's critical that New Yorkers stand up and be counted in the 2020 Census.
In the 2010 Census, the city’s self-response rate was less than 62%, compared to the national average of 76%.
We need every New Yorker to get involved to ensure that their community is counted next year.
The Roosevelt Island 2010 Census Self Response Rate was 71.3%, higher than the 61.9% average for NYC but lower than the national of 75.8%
Roosevelt Island resident Mary Fitzgerald, a pioneering member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), celebrated her 97 birthday last Friday, January 17. According to this 2018 NY Daily News article reporting on the retired Detective's 95 birthday:
Before heading off to work, Mary Fitzgerald typically checked her oversized handbag: Keys. Makeup. A .38-caliber revolver....
... "I thought it would be an interesting job," the razor-sharp Fitzgerald told the Daily News about joining the force in December 1952. "It certainly proved to be."
In the era of stay-at-home TV moms like June Cleaver, Fitzgerald broke down barriers on the pickpocket squad and then in the Intelligence Division....
Born in the #Bronx, she spent over 30 years serving NYC & paved the way for the more than 6,000 female officers active today. Had a great time visiting her today on #RooseveltIsland! pic.twitter.com/LRCPDViLeY
Retired Detective Fitzgerald was honored on June 27, 2018 by Senator Serrano with the 2018 Woman of Distinction Award. Ms Fitzgerald is shown below at the 2018 Woman of Distinction Award Ceremony with Senator Serrano, Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Susan Rosenthal and NYPD Ceremonial Unit officers
Roosevelt Island NY State Senator Jose Serrano will honor Roosevelt Island resident Mary Fitzgerald as a 2018 Woman Of Distinction. According to Senator Serrano's office:
A Bronx native, Ms. Fitzgerald had an illustrious career in the NYPD spanning several decades from 1952-1983. During her time in the NYPD, Fitzgerald protected several of the 20th century’s most iconic women— from Israel’s Prime Minister Golda Meir and Queen Sophia of Spain to First Ladies Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Nancy Reagan. She spent 31 years serving the residents of New York City in the NYPD before retiring in 1983 at the age of sixty.
"Women like Mary paved the way for the more than 6,000 female NYPD officers active today," said Senator Serrano. "Her incredible story, spanning three decades of serving the people of our city, is an important part of New York history and I am proud to honor her as this year's Woman of Distinction.”
The Woman of Distinction award highlights outstanding women living and working in New York State whose contributions have greatly enriched the quality of life in their communities and beyond.
Here's the 2018 Woman Of Distinction Award ceremony honoring Roosevelt Island resident and retired detective Mary Fitzgerald beginning with:
Part 1- presentation of colors and singing of the National Anthem, RIOC President Rosenthal describing Mary Fitzgerald as an inspiration for other women,
Part 2 - Senator Serrano praising Ms Fitzgerald for her pioneering service and
Part 3 - Mary Fitzgerald thanking everyone for their presence at the Ceremony as well as expressing appreciation to all the current NYPD police woman (approximately 6 thousand) for their service.
The third Monday in January has been designated as a Federal holiday in honor of
the birthday of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
who was born January 15, 1929 and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Every so often, I re-read Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. While
some of the injustices may have changed, his poetic brilliance, moral
clarity, and tests of conscience still reverberate today. Take a moment to
reflect on his righteous call:
https://t.co/oBdqFqdWA6
... A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of
being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law.
Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's
segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of
devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters,
and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a
majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law
enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?
Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in it's application. For
instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now,
there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a
parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain
segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful
assembly and protest....
Politcio
has an excellent article on the last years of Dr. King's life.
... Almost 50 years after his death, we remember MLK as the transcendent
figure who helped lift the South out of Jim Crow. We also remember him as
almost preternaturally calm in the face of great pressure and danger. He was
indeed all of these things. But the passage of time has obscured his
dimensionality. In the last years of his life, King expanded his vision beyond
the former Confederacy and took on a broader struggle to dismantle America’s
jigsaw edifice of racial and economic discrimination—a struggle that took him
deep into northern states and cities, where onetime allies became bitter
enemies. He did so even as he strained to keep a fractious civil rights
movement unified, and in the face of unremitting sabotage from federal
authorities.
He was a young man, still in his 30s—foisted onto the national stage with
actors many years or decades his senior, suspect in the eyes of both younger
and older civil rights leaders—and the burdens of leadership took their toll
on him....
Take a moment today to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the good work he
accomplished to make our country a better place.
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have
a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb
agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by
love.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
pic.twitter.com/M1HAO4tHvg
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.
