450 Roosevelt Island Residents Inoculated With Johnson & Johnson Single Dose Vaccine From Duane Reade/Walgreens At Carter Burden RI Senior Center Today - Appointments Available For Sunday March 14 Or Just Walk In And Get Your Shot And Peace Of Mind

At last count this evening, at least 450 Roosevelt Island residents were inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson single dose Covid 19 vaccination by the Duane Reade/Walgreens pharmacy staff today at the Carter Burden Roosevelt Island Senior Center. 

The Duane Reade/Walgreens pharmacy staff will be back tomorrow to inoculate more with the Johnson & Johnson Covid 19 vaccine. 

The vaccine is free. Only people 60 years of age and older as well as school staff and child care workers of any age are eligible for the vaccine at the Senior Center this weekend.

Click here to make an online Johnson & Johnson Covid 19 vaccine appointment for Sunday March 14 from 9 am - 5 PM at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center (546 Main Street).

Online registration is encouraged but walk ins are welcomed as well at the Senior Center.  

Roosevelt Island resident and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteer Frank Farance gives us a tour and explains the logistics of today's vaccination procedure.

Click here to register for tomorrow's vaccination or just walk in .
There were alot of happy Roosevelt Islanders today after receiving their vaccine shot.
It could be you tomorrow.

UPDATE 12/15 - 455 vaccinations on Saturday and 777 on Sunday for a total of 1232 at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center this weekend.

More from @RepMaloney at Roosevelt Island #JohnsonAndJohnsonVaccine Covid 29 @Walgreens site today pic.twitter.com/Aj6IbiI1P2

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) March 14, 2021

Roosevelt Island Resident Stephen Quandt Presents "My Story of the 2019 Spay/Neuter Campaign for the Dogs of Chernobyl Project and the Clean Futures Fund" Webinar Sunday March 14

Roosevelt Island resident Stephen Quandt reports:

The Dogs of Chernobyl 38 Years After the Nuclear Reactor Accident, My Story 

Date and Time 

Sun, March 14, 2021 

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EDT 

$5 

My Story of the 2019 Spay/Neuter Campaign for the Dogs of Chernobyl Project and the Clean Futures Fund 

 About this Event 

38 years after the nuclear accident I went to Chernobyl to participate in a spay/neuter campaign for the dogs that were descended from the pets left behind after the nuclear plant disaster of 1986. With many personally shot photos and videos I tell my story of meeting the inhabitants of the mostly abandoned town of Chernobyl City, the totally abandoned city of Pripyat and the dogs (and some cats!) that we encountered. It is a story of resilience, hope, life and even heroism. Q&A to follow.

 Click here to register for Stephen Quandt's webinar:

 The Dogs of Chernobyl 38 Years After the Nuclear Reactor Accident, My Story

More info on the Clean Futures Fund Dogs Of Chernobyl Clear project at their website.

Help Support Local Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Troops With Virtual Cookie Booth, Talent Show & Harry Potter Port Key Decoder Contest - Free Shipping On Girl Scout Cookies Purchased Or Donated Thru March 21 In Honor Of Organization's 109th Birthday Too

 Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Troop 3001 Leader Aiesha Eleusizov reports:

Tomorrow (March 12) is the 109th birthday of Girl Scouts of the USA!

In honor of the birthday, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York is offering free shipping on Girl Scout cookie purchases $20 and up from March 8 to March 21. So, if anyone is looking to have some cookies delivered, gifted or donated to food pantries in NYC, you can purchase from your favorite Girl Scout or from one of the 5 island troops.

I have included their links below!

Also, I wanted to let you know that the Roosevelt Island troops will not be holding their usual in-person Saturday farmers market booths due to COVID. However, Elle Erickson (leader of Junior Troop 3002) would like to share this, "The Junior Girl Scouts of Roosevelt Island invite you to a Virtual Cookie Booth on Saturday, March 13 at 6 pm.

Come for the Talent Showcase, test your Girl Scout cookie knowledge for a chance to win awesome prizes, and, of course BUY cookies! Cookie purchase is not required to attend the event nor win prizes" Use this link to register:  tinyurl.com/troop3002virtualbooth

In addition, the leader of our youngest troop (Brownies), Susy del Campo Perea wanted to share the following information with you, "The RI Brownie Troop 3244 will be making Harry Potter Port Keys for our community to find by the end of March.

There will be secret messages written on them. Keep an eye on the Port Key Decoder that will be shared soon. Are you willing to take the challenge and decode as many Port Keys as you can find? Our message aligns well with the organization that Troop 3233 will support with earnings from our cookies sales: Ronald MacDonald House NYC"

If anyone wants to purchase cookies from our troops, links to all of the troop digital cookie sales pages (in order from youngest to oldest troops) are: 

Troop 3233 (2^nd – 3^rd grades/Leaders: Susy DelCampo Perea and Fay Christian):  https://tinyurl.com/troop3233

Troop 3002 (4^th-5^th grades/Leaders: Elle Erickson and Kristin Bruan): digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/troop3002-161 

Troop 3536 (6^th-7^th grades/Leaders: Dimaura Cole and Liz Pirraglia):  digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/troop3536-161 

Troop 3001 (6^th – 9^th grades/Leaders: Aiesha Eleusizov and Yitza Martinez): DigitalCookie.GirlScouts.org/scout/troop3001-161

Troop 3244 (11^th - 12^th grades/Leaders: Aiesha Eleusizov and Jasmine Castillo):  DigitalCookie.GirlScouts.org/scout/troop3244-161

Nursing Home Lives Matter Twilight Vigil At Roosevelt Island Coler Nursing Facility Saturday March 13, On Facebook Live Too - Honoring Lives Lost And Mourning Loss Of Freedom And Connection Of Those Locked Inside For A Year Says Friends Of Coler Organizers

A staggering 34% of Covid deaths in the US are linked to nursing homes. March 13 marks a year since nursing home residents have been in lockdown. Join us Sat. March 13th at 6 pm outside of Coler Nursing Home or virtually on FB to mark this sobering milestone. #HighRiskCovid19 pic.twitter.com/HpZFzIH4G7

— OPEN DOORS (@opendoorsnyc) March 4, 2021

Coler nursing home residents on Roosevelt Island have been #lockeddown for over a year now. They only receive 45 minutes of outside time, and cannot receive visitors. It is almost every week that new staff member tests positive and entire units are locked down. #HighRiskCovid19 pic.twitter.com/gX0awHVxvJ

— OPEN DOORS (@opendoorsnyc) March 10, 2021

Many of the residents in Coler are Black and brown disabled people, and not all of them are elderly. The deaths undercounted by the Cuomo admin are largely POC. #NursingHomeLivesMatter founder Vince Pierce created this video in response. pic.twitter.com/4PhFshQsTN

— OPEN DOORS (@opendoorsnyc) March 10, 2021

The Friends Of Coler are a group of Roosevelt Island residents organizing to help the patients and staff of NYC Health & Hospitals Corp (HHC) Coler Facility during the Coronavirus pandemc.  According to Friends Of Coler:

Dear Friends of Coler, 

We invite you to join Nursing Home Lives Matter outside of Coler or on Facebook live: facebook.com/opendoorsnyc for a Twilight Vigil

Join to listen and bear witness to the ongoing human toll of the pandemic’s mismanagement. We will channel our grief into a call for more holistic policies and practices to protect nursing home residents because #IsolationKillsToo.  

Join to read the names of lost friends, hold space for those who remain nameless, and memorialize this year of catastrophic loss through remembrances, protest, and poetry by Coler residents and remarks from local faith leaders and elected officials. We will close with an awe-inspiring temporal artwork that affirms #NursingHomeLivesMatter

Honoring those we’ve lost and mourning the loss of freedom and connection for those who’ve been locked inside for a year.

Saturday, March 13, 6 pm EST (Rain Date: Sunday, March 14, 6 pm EST)
In person: Coler Nursing Home—900 Main St, Roosevelt Island, NY
& Virtual: OPEN DOORS Facebook Live: facebook.com/opendoorsnyc 

Last month the New York Attorney General’s office released a report declaring that the state vastly undercounted nursing home deaths. It is unacceptable that these lives were erased and politicized, and once reported became statistics. March 12th will be one year since the state' lockdown on nursing homes began. 

Join us on Saturday, the 13th, at 6pm, outside of Coler Nursing Home and online, to mark this sobering milestone. From both sides of Coler’s fence, we will honor those we’ve lost, known and unknown, and mourn the loss of freedom and connection by those still confined inside Coler and other congregate facilities, cut off from their agency and loved ones.

One Coler resident describes their experience of isolation this past spring, summer, fall, winter by saying, “This isn’t a life, this is an existence.”

We will listen and bear witness to the ongoing human toll of the pandemic’s mismanagement. We will channel our grief into a call for more holistic policies and practices to protect nursing home residents because #IsolationKillsToo.  

We will read the names of lost friends, hold space for those who remain nameless, and memorialize this year of catastrophic loss through remembrances, protest, and poetry by Coler residents and remarks from local faith leaders and elected officials. We will close with an awe-inspiring temporal artwork that affirms #NursingHomeLivesMatter.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OPEN DOORS (@opendoorsnyc)

If you would like to join Friends of Coler, send them an email.

Roosevelt Island Transportation This Weekend - E Train Replaces F To And From Manhattan, Tram Social Distancing Increased To 50 Cabin Riders, Ferry Service And Citibikes Too

According to the MTA, the E train replaces the F train for Roosevelt Island subway service to and from Manhattan this weekend and upcoming weekends thru March 29: 

TUNNEL REHABILITATION Fri 9:45 PM to Mon 5 AM* until Mar 29. F Trains are replaced by the E between 21 St-Queensbridge and Delancey St-Essex St

Our Rutgers Tunnel work continues! Here's a snapshot of some work we've done so far:

Replaced 9,270 linear feet (LF) of rails
Installed 9,300 LF of temporary tunnel lighting
Began replacing track ties, plates, and third rail equipment

Learn more: https://t.co/52y8ADvf25 pic.twitter.com/r0xmIxWHZ4

— MTA. Wear a Mask. Stop the Spread. (@MTA) February 19, 2021

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) adds:

While we continue to follow social distancing and align our operations with New York Forward guidance, we also continue to incrementally increase the number of passengers permitted on the Tram. Tram capacity will increase on Monday, March 8th, from 35 to 55 passengers per cabin, and we will continue to assess and gradually increase ridership in phases. We understand the need for this mode of transportation, however, the health and safety of our riders and operators are our priority. We appreciate your cooperation.

Here's the NYC Ferry Roosevelt Island Astoria Route Schedule which extends to East 90th street on the Upper East Side. 

And Roosevelt Island Citbike docking stations. 

Sponsored Post - Check Out Roosevelt Island Foodtown Supermarket March 12- March 18 Product Offerings, St Patrick's Day Sales & Seafood Special Items - Online Shopping, Delivery Option, Digital Coupons & Customer Appreciation Month Too

The Roosevelt Island Foodtown Supermarket invites you to check out their March 12 - March 18 Weekly Flyer

for Product Offerings, Specials and Sales Items

Click here to visit the Roosevelt Island Foodtown Supermarket web site for online shopping, delivery options, digital coupons, weekly flyer and more

Follow Roosevelt Island Foodtown Supermarket on Facebook.

Duane Reade/Walgreens Bringing Johnson & Johnson Covid 19 Single Dose Vaccine To Roosevelt Island Carter Burden Senior Center This Weekend -Only Those 60 Or Older, School And Child Care Workers Eligible For Now, Register Online Or Walk Ins Welcome Too

As reported yesterday:

... there's a possibility an allotment of the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine will be made available on Roosevelt Island in the next few days if there is a significant demand for it.... 

Today, the Carter Burden Network Roosevelt Island Senior Center announced:

We have great news to share with you all. This weekend the Roosevelt Island Senior Center will be a VACCINATION SITE for the Johnson & Johnson single dose.

The vaccine is free. Only people 60 years of age and older as well as school staff and child care workers of any age are eligible for the vaccine at the Senior Center this weekend.

Click on links to make an online Johnson & Johnson Covid 19 vaccine appointment for Saturday March 13 from 9 AM-5 PM or Sunday March 14 from 9 am - 5 PM at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center (546 Main Street).

Online registration is encouraged but walk ins are welcomed as well at the Senior Center.

Carter Burden Roosevelt Island Senior Center Executive Director Lisa Fernandez adds:

... We will do our best to get this community vaccinated against Covid 19...

Duane Reade/Walgreens representatives met with Ms Fernandez, and Roosevelt Island residents Mary Coleman and Louella Streitz this afternoon to review the logistics of vaccinating eligible community members at the Senior Center site.

I spoke with them shortly after finishing the site logistic review.

Please click on links to make an online Johnson & Johnson Covid 19 vaccine appointment for Saturday March 13 from 9 AM-5 PM or Sunday March 14 from 9 am - 5 PM at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center (546 Main Street). 

Or just walk in to the Senior Center this weekend for your Covid 19 vaccination.

UPDATE 11 PM:

Dr. Zucker: “Whether it’s Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer or Moderna, each is safe and effective. So please, when it is your time, get your vaccine. Do it. It’s the only way we will end this crisis, reclaim our lives, and create a better future for everyone.” #VaccinateNY pic.twitter.com/CM3N4kx3aM

— NYSDOH (@HealthNYGov) March 9, 2021

New Yorkers Over 60 Years Of Age Now Eligible For Covid 19 Vaccination - Roosevelt Island Duane Reade/Walgreens Doing 100 Second Doses And 200 First Doses This Week, Possibly More If There Is Interest By The Community

NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio reported today:

...we've been talking about now for months is the fact that New York City needs the freedom to vaccinate, that New York City can do so much for our people if we simply have the right to do what we know we need to do. Oftentimes we ran into roadblocks, sometimes at the federal level, sometimes with the vaccine manufacturers, often with the State of New York. What we really need is the ability to control our own destiny, because here we have some of the finest public health professionals anywhere in the country, we have massive capacity in terms of being able to vaccinate people right down to the neighborhood level all over the city. But what we need is the freedom to vaccinate, and we've been fighting for that freedom now for weeks and weeks. We have some good news today. Once again, finally, Albany has heard us and we have new eligibility rules for New Yorkers 60 years old now and older – you can get vaccinated. That's good news for so many hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. And for government workers who interact with the public, who work with the public directly, you can now get vaccinated – makes a lot of sense, should have happened a long time ago, now it's here....

We fought for the freedom to vaccinate and today we can announce new #COVID19 vaccine eligibility rules are in effect:

• Anyone 60+ beginning TODAY.
• Public-facing government employees, building service workers and non-profit workers beginning March 17.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 10, 2021

Public-facing gov't employees, nonprofit workers & essential building service workers are eligible for the vaccine beginning March 17.

All sites can vaccinate anyone who is eligible—except pharmacies which will be reserved to vaccinate 60+ & teachers.https://t.co/SqtxtKYQJ4

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 9, 2021

To date, our local Duane Reade/Walgreens pharmacy is the only location on Roosevelt Island providing Covid 19 vaccinations - the Moderna vaccine. Click here to make your Duane Reade?Walgreen online Covid 19 vaccine appointment reservation and for more info.

 

Yesterday I asked a Duane Reade/Walgreens company spokesperson:

Now that Governor Cuomo made those 60 and over eligible for the Covid vaccine, will they be able to get the vaccine at the Roosevelt Island Duane Reade/Walgreens?

Is there any update regarding vaccinations at Roosevelt Island Duane Reade? Are you still getting 100 doses weekly? Any expectation of getting more doses now that more people are eligible?

The spokesperson replied:

Yes, we will be following the state guidelines on 60 plus. We are currently schedule to administer 100 second doses and 200 hundred first doses this week.

Also, there's a possibility an allotment of the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine will be made available on Roosevelt Island in the next few days if there is a significant demand for it.

Dr. Zucker: “Whether it’s Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer or Moderna, each is safe and effective. So please, when it is your time, get your vaccine. Do it. It’s the only way we will end this crisis, reclaim our lives, and create a better future for everyone.” #VaccinateNY pic.twitter.com/CM3N4kx3aM

— NYSDOH (@HealthNYGov) March 9, 2021

Click here to make your Duane Reade?Walgreen online Covid 19 vaccine appointment reservation and for more info.  Covid 19 vaccination appointments are currently available at the Roosevelt Island Duane Reade/Walgreen

Roosevelt Island Resident Tik Tok Viral Video Sensation Is Guest On Ellen DeGeneres Show Today - Watch Our Neighbor Tell Story About The Spooky Mystery Apartment Behind Her Bathroom Mirror And Receives Gift Of New Bathroom Vanity And $10 Thousand From Ellen

As reported earlier this week, Roosevelt Island resident Samantha Hartsoe became an internet sensation when her Tik Tok videos went viral showing what appears to be a mysterious apartment hidden behind her Roosevelt Landings bathroom mirror. We followed Ms Hartsoe on video as she crawled through the hole behind her bathroom mirror and discovered an empty apartment.

Today, Ms Hartsoe appeared on the Ellen show and explained what happened. At the end of the interview, Ellen DeGeneres surprised our Roosevelt Island neighbor with a gift of a new bathroom vanity and $10 Thousand.

Watch the interview.

What's the deal with the mystery apartment behind her bathroom mirror? According to a  Roosevelt Landings building spokesperson:

The apartment abutting Ms. Hartsoe's bathroom is being renovated, and the opening she found was created during that renovation work. Yesterday, our building staff closed the opening. Our staff reached out to Ms. Hartsoe and her roommates today to address any additional concerns they may have and is awaiting their response

Local Artist Tony Vita And RIVAA Celebrate Reopening of NY Public Library Roosevelt Island Branch With Amazing Poster Art At Main Street Window Display - Library Is Where The Incredible Takes Flight, Mystery Lives, Imagination Happens, Inventions Begins, Adventure Happens And Imagination Lives

Roosevelt Island resident and artist Tony Vita, together with the Roosevelt Island Visual Artists Association (RIVAA), are showcasing a visual celebration of the New York Public Library Roosevelt Island branch reopening with amazing posters by Mr Vita that are currently being presented in the Rivercross building window at 531 Main Street.

According to Mr. Vita:

A few years ago I designed a series of posters honoring our local library branch. Two of them were displayed at the entrance of the old library location. I never got to display the rest of the posters.

The opportunity came when it was RIVAA, The Roosevelt Island Artist Association's turn to mount an installation in the Rivercross Display Window. I thought it was perfect timing to celebrate the opening of our beautiful new library and RIVAA's 20th year in the Roosevelt Island community.

On a personal note, I've always loved libraries. As a kid I remember being enthralled by the picture books in the Wakefield library branch in the North Bronx where I was brought up. 

Later on in that same library I discovered Rachel Carson, Jules Verne, Adlous Huxley, H.G. Wells and Ray Bradbury. As an adult I took refuge in that library when my Dad was dying where I sat in the reading room with a copy of The Name Of The Rose by Umbeto Eco when I could get away.  

I hope my posters help folks to recognize the importance of our Roosevelt Island Library Branch and RIVAA to the community.

As Mr. Vita's posters illustrate, the Roosevelt Island Library is a place:

Where The Incredible Takes Flight, Mystery Lives, Imagination Happens, Inventions Begins, Adventure Happens And Imagination Lives

Take a look at some of Mr Vita'a other work. It's wonderful!!!

The brand new Roosevelt Island Public Library re-opened last January 25. Branch librarian Carlos Chavez gave us a tour.
 

The library is currently open for grab and go service only due to the Covid Pandemic.

Discover more of Tony Vita's work at his website and Instagram Page.

Roosevelt Island Meat Lovers Rejoice, Wholesome Macelleria High End Italian Butcher Shop Grand Opening Monday March 8 In Main Street Rivercross Building- Pass The Porchetta Please

Roosevelt Island is getting a new Shop On Main Street tomorrow with the Grand Opening of Wholesome Macelleria in the long empty Rivercross building premises at 503 Main Street.

As previously reported:

... In July 2016, Main Street Retail Master Leaseholder Hudson Related announced that Cafe Eleanor, a Panini Bar with beer and wine license would open in the long empty space. On several occasions these last 4 years, we were told Cafe Eleanor was soon opening but it never did. The Cafe Eleanor owner also owns the Wholesome Food Factory Organic Market and Island Wines on Main Street...

...  The owners of Cafe Eleanor have changed concepts due to the pandemic and the restraints of indoor dining. With the restaurant industry's uncertainty, they have opted to change the use to an essential business. 

It will be an Italian Butcher Shop selling high quality meats. No prepared foods. No seating.

Wholesome Macelleria is the name of the new Italian Butcher store....

Pass the Porchetta please?