I had the honor to receive a Marjorie Matthews Award today for service with
the Coler Community Advisory Board and the Coler Auxiliary. The ceremony was
held at the Queens Hospital Center.
There are over 500 volunteers who work on these committees to make our
municipal hospitals better serve all the residents of New York City,
Watch Coler CEO Robert Huges introduce Ms Berdy at the awards ceremony
followed by a few remarks by Ms Berdy.
Roosevelt Island's Gallery RIVAA (527 Main Street) is hosting a July 24 opening reception for
it's new Summer Splash Painting exhibition Saturday, July 24 from 6-9 PM.
You're invited.
Summer Splash Painting features large scale works by artists Laura Hussey,
Valeriu Boborelu and Ioan Popoiu.
Also on July 25 from 2:30-5:30 at Gallery RIVAA there will be a jazz jam session with Susheel Kurien and local musicians. It is free and all are welcome
Masks are required for all who are not vaccinated.
Today I was proud to hold a community meeting with our Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer, leaders, and activists from our community.
pic.twitter.com/jYr3Q65dsH
Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright today held a special district meeting with
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for community leaders of the Upper
East Side, Yorkville and Roosevelt Island.
The meeting with the New York senior senator at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood
House was arranged by Seawright to hear from the Senator on federal aid for
tenants, small businesses, transportation, health and other vital issues of
community concern. Attendees included advocates, activists, non-profit
representatives, local school leaders, and local hospital healthcare
officials.
"We owe a debt of gratitude to Majority Leader Schumer who has been tireless
in securing direct economic support to enable our communities to rise, unite
and fight back from COVID-19," said Seawright.
Seawright thanked Senator Schumer for fighting for economic impact payments,
federal pandemic unemployment compensation, enhanced child tax, and earned
income tax credits, two of the most potent and effective anti-poverty tools
the U.S. government provides.
"As we continue the recovery from the pandemic, we want to ensure that our
district is on the pathway to a thriving Upper East Side, Yorkville, and
Roosevelt Island, " she said.
Activists spent more than an hour sharing opinions and posing questions on
local concerns.
Before addressing local community issues, Senator Schumer described his
experience of January 6, beginning with the election of 2 Democratic Party
Senators from Georgia, becoming Senate Majority Leader and ending in the
attack and insurrection by supporters of President Trump at the Capital.
According to Senator Schumer:
... As a nation January 6 could be described, at least from my point
of view, by the opening line in Charles Dickens novel A Tale Of Two
Cities, the best of times the worst of times.
You may remember that January 5th was our election day in Georgia where we
had two Democratic senators if they won, we knew we'd get back to a
Democratic majority. Well, I was very nervous, I stayed up all night watched
the results Tuesday night bled into Wednesday morning.
I'm on the computer at 2 a.m. What's the results in Chatham county, how many
African-American turnout was there in Dekalb county. Finally at 4 00 a.m in
the morning, it's clear that we've won and we would gain the Democratic
majority.
I would replace Mitch McConnell as the majority leader...
... you probably asked yourself the same question I asked myself. How could
74 million people vote for such a despicable human being as Donald Trump and
I don't care if you're a liberal or a conservative Democrat or Republican,
he is a vile man, he is dishonest, he is divisive. That's what he loves to
do, just divide and have people fighting with each other. He's a racist and
he always appeals to the dark side of human nature which he's very good at
unfortunately.
How did they vote for him and I realized that for too many Americans they no
longer had faith in the American dream. We are a bright sunny optimistic
country or have been but in the last 20 years or so a sourness has overtaken
our land and people don't have faith in that American dream. If you ask the
average American what is the American dream to you they say it means
if I work hard I'll be doing better 10 years from now that I'm doing today
and my kids will be doing still better than me.
When people don't believe that, they can turn to a demagogue and that's what
they did to some extent in 2020. We didn't give them a bold strong vision.
Middle class and the people struggling to get to the middle class don't
expect us to snap our fingers and make all their troubles go away but they
expect to see progress. Our mission and moral was to restore that progress
and hope, so they would never turn to a demigod like they did in 2016 and
almost did in 2020. So those were my feelings, joy but awe.
I can't sleep. I get in the car at 7 30 in the morning, drive down to
Washington and get on the floor of the Senate for the first time as the
putative majority leader. At 1 pm we're counting the votes as you may
remember and within an hour before even giving my first speech a police
officer in a bulletproof vest with a submachine gun strapped across his
waist grabs me firmly by the collar. I'll never forget that feeling and says
Senator you're in danger. You got to get out of here.
He had to explain to me what the danger was. You may have seen this because
the video security cameras overhead caught it and they showed it at the
impeachment trial. First time I saw. But they show me walking out the Senate
chamber door turning to the right. I'm walking briskly with police officer
on either side go through the door, you don't see me for 20 seconds and then
20, 25 seconds later we're running out the door at full speed.
I was within 20 feet of these insurrectionists horrible people, these racist
insurrections, insurrectionist bigots. Had one of them had a gun, had two of
them blocked off the door, lord knows what would have happened. One of them
was reputed to point at me and say there's the big Jew let's get him. Worst
of times. Now we're getting back to the better of times, they've arrested
about half of those who invaded the capital...
Stay tuned for more on the meeting with Senator Schumer and discussion of
local community issues.
UPDATE 7/24 - Here's video from the Roosevelt Island & Upper East
Side community meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Part 1 - Introduction and description of best and worst of times from January
6.
Part 2 and 3 are questions from community members and response from Senator
Schumer.
UPDATE 7/26 - In response to a question from an Upper East Side restuarant owner (17 minute 14 second mark of Part 3 video), Senator Schumer says he is a strong supporter of small business and describes his experience as a young man trying to collect an overdue bill from a landlord refusing to pay for services provided by his father's small exterimantor's business.
UPDATE 7/26 - Roosevelt Island residents Matt Katz and Joyce Short were among those asking questions of Senator Schumer. The Senator interrupted Mr Katz's question by saying he has ridden his bicycle from Brooklyn thru Queens to Roosevelt Island and will do so again.
Mr Katz asked Senator Schumer about Roosevelt Island governance:
... On Roosevelt Island where we live we have been activists. We have had an issue with the voting rights and American democracy. We are denied it.
We are part of New York City. We vote for our City Councilman, Borough President but they do not make the decisions...
...We are run by a New York State Public Benefit Corporation ... appointed by the Governor.... That's not American democracy as i understand it...
... My question is we would love to sit with your staff to give them a fuller picture of what's going on on Roosevelt Island because American democracy starts in the local community.
Senator Schumer replied:
Many of these questions will be state and local issues and while I'm not directly involved I have indirect involvement because i helped ... I got the state 23 billion dollars, I got the City 6 billion and the MTA so they sometimes, not always, but sometimes, listen to me so I'll be happy to listen to you and weigh in.
Joyce Short asked about domestic violence and a federal law defining consent in the context of sexual assault.
All are welcome. Interested in learning more about compost?
Want to be part of a smart sustainable solution? Every Saturday from 9am to 2pm neighbors volunteer next to the farmers market at the food scrap drop off bins in short shifts meeting and greeting new friends.
If you have never done a shift before, you're cordially invited to this Saturday's 7/24 training session at 10:30am (please RSVP to hakicompost@gmail.com)
If you don't have time for this Saturday's training, let us know and we can schedule a different day for you.
All the best,
Corinna on behalf of the Haki Compost Collective
hakicompost@gmail.com
Last June 19, the Big Reuse Compost Bike Tour visited Roosevelt Island and learned about Haki Compost Collective's Roosevelt Island Food Scrap drop off site from Haki volunteer Christina Delfico .
The Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) with help and support from the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) and
Carter Burden Network
Roosevelt Island Senior Center hosted a Disability Fair for all ages and types
of disabilities yesterday afternoon at Good Shepherd Plaza.
Despite some initial rain and thunder, the weather cleared, rain stopped and
Roosevelt Island residents came out to the fair to learn about available
resources and info.
Excellent work yesterday on Roosevelt Island as they held their Disability
Fair for residents.
RIDA President Wendy Hersh tells us about the Roosevelt Island Disability
Fair
(Photos by Irina Hage):
... During the pandemic a lot of people's disabilities came more to the
surface but even before that we have a large population of people with
disabilities living here and very few resources so we've been wanting to do
this for a while.
We have all different agencies that service people with disabilities.
We have mental health, we have substance abuse, we have hearing loss and
visually impaired, we have case management, we have
Access VR
where I work which helps students up to whatever age and adults who want to
go back to work. We help them get training at work.
We have YAI which deals
with people with developmental disabilities.
and Ben Kallos'.
The Fortune Society
is here who have an array of services for people with disabilities or
without disabilities who have criminal justice involvement. We have an
agency that deals with Alzheimer's disease and we have two visually
impaired agencies here....
It's a good combination of people...
Organizations attending the Roosevelt Island Disable Fair include:
Your camper will get a fantastic summer camp experience right here in NYC!
On the West Side at Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club or East Side at Roosevelt
Island Racquet Club.
LEARN & GROW
Take enrichment classes and discover new levels of creativity and more with
STEAM projects
TRY SOMETHING NEW
Learn or improve your tennis game, take up rock wall climbing, express
yourself with an art project
COME VISIT ANYTIME! Call us anytime to schedule a family tour: East side,
212.935.0250 or West side, 646.884.9649. We’d love to see you!
Julie Menin won
the Democratic Party Primary to represent Roosevelt Island, the Upper East Side
and East Harlem in New York City Council District 5.
🚨 WE DID IT!🚨
The results released tonight and what we've seen
of my lead on absentee ballots decisively confirm that I’ll be headed to the
City Council to represent the 5th District!
pic.twitter.com/BzoAJxQ2ZA
Totally Supporting
@JulieMenin
for City Council District 5 who will support Roosvelt Island looking forward
to working with you and my beloved community
pic.twitter.com/KWNRPN2Kez
and Ms Menin spoke with Roosevelt Island residents Joyce Short and Ellen Polivy for a Fireside Chat as well.
Ms Menin's general election opponent to succeed the current, term limited, NYC Council Member Ben Kallos to represent Roosevelt Island, the UES and East Harlem in NYC Council Distrct 5 is the Republican Candidate Mark Foley.
The General Election is Tuesday, November 2.
Wildfire smoke from Canada and the Western United States stretched across the
continent this week, covering skies in a thick haze and triggering health
alerts from Toronto to Philadelphia. Air quality remained in the unhealthy
range across much of the East Coast on Wednesday morning as the haze pushed
southward....
... As the smoke moved eastward across Toronto, New York and Philadelphia on
Tuesday, concentrations of dangerous microscopic air pollution known as PM2.5
(because the particles are less than 2.5 microns in diameter) reached highs in
the “unhealthy” range for most of the day....
I was speaking to a friend, a fellow Islander, a few weeks ago whose kids were
playing in the Roosevelt Island minor baseball youth league held on Saturdays. The conversation
brought back memories of past years of Roosevelt Island kids playing baseball on Capobianco field.
I have a Roosevelt Island feel good story about a
young girl's journey from the Island's baseball fields to last
month's NYC Girls Catholic High School softball championship game.
The story highlights the old Roosevelt Island Youth Program days as well as the volunteer coaches who
inspired this young girl's journey from Capabianco field to hitting a 265 ft home run in her
final at-bat in the city championship softball game.
Roosevelt Island resident, Gillian Katoanga, finished off her high school softball career in dramatic style in a heartbreaking loss during the NYC Girls Catholic High School Athletic Association championship final on June 15.
With the Archbishop Molloy Stanners down by 3 runs in the bottom of the final 7th inning against Staten Island's Moore Catholic Mavericks, Gillian hit a 265-foot home run
out of the Roccio Torres sporting complex in what would be her final at bat for the Stanners.
This sparked a rally that saw the Stanners load the bases with a chance to win the championship. Sadly, for the Stanners, Maverick pitching prevailed and the rally ended with the bases loaded. The 11-9 loss capped off an undefeated (12-0) league and overall 18-5 season for the Stanners.
It was also the end of a wonderful softball journey that started on the baseball fields of Roosevelt Island.
Some residents will be familiar with Gillian and her brothers, who grew up playing in various little and youth baseball leagues on Roosevelt Island.
Early mornings on most weekends, you could catch her hitting softballs at the various fields on the island. Her favorite field is Tony Capobianco, where she first played T-ball on the island twelve years ago. She credits her keen interest in softball to those early years of RI baseball and her coaches, including Coach (T-Ball) Tommy,
Johan Marfey, and Scott Bobo.
Gillie, as she is better known to her teammates, is grateful for the great friendships that she formed over the years in the various school and travel softball teams. However, those early years playing on the Roosevelt Island fields with her siblings and having the community come out on those summer afternoons are the most memorable.
The Roosevelt Island Youth Program (RIYP) sports leagues and events organized by Charlie Delfino and Andrey Chichagov were the highlight of the island summers. She recalls fondly, "playing summer baseball on Roosevelt Island with the families cheering us on, was so much fun. It brought the community closer together and we got to know our neighbors and make many new friends. It was always loud and some games were competitive and exciting". "I also looked forward to pizza or treats at Main Street Sweets after our games". She hopes that the island's latest generation of little league kids are having as much fun and that sports will have a positive impact on them as well.
With her high school softball career now over,
Gillian is headed to St. John's University in the Fall where she has been awarded a four-year academic scholarship in the university's biomedical science honors program. As for softball? With her heavy academic load, she's never seriously considered collegiate sport. But that could change, you never know.
I have coached or supervised Gillian since she was 5 years old in
various RIYP activities. Apart from the RIYP activities, she was part of
the RI Pacific Island community that organized the Friday night
volleyball games and also the summer rugby clinics. She and her brothers
attended PS 217, and the family are also active members of the St.
Francis Xavier Cabrini parish on the island. She credits her love of
softball, and sports, to those early days of playing on Roosevelt
Island.
1:1 Foods is a culinary social enterprise dedicated to community-led food
justice in Brooklyn.
We not only make good food, but we do good — redistributing our profits,
culinary resources and energy into grassroots food justice work in
Brooklyn.
Our seasoned food and beverage team provides boutique drop-off and on-site
catering services, runs collaborative pop-ups across the borough, and
organizes special culinary and community events.
I spoke with.1;1 Foods founder Tadesh Inagaki
and Culinary Director Kyrelle Leefatt last Wednesday. They spoke about their
food justice mission and upcoming Roosevelt Island Pop Up menus with a series
of rotating chefs.
It was particularly fitting that after the
12 year struggle of starts and stops
to build the
FDR Hope Memorial
depicting President Franklin Roosevelt sitting in his wheelchair greeting a
young girl standing on crutches and bring it to Roosevelt Island that the ribbon
cutting and sculpture unveiling ceremony
began with the song Imagine.
Here's Roosevelt Island resident and Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance
(MST&DA) Assistant
Executive Director
Kimbirdlee Fadner
singing Imagine to begin yesterday's ceremony.
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.
