It was a chilly evening last night on the Roosevelt Island Holiday Trail
organized by RIOC. Fortunately, the cold weather and frozen fingers did not
stop anyone from enjoying themselves and having a good time particularly when
listening to the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance singing Holiday
Christmas songs in Good Shepherd Plaza.
or visiting
the various
local community
groups stationed
along the Holiday Trail
Watch for the lighting of the Roosevelt Island Holiday Christmas Tree.
Saturday, December 4, 2021 to Sunday, January 23, 2022
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 4, 6 - 9 pm
You are cordially invited to the opening reception of the RIVAA Artist's Group Show: 'MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET' on Saturday, December 4th from 6-9 pm at Gallery RIVAA (527 Main Street).
to an expected large crowd of very happy Roosevelt Island and Upper East side
customers.
The lines were long but very orderly and manageable, not a long wait at all.
I spoke with Trader Joe's Captain Brian yesterday who tell us about the new
store and says about Roosevelt Island:
... I'm very familiar with it. It's one of my favorite places in New
York. I think it's a beautiful place. I love visiting there and I've been
there a couple times since I've been working out of the store so love
it....
... the Tram goes almost directly over the store so it seemed logical to pay
a little homage to the Tram being right next to us...
A very happy Trader Joe's customer
Kelsey Fowler
gives a great first hand account of the Trader Joe's 59th Street Grand Opening
and tour of the store. Watch and enjoy her happiness and excitement.
Just as I got elected, A&P went bankrupt and we lost our flagship Food Emporium.
We spent the past 8 years working with EDC and multiple owners who cycled through the space. We reached out to every supermarket in America to get this largest of empty storefronts filled. We even tried creative ideas like pop up markets. After years of working to fill the space, I couldn't be prouder that the Trader Joe's everyone's been asking for is open.
I promise I didn't put in all this work just for the Thai Lime & Chili Cashews.
:
There is no Covid Test site on Roosevelt Island. RIOC is silent on this. A group of parents have started a petition to bring Covid Test site to Roosevelt Island.
Any comment on this? Anything you can do to help....
Ms Menin reported this afternoon:
I spoke to the City’s Test and Trace Corps and they will deploy a mobile unit to Roosevelt Island to meet residents’ concerns. It will be open to the general public.
I spoke with Ms Menin a few minutes ago. She said that as a former NYC Commissioner and head of several NYC Agencies, she was able to use her City Hall contacts to secure a NYC Health & Hospitals Corp Test and Trace Corp mobile unit for Roosevelt Island.
The mobile unit will perform both rapid and PCR testing.
The location and hours of the mobile unit are still to be determined though it can easily move to wherever on Roosevelt Island it is most needed.
Good job by our incoming NYC Council Member Julie Menin (pictured below campaigning last September at the Farmers Market).
UPDATE 12/3 Ms Menin adds:
The mobile van will arrive between 8 am and 8:30 am on dec 6. It will be there Dec 6 through dec 12th. Location is still tbd.
Happy to announce that on December 6, @nycHealthy Test and Trace Corps will deploy a mobile testing van to Roosevelt Island to meet the COVID testing needs of residents. The van will be there Dec 6-12th and come back as needed.
I'm delighted the city responded quickly to my call for a much needed testing unit starting next week on Roosevelt Island.
My compliments to resident Susy Del Campo, Wendy Hirsch of Roosevelt Island Disabled Association, and the Roosevelt Islander for their advocacy efforts to keep the community safe as we navigate through the evolving pandemic.
All schools have regular surveillance testing in order to detect transmission that may be occurring in the building. We have proven that schools remain among the safest spaces in NYC as it relates to transmission. While we don’t station mobile testing vans at schools (so as not interfere with the surveillance testing happening within the school), we can certainly deploy a van to Roosevelt Island in the coming week that is open to the general public.
Roosevelt Island Seniors Association (RISA) President Andrea Jackson reports:
The " Holiday Village " event is a wonderful blend of Community
Organizations, Businesses, Vendors, and residents,
bringing together a host of festivities and a resounding atmosphere of the Holiday
season. The event begins December 3, 2021, through December 5, 2021, from 10 AM - 6:30
PM at Good Shepherd Plaza.
Featuring Live Jazz, unique gifts, refreshments, Santa's Chairs,
attractions for the entire family, and much more. Come by share in the fun and contribute to our
Toy, sock, hat, and glove drive for the "Samaritan Village"
Family Shelter. For more information email riseniorsa@gmail.com. Admission is Free, Social distancing,
mask-wearing, and compliances are enforced.
It's the most wonderful time of the year! You may have spotted decorative
garland, twinkle lights, a sleigh, giant gift boxes, and more as Roosevelt
Island has entered the holiday season. To celebrate the season, since we’re
unable to return to full holiday activities at this time, we hope you’ll
join us for the Roosevelt Island Holiday Trail on Friday, December 3rd, from
5 PM – 7 PM!
The Roosevelt Island Holiday Trail is a festive and fun collection of stops
where RIOC, in partnership with community groups, businesses, and partners
will offer holiday-themed music, treats, information, and more!
The Holiday Trail will take revelers to various island locations, from the
NYC Ferry landing to the RISA Holiday Village at Good Shepherd Plaza (543
Main St.). This scaled-down free event will be a festive day of fun and a
chance for all to show off your ugliest Christmas sweaters or best holiday
regalia, as the tree will be turned on at 7 PM on the Meditation
Lawn.
We hope you can come out and celebrate the holiday spirit!
Roosevelt Islander Online relies on your written tips, photos, videos and
documents to report on local Roosevelt Island news. I greatly appreciate the
efforts by residents to help inform the Roosevelt Island community.
A group of Cornell Tech students are working on a project to improve the
Roosevelt Island news gathering process. Will you help?
According to Tim Bernard, one of the Cornell Tech students working on the
project:
Answer quick questions to support the Roosevelt Islander!
A group of Cornell Tech students are developing a system for members of the
public to respond to requests for tidbits of information, photos, etc. from
local news agencies, starting with the Roosevelt Islander.
Sign up as a contributor here.
... there will be over the next decade more big shifts and how local
reporting is done and how people learn about that reporting and what they do
with it when they get it.
Sign up here
to help Roosevelt Island and local NYC news gathering.
Earlier today, I asked the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):
I'm told that the youth center has multiple positive Covid cases among kids
and staff, and RIOC closed down the center until further notice.
Is that true?
Does RIOC have any plans to bring back Covid Testing site to Roosevelt
Island....
This evening, RIOC Public Information Officer Amy Smith replied:
For the first time this year, the Roosevelt Island Youth Center (RIYC) has
temporarily closed due to evidence of possible COVID-19 exposure. We did not
hesitate in halting operations of the RIYC in order to keep our participants
and staff safe. Although not ideal, closing is a step we proudly take,
particularly as the Omicron variant raises cause for concern. During our
closure, we will be working through our multi-layered response and we will
update our participants when it has been deemed safe to reopen. We will remain
transparent in sharing this information and updates with island partners and
encourage families to continue to reach out to us directly with any questions
or concerns.
Parents of
PS/IS 217 students
are pleading for Covid Testing on Roosevelt Island:
Twice a week, but afternoons only.
That way they will have the foot traffic in RI, kids can get tested after
school, parents can return home and get tested with their kids (as kids will
be pick up from after school programs) Maybe even one Saturday at the
Farmers Market.
Especially for kids with IEPs who are missing out because they can't test
back into school after 'potential exposure' quarantine. No available slots
in our area... Seems like a quarantine situation at school should trigger a
pop-up site!
UPDATE 12/1 - A concerned long time Roosevelt Island resident adds:
There’s been no new RIOC Advisory of any type on this particular outbreak, and / or including yesterday’s updated NYC DOHMH recommendations about masking indoors.
Were kids & adults wearing masks in RIYC at all times?
What kind of contact tracing is going on?
How are they coordinating with PS/IS 217 & other places kids go to school or after school programs?
And why aren’t more folks clamoring for some weekly on-site testing van or service via NYC DOHMH or HHC?
Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance announces the opening of
“The Ghosts All Around You”
in the Howe Theatre, running Dec 10-12 and 17-19 (in-person &
livestreamed). A multigenerational, multicultural cast of talented MSTDA
actors, along with a stellar creative team including acclaimed director
Steven Eng and a longtime creative contributor to MSTDA, assistant director
Jacqueline Lucid are launching what is sure to become a holiday tradition
for Roosevelt Island, right on Main Street NYC!
What do Charles Dickens, Nelly Bly, Scrooge and the people of Roosevelt
Island all have in common? They will all be appearing live this holiday
season on Roosevelt Island! The ghosts of Roosevelt Island will be coming to
life to tell a tale in which worlds are interwoven in a gripping and
meaningful story of equality, human connection and compassion, just in time
for the season of giving!
Composer and Co-writer, Fadner has been riding a ghostly train of thought
similar to the “greatest writer in English history”, Charles John Huffman
Dickens. Jonathan Fadner’s driving musical score ranges from totally rockin’
to heartbreakingly beautiful.
The musical is set on Roosevelt Island, featuring landmarks such as the
Smallpox Hospital and The Octagon (formerly the NYC Insane Asylum). Even the
Roosevelt Island Red Public Bus plays a role! Every year, since her husband
William (played by Gabriel Portuondo) died, the struggling yet optimistic
single mother Cheryl Makepeace (played by Kimbirdlee) reads “A Christmas
Carol” to her three young children, hoping to teach her kids goodwill and
kindness. This year, the family moved to Roosevelt Island, and Cheryl works
for the modern day Scrooge and real estate tycoon, Potiphar Stingyas (played
by Russ Cusick.) Circumstances arise to reveal inequalities and painful
pasts which lead to self-examination, redemption and valuable life lessons,
as the ghosts of the past try to break through and a memorable story is told
and sung.
Last year was a time of development for “The Ghosts All around You.” At the
time, the city was in the grips of the Covid 19 pandemic and life was scary
and uncertain. MSTDA forged ahead by reinventing their programming and
allowing creative artists a safe haven to be creative and stay connected and
safe. Their perseverance is paying off this year with a staged production of
the new musical, including costumes by Amelia Dombrowski, choreography by
Isaiah Reynolds, lighting design by Zackry Childers (stage manager), music
direction by Jonathan Fadner, and digital projection and set design by Rachel
Reuben. Executive Director Kristi Towey, AED/THeatre Dept Head Kimbirdlee
Fadner and the MSTDA Board of Directors are thrilled to produce this
community-minded new work.
Here's a montage of 2020 performances from
The Ghosts All Around You
by the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance.
Also, consider making a
Giving Tuesday
donation to the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance.
A new church is being planted on Roosevelt Island. According to husband and wife
founders Piero Gorriti (Pastor) and Andrea Gorriti-Oliveros (Community Life
Director) of
New City NYC:
We have been residing in Roosevelt Island for almost two years, we moved a
couple of months before the pandemic hit.
As internationals from Peru and as a young married couple, we found
ourselves welcomed and understood in Roosevelt Island. We do not know of
another place with the diversity found here, where our neighbors are
literally from every continent with different types of visas or as permanent
residents.
Now, with a one year old, we wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, we have
found a community where though we are from different cultures and
backgrounds, we relate and understand each other in our struggle of missing
our respective home-countries while trying to make this little island our
home.
We are a new international church in Roosevelt Island. We will start
gathering weekly at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd (543 Main Street) on
Sundays from 4-6pm. Here is a brief story of who we are:
Our hearts are torn between different places: Adapting to a new place we are
excited to call home, missing our culture of origin, and yet at the same
time in awe on discovering new cultures and finding beauty in diversity.
These are all too common experiences that my wife Andrea and I encountered
as Peruvians working in NYC.
We quickly found out that we were not the only ones that have had these
experiences. There was a community of like-minded Global Citizens who have
had experiences not too different from ours. Global Citizens are those whose
lives transcend beyond national borders, reflecting a global identity due to
their geographical location, cross-cultural experiences, and personal
interests.
Here is a photo we took for our Fall Kick Off event this fall. We invited
residents of Roosevelt Island to participate with their families
With both the joys and struggles, the failures and successes that come with
being a Global Citizen, we realized we couldn't do this alone, and we needed a
community where we felt understood and known. Out of that necessity, and a
dream of seeing a community of Global Citizens that resource, empower and
propel each other into their God-given destiny, was that
New City NYC was
birthed!
We hope that regardless of your background, whether you've just realized you
are a Global Citizen or you have known you are for a while, we invite you to
be a part of this community from all around the world!
Last Sunday, Nov. 28th started our advent series, we would love to have you
as we prepare our hearts for Christmas. All are welcome. For more info and
other events you could get involved visit us at our
website New City NYC and
Instagram
Roosevelt Island has a variety of religious groups including:
This morning we celebrated the opening of PS/IS 217's green roof with a
ceremonial planting. The space was funded with $1M from my office's
participatory budgeting process, $250,000 from
@galeabrewer
& $500,000 from
@Rebecca76AD. Thanks
@RepMaloney
for joining us!
pic.twitter.com/ZgB8SWstVS
After more than 6 years of planning, fundraising and construction, Roosevelt
Island PS/IS 217 Green Roof opened today with a ribbon cutting and first
plantings by students.
As principal, it is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to the opening
of the Roosevelt Island School-- Green Roof. And what a roof it is! The
purpose and beauty of its design, landscaping, materials and setting are so
obvious that this space in which we find ourselves, seems to speak for
itself....
... We have waited so long to be here today. The green roof is a wonderful
addition to our facility. As is usually the case, wonderful things take a
lot of work and in this case that work was done by a lot of people. It is
appropriate at this ceremony to assure those who worked so hard that we will
make the most of their creation and it is appropriate that we thank
them:
For the initial concept, we thank Ms. Fokine, who was inspired by her trip
to Japan.
We thank Christina Delfico who took that dream to its first steps of
realization.
For funding Council Member Kallos, Assembly Member Seawright, Manhattan
Borough President Brewer, Congresswoman Maloney and NY State Senator Serrano
who backed this project.
For our PTA and RI community constituents who got out the vote and
championed our vision - RIOC, RIRA, Roosevelt Island Garden Club, the Girl
Scouts, and Roosevelt Island Parent Network.
For the designers Mary Rice, Abel, Bainnson & Butz who heard what we
wanted and realized our vision in their plans.
For our construction team led by Muhammed Siqb Arshed
And for our Custodial EngineerJeff Atkins and the custodial staff who has
tended this space in all its stages of completion.
And we thank forward all those who will tend this incredible space and make
it a vibrant learning, a multi-enriching and a spiritually healing place.
The new educational green roof at PS/IS 217 on Roosevelt Island will give
the next generation of leaders the tools to excel in STEM starts in the
classroom.
I am proud of NYC for being at the cutting edge of
ensuring that our students are at the forefront of learning.
pic.twitter.com/92mJn7hPrR
As a member of the Assembly Education Committee, proud public school parent
and former PTA activist, I was pleased to cut the ribbon on PS/IS 217 on
Roosevelt Island Green Roof and STEM learning Hub. We funded $500k toward
successful completion. 🌻🪴
pic.twitter.com/r1Au9ONon8
— Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright (@SeawrightForNY)
November 29, 2021
According to this press release from NYC Council Member Ben Kallos:
Students at PS/IS 217 have a new educational green space on their roof,
thanks to funding from Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Borough President Gale
Brewer, Council Member Ben Kallos, and Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright.
Today they celebrated completion of the project, including a ceremonial
planting.
$1 million in funding for this project comes from
Council Member Ben Kallos, which was allocated from participatory budgeting
that the school won in 2015 and 2016 thanks to the advocacy of the Roosevelt
Island Community. Borough President Brewer funded $250,000 and Assembly
Member Rebecca Seawright contributed $500,000 to the project.
To
win funding through participatory budgeting, the whole Roosevelt Island
community worked together to turn out a winning number of votes. Community
members that advocated for the project include the PS/IS 217 PTA, Girl Scout
Troops 3001 and 3244, Roosevelt Island Garden Club, Roosevelt Island
Parents’ Network, Sharon Bermon from the NYPL Roosevelt Island Branch, and
community activist Christina Delfico.
“STEM education is a vital part of shaping our future generation of
leaders,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “I am excited to celebrate the
completion of PS/IS 217’s green roof, which will provide students with the
opportunity to play and learn in new ways. I look forward to seeing all that
the school is able to accomplish with this space.”
“I am thrilled
to be here at the opening of the new educational green roof at PS/IS 217,”
said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. “Giving the next generation of leaders
the tools to excel in STEM starts in the classroom, and I am proud that
our City schools are at the cutting edge of ensuring just
that. I thank Councilmember Kallos, Borough President Brewer, and
Assemblywoman Seawright for our ongoing partnership in ensuring New York
City’s students are at the forefront of learning.”
“I’m excited
to be able to celebrate the completion of the green roof at PS/IS 217, a
project that will provide educational space to learn about the importance of
protecting our environment,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A.
Brewer. “I know that this space will benefit students for years to come by
acting as a learning hub for 21st century skills and advancing scientific
and environmental knowledge, in addition to supporting our city’s climate
resiliency efforts by keeping the roof cooler, acting as an insulator,
saving heating and cooling costs, helping to protect the school from
environmental wear and tear, as well as reduce noise.”
“As a member of the Assembly Education Committee, proud public school parent
and former PTA activist, I was please to award PS/IS 217 on Roosevelt Island
with $500,000 for the creation of a Green Roof and construction of a STEM
learning Hub. Our students deserve a safe place to learn and play. I commend
Principal Mandana Beckman, school leadership, and PTA for seeing this
through for the benefit of students and educations at PS/IS 217,” said
Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright.
“This green roof provides flexible outdoor classroom space for educational
gardening, theater and performing arts, and general student education, and
recreation,” SCA President and CEO Nina Kubota said. “It’s a great example
of the SCA’s steadfast commitment to provide enhanced educational services
and better facilities for the City’s kids and the teachers and staff who
serve them.” “So many people had a small role in making a big impact,”
says local sustainability advocate Christina Delfico. “This roof top project
proves that community, schools, and government can create a sea of wide open
green space to excite students in every subject of learning.”...
At its core, Hanukkah recounts a story at the heart of the human spirit —
one that is inherently Jewish and undeniably American. From my family to
yours, we wish you and your loved ones a Chanukah Sameach, a Happy Hanukkah!
The
Chabad of Roosevelt Island
invite you to the Annual Family Public Menorah Lighting for the 7th Chanukah
Light at the Rivercross Lawn on December 4 at 6:30 PM.
Come together to celebrate Jewish pride!
Enjoy hot latkes, hot drinks, music, dreidels and other ttreats.
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.
