Roosevelt Island Visitors Center Kiosk Greets People From All Over The World On A Frigid Christmas Day - Help Support The Roosevelt Island Historical Society

Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS) President Judy Berdy reports:

It is Christmas day and a good day to be in the kiosk and meet our visitors. I do not know what to expect since the temperature is about 20 degrees out.

Just as I approach the kiosk a couple is looking at the RIOC map sign and I invite tme into the kiosk to defrost. The woman, Alette is almost 90 years old with her 19 year old grandson, Jonathan. They are from Montreaux, Switzerland and are here for a week's vacation. They sit down to warm up, though the kiosk has not warmed up yet to a frosty 50 degrees. We chat and discover Jonathan is studying and working at the Montreaux Jazz Festival working rigging and lighting every summer. His English is great and Alette is used to walking the mountain trails of Switzerland.

They are lots of fun and after a half hour decide to ride the red bus around the island. 

ARLETTE AND JONATHAN, OUR FIRST VISITORS OF THE DAY. 

Marie, a young woman from College Park, Maryland joins me and we chat about restaurants and customer service, since she works in a Japanese Restaurant. Her friends soon arrive, three grad students from Maryland and they are off to explore the island.

A young couple come in and we chat. They are Greek and seek instructions to Astoria for some good "home" cooking. She is a nursery school teacher and he a tech teacher in London. We have a few laughs of British cooking and they are definitely ready for Astoria.

A family from Dubai come into the kiosk, yes Dubai. Mom, dad and 3 kids. The are nearly frozen and we chat so they can warm up. One son is definitely under the weather and the family has already visited Duane Read. He is completely bundled and masked up. I am sure he really wanted to be under the covers. The family is from Pakistan and have lived over 20 years in the Middle East. The teen age daughter has been directing her family's itinerary including the Met and MOMA. She wants to go into design and has a list of must-sees for her family. One the way out we present a I Love NY baseball for the son, though it is not a cricket ball. it will be a great New York souvenir. The family has decided that this is the last trip to New York in winter.

Other families enter the kiosk, 

many asking for a restroom. We do not have the coffee maker on today since using it will probably blow out our fragile electrical system. We sell some pairs of gloves and not much else. We notice that the majority of our visitors are from tropical climates, such as Malaga,Spain, California, Florida and warmer places. Most wanted a little less of the freeze they had been experiencing here. At 4 p.m. my feet are frozen and time to head to Granny Annies for a bowl of hot French Onion Soup.

Roosevelt Island residents are also invited and welcomed at the RIHS Visitors Center Kiosk. Stop by, talk to Ms Berdy and the friendly staff and make a merchandise purchase

to help support RIHS.