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Roosevelt Island Garden Club
(RIGC) member Julia Ferguson reports on a new community planting project taking place at
the Cherry Tree Grove on the East River waterfront promenade across from the Rivewalk
Commons.
According to Ms Ferguson:
RIGC has been working on a collaborative community outreach program. The focus
of the outreach series is Roosevelt Island as an Ecosystem in which soil,
climate, water, and plants, trees and landscape interact with humans, animals,
insects, birds to sustain life on our little urban island.
Learning about how ecosystems work with specific
examples, and planting native plants to provide habitats for beneficial
insects and
Bring beauty to the island, and increase biodiversity.
Roosevelt Island resident and RIGC member Jack Burkhalter, an urban
naturalist, worked closely with RIOC's Matt Kibby’s oversight to design and
plan out the details of the planting.
RIOC provided over 1000 native habitat
bare roots and plant plugs for ground cover plants. Cornell Tech Students and
RIOC staff prepped the site. And on April 30, 2022 for #EarthLove Day, over 60
people, including lots of children, visited the educational table in the park
west of Meditation Steps and learned about how violets, milkweed, and sumac
trees nurture pollinators and ants, and how these insects benefit these
plants. An equal number of Roosevelt Islanders of all ages and abilities
joined to help plant over half of the planting area under the four old Yoshino
Cherry trees. On that day, a white throated sparrow was singing his joy, and
we may have heard the cherry trees thank us as we brought them new companion
plants and tickled/aerated their roots.
Lady Ferns, Foam Flowers, Violets, Wild Geraniums, Penstemon, and Pennsylvania
Sedges: all of these ground covers will be pleasing to see and they will also
welcome butterfly larvae, native pollinators, and help support bird life
especially in the spring. Phase 2 plans are for Wild Ginger, more Penstemon,
White Wood Asters, and a low growing soft Goldenrod to provide fall nectar for
pollinators and continued colors in autumn.
I spoke with Ms Ferguson and Mr Burkhalter earlier this month as they were
working on the Cherry Tree Grove planting to learn more about the project and
their future Roosevelt Island Ecosystem collaborative plans.
Ms Ferguson adds:
On April 7, 2022, Rebecca McMackin, Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn
Bridge Park (BBP) spoke with Roosevelt Islanders in a free virtual talk. Ms.
McMackin knows about the challenges and rewards of turning an urban landscape
(Brooklyn piers and industrial area) into a thriving, stunningly beautiful and
healthy ecosystem. We appreciated Rebecca’s inspiration and willingness to
share her learning: the principles, and the practices of her entire BBP
Horticulture Staff where the “dynamic relationships” of both people and
ecosystems are honored and where the lives of plants, caterpillars,
butterflies, birds, and people fit together “seamlessly” in an urban setting.
Over 80 people from all five boroughs of NYC, from places across the U.S., and
from Nova Scotia to New Zealand were able to join us for Rebecca McMackin's
talk.
Click here to read
through some of the key takeaways and watch the April 7, 2022 recording of
Rebecca McMackin from Brooklyn Bridge Park: A case study for seeing Roosevelt
Island as an ecosystem.
These days, more people are looking closely at building and grounds
sustainability as well as landscape ecology practices when they make decisions
on where to live and work. Together as an Island community, we can continue to
create a model for ecological health and beauty through collaborative
projects. With Roosevelt Islanders help we have completely planted Phase One
for this little habitat site. It takes a village and we are especially lucky
in that regard. Gratitude for another RI habitat planting providing health and
beauty after EarthLove Day 2022!
Stay tuned for other opportunities to learn and engage with this idea and more
from “Roosevelt Island is an urban ecosystem.” Write to rigardenclub@gmail.com
if you are interested in possibly volunteering for the fall planting at this
site.
Thank you so much to RIOC, the RI community, and RIGC members for all the
help. With Roosevelt Islanders’ help we have now planted another lovely
little habitat site. This established landscape bed will glow in a year or two
as the plants fill in.
Any ideas for the next collaborative Roosevelt Island urban ecosystem gardening project?
RIVAA would like to announce the opening of our new exhibition “Deep Focus.”
The opening reception will take place this Saturday, July 23rd from 5-8 PM at Gallery RIVAA.
You're invited.
This is an international exhibition with works by artists from South Korea, Romania, the US, Hungary and other countries. Ik Son Jin and Ioan Popoiu curated the exhibition.
Today the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department played it right.
I had to leave for the airport at 4:40 in the morning. It was pitch black outside and 3 Ubers canceled on me.
I was waiting outside with 3 pieces of luggage and wanted an officer to be nearby just in case because there were just random cars driving by.
Although police cars were patrolling the Island, I didn’t see anybody near me for a few minutes. So I called the Public Safety Department and asked if they could send someone to hang around and patrol near Bread and Butter Deli until my car came and 1 minute later they sent an officer who stood nearby until my car arrived.
It meant a lot that they listened and made me feel safe.
I know they don’t have a great reputation at the moment, and I am usually very critical about them too, but just wanted to give credits when credits are due!
Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department Chief Kevin Brown usually meets once a month with member of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Public Safety Committee (PSC) to listen and discuss community concerns.
During RIRA PSC June 21 meeting, Chief Brown discussed his belief in community policing and said:
... I truly, truly, truly believe in community policing. One of the premises of community policing
is coming together with the community and to listen, to have different ideas
and have a great way to proceed forward.
I welcome coming to this committee. I told somebody this today, my door is open. Anytime that anyone wants to speak
with with me or my deputy, our door is always open for for any comments, for any type of
dialogue or any type of meetings to have a great relationship with the community
and also to have a great change when it's necessary or needed...
Chief Brown discussed a variety of topics at the RIRA meeting including Public Safety Department staffing levels noting that the Public Safety Department is as close to full staff as they have been in a long time except for 2 Officers who recently resigned to join the NYPD.
Here's the full RIRA PSC meeting discussion with Chief Brown.
During June 11 2022 Roosevelt Island Day, RIRA President Rossana Ceruzzi and VP/PSC Co-Chair Erin-Feely-Nahem talked about the work RIRA does advocating for the Roosevelt Island community including the traditional bagels for Roosevelt Island Day.
Early morning on July 13, at about 6 AM, a Roosevelt Island Tipster
noticed:
NYPD folks in mostly black shirts & pants & bulletproof vests, some
with guns & longer guns around and in 580 Main Street. Mostly unmarked
SUVs and Sedans parked by crosswalk.
... conspiracy and criminal sale of a controlled substance for allegedly
packaging and selling an assortment of narcotics to walk up customers-
including heroin, cocaine and fentanyl- from an open-air drug market on a
dead-end Jamaica street on multiple occasions between May 2021 and June
2022....
... charged in a 68-count grand jury indictment with criminal sale of
a controlled substance in the first degree, criminal sale of a controlled
substance in the second degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in
the third degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third
degree and conspiracy in the fourth degree. ... Additionally, the defendant
was arraigned last Friday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Denise Johnson
on a five-count criminal court complaint charged with criminal possession of
a controlled substance in the first degree, operating as a major trafficker,
conspiracy in the second degree, possession of a controlled substance in the
third degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third
degree....
**Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty.
Click here
for the full Queens District Attorney press release for more information.
Cornell Tech Assistant Director of Community & Government Relations Jane Swanson reports:
You are invited to the next Community Conversation with Cornell Tech: What are Blockchains and What Are They Good For? This event will be held on Wednesday, July 20th from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm and should be very interesting – and illuminating! Register HERE
Bitcoin and blockchains—the technology that makes cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin possible—have become inescapable phenomena in finance and even popular culture. Despite their rise in popularity, though, there’s considerable bewilderment around blockchains and their capabilities. In this talk, Ari Juels, the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor at Cornell Tech and Co-Director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3), will aim to demystify this intriguing technology. He will explain how blockchains mean much more than Bitcoin and indeed how blockchain-based digital apes may be harbingers of our future in leisure and the arts.
Ari Juels is a Professor at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and the Technion. He is a member of the Computer Science field at Cornell University.
His interests span a broad range of topics in computer security, cryptography, and privacy, including cloud security, financial cryptography, cybersecurity, user authentication, medical-device security, biometrics, and security and privacy for the Internet of Things....
and testifying before Congress on the Blockchain in January 2022.
Click here to register for the Wednesday July 20 Virtual Conversation with Cornell Tech Professor Ari Juels to learn more about the Blockchain and what it is good for.
Watch these past Cornell Tech Faculty Roosevelt Island Community Conversations with:
Professor Serge Belongie on Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Augmented Reality. Watch the video here.
Professor Nicolai Dell on Creating Tech For Underserved Communities. Watch the video here.
Professor James Grimmelman on Law, Technology and the Sealand Data Haven. Watch the video here.
Professor Wendy Hu On Self Driving Cars and Human Interaction With Automation. Watch video here.
Digital Life Initiative on Social Media Political Manipulation of Elections and Ad Tracking. Watch video here.
The 15th annual City of Water Day returns to the shores of the metropolitan
region on Saturday, July 16, 2022. A celebration of the waters that surround
us, and an opportunity to learn about the current and future impacts of
climate change and sea level rise, City of Water Day is organized by the
Waterfront Alliance, the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP), and many
other partners. From boat rides to kayaking, from water quality workshops to
birdwatching walks, City of Water Day activities are free and open to all.
Underscoring the importance of a resilient and equitably shared waterfront,
dozens of shoreline communities in New York and New Jersey will produce
satellite In Your Neighborhood events on July 16, City of Water Day.
For the first time in 15 years, Roosevelt Island hosted a City Of Water Day
event
in front of the NYC Ferry Dock area.
#cityofwaterday
attendees participated in water quality tests at the shores of Roosevelt
Island. Following the tests, our staff discussed why the results matter and
how scientists use these tests to determine the health of the waterways.
#estuaryexplorerspic.twitter.com/Nm5tDXOBkl
— Waterfront Alliance (@OurWaterfront)
July 16, 2022
I spoke with
Waterfront Alliance
representative Mackenzie Pope who tells us about City Of Water Day and
demonstrates Roosevelt Island East River shoreline water quality tests.
My first
#CityOfWaterDay
in the books! We had a blast out in Gowanus and Red Hook doing a walking
tour along the canal and building a floating garden to give oxygen back to
the water. Thanks to all the amazing volunteers and
#InYourNeighborhood
organizations who participated!
pic.twitter.com/QsMFUct6H8
Great turnout for this event, despite heat, humidity, and a summer storm. My
favorite part was watching attendees gather around the canal (after walking
around for 2 hours) to watch minnows and a blue crab in the shallows. Life
is returning to this Superfund site!
#CityofWaterDayhttps://t.co/U6hyYdFPKcpic.twitter.com/JpX277iCgK
Getting out for
#cityofwaterday
with
@SouthBronxUnite
& building community around waterfront access. Lincoln Avenue Street End
in Port Morris is inaccessible & crumbling - time for NYC to invest,
rebuild, & create new public spaces for the people.
@OurWaterfrontpic.twitter.com/1EgG2DvkYX
Roosevelt Island Transportation Could Be A Huge Mess This Weekend, Planned F
Train Subway Service Disruptions And Only 1 Tram Cabin In Service - Be
Prepared For Long Lines, No Response From RIOC To Community Concern.
Guess what happened today?
The Roosevelt Island Manhattan Tram station was jam packed with long lines
stretching down Second Avenue to 59th Street.
Shame on @MTA and
@RIOCny for
making travel onto/from Roosevelt Island this weekend nearly impossible for
residents. Talk to each other for goodness sakes instead of leaving
residents waiting hours to get home. It's not difficult. DO BETTER.
I've been receiving photos and messages all day from angry and frustrated
Roosevelt Island residents waiting on these long Tram lines at the Manhattan
Station including:
Longtime island resident here. Currently smushed on the Manhattan side
having to let multiple trams go due to crowds. Between the heat and covid,
this situation is extremely unhealthy and unsustainabl - curious if there is
some sort of petition or something going around to get the red bus Manhattan
shuttle service to operate on weekends while there is only one cabin running
on the tram.
Current situation at the tram… At least 2 hour long lines … this whole
weekend has been absolutely horrible for RI residents. And I’m sure that
half of the people (if not more) waiting in that line were tourists. I
understand that the tram is good for RI local tourism, but there should be
something done for residents during mess like this one. I gave up waiting.
Ubered…
Another resident waiting on the long Tram Line wrote:
Saw your video long lines. But also those lines are for people just to buy a
metro card and the incompetent security won’t let you in even if you have your
metro card. They want you stay in the same line. I just had the most stupid
discussion with 2 of them and they won’t let you go because they say you have
to be on line to buy a metro card as other ones. Even though I have my metro
card already and I don’t have to buy any and I am a resident. What a shitshow
There should really be resident-priority access. At least during certain days/times
There needs to be a line for residents and a line for visitors. We should get RI residents cards.
Absurd… they need red bus shuttles like they did during the week
Public Safety could barely handle the rush and they certainly didn’t care about Masks!!!
I had no choice but to take the tram when the F train wasn’t servicing 63rd and lex. Thankfully I had both my kids and the stroller so PSD let me go up the elevator without waiting. Otherwise would have been ridiculous
This mess was all so predictable but no action or communication from the
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) or RIOC President Shelton Haynes.
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.
