Come along on a hands free, fixed gear, no brake bike ride from Williamsburg to Roosevelt Island and back. The video starts at the 11 minute mark crossing the Roosevelt Island bridge.
Start at the beginning of the video to watch the entire bike ride.
You're invited to the opening reception for artist and local Roosevelt Island resident Tony Vita's new Strange Terrain: Digital Paintings exhibition at the Octagon RIVAA Gallery (888 Main Street).
Strange Terrain: Digital Paintings by Tony VitaReception: Friday, July 12 from 5 - 8PM
Exhibition Dates: July 1 - September 27, 2024
The Octagon
OPENING RECEPTION TOMORROW
Strange Terrain: Digital Paintings by Tony Vita
You are invited to the Octagon tomorrow, July 12, 2024 from 5-8 PM. The exhibition space is located at 888 Main Street on Roosevelt Island.
Once there you will encounter the beautifully surreal, unique and slightly unsettling digital paintings that comprise the world of Tony Vita’s latest exhibition, Strange Terrain.
Can’t make the opening? We will miss you! The good news is that you can immerse yourself in the absorbing world of Strange Terrain anytime from July 1- September 27, 2024 at the Octagon. You will be glad that you made the trip.
You're invited to the Waterfront Alliance City Of Water Day celebration at Roosevelt Island's FDR Four Freedoms Park Saturday July 13.
Roosevelt Island resident and iDig2Learn founder Christina Delfico reports:
FDR Four Freedoms State Park & iDig2Learn team up again to celebrate 2024 City of Water Day on Roosevelt Island at the Park. City of Water Day is a NY/NJ wide day with events citywide started by NY/NJ Hudson & Estuary Program & the Water Alliance. FREE and family friendly join us for water-themed crafts, pop-up library and a touch table of aquatic plants with iDig2Learn.
Get ready for the 17th Annual City of Water Day, set for Saturday, July 13! This regional day of celebration will see 60+ free, family-friendly events on or near the water, and is the perfect way to cool off this summer and engage with your local waterfront. Organized by the Waterfront Alliance and the New York–New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP), City of Water Day champions the idea of a climate-resilient harbor and raises awareness about our changing climate.
Like every year, a wide array of festivities will span the entire region—from all five New York City boroughs to Westchester and Rockland counties, and across New Jersey. You can engage in a plethora of waterfront activities — kayaking, rowing, sailing, boat tours, educational workshops, coastal cleanups, nature walks, film screenings, and more! These events not only offer fun and learning, but also foster a deep connection with local waterways, emphasizing an equitably shared and resilient waterfront.
We’ve curated a list of event highlights, organized by area, so you can dive into a City of Water Day event near you. This is just a small sample of what City of Water Day has to offer —you can also check out the City of Water Day map for even more events!...
Here's what we learned about the NYC waterfront at the 2023
and 2022
Roosevelt Island City of Water Day celebrations.
More info about the Waterfront Alliance
By ROOSEVELT ISLANDER at 8:37:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: City of Water Day , FDR Park , FDR Park Events , idig2Learn , Waterfront , Waterfront Alliance
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) announced on Monday July 8:
Dear Roosevelt Island Community:Please be advised that a meeting of the RIOC Board's Governance Committee will be held on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Community Center, 543 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York 10044.
There will also be a meeting of the full RIOC Board of Directors on Wednesday, July 10 at 3:00 p.m. also at The Good Shepherd Community Center.
Agendas for both meetings can be found below.
Thank you.
-Team RIOC
This full RIOC Board of Directors meeting was previously unscheduled. According to the Agenda below, it is described as a "Special Meeting" and is being held in Executive Session meaning the public is not allowed to attend and the discussion is secret.
It's possible, though not confirmed, that the employment status of RIOC
President Shelton Haynes and General Counsel Gretchen Robinson will be
discussed during the July 10 Special RIOC Board Meeting Executive Session.
As previously reported,
Mr Haynes and Ms Robinson have been on paid administrative leave since
January 2024 pending an investigation of them about workplace concerns
raised by RIOC employees. The Executive Session could also be about the
current status of the
RIOC leadership team
following the recent departure of Deputy General Counsel Gerrald Ellis who
had been the primary public face of the interim leadership team.
On June 26, I asked RIOC:
... with Gerrald leaving at the end of this month, what is the leadership plan for RIOC?...
RIOC Board Director Ben Fhala answered on July 2:
I was hoping that someone from the administration would be ready to reply to you by now, but it's critical that we don't create a communication void during this important time. The board has decided to maintain the current leadership status quo. We have full faith in Dhruvika as the interim leader. She will be seeking advice and counsel from the incredible existing leadership team that report to her during this transition period until the board reconvenes and decides if or when other changes or enhancements will be made.
We are grateful for Gerald's service and wish him great success in his future endeavors. As always, I cannot speak on behalf of the entire board, but this is the summary of thoughts that I am aware of that were made by the board members. If anyone else would like to chime in, they are always welcome to do so...
The RIOC Governance Committee will have a pubic meeting prior to the start of the full RIOC Board meeting.
During the June 20 RIOC Board of Directors meeting, Mr Fhala proposed two motions regarding governance issues. According to Mr Fhala:
Proposed resolution #1:I would like to propose a resolution to clarify the meaning of quorum to prevent any misunderstanding of the law and how we apply it at RIOC. Deep engagement between board members and executives at RIOC is critical for oversight and to prevent external actors from controlling the agenda and the interests of RIOC. Unfortunately, I've been informed by a whistleblower that there is an attempt to block resident board members from engaging with each other. The whistleblower informed me of an alleged collusion between the RIOC legal team, Howard Polivy, and Meghan Anderson to block interactions between resident board members under the legal rationale articulated in a resolution made by the board on October 17th, 2019. While I don't think their understanding of this resolution applies, I would like to add a clear definition here to enable the critical work of the resident board members. Moreover this update has not been ratified by an update to our by-laws.
As such, I propose a resolution:
"Board members are encouraged to interact with each other publicly and privately to help govern and regulate RIOC. Board members should not aggregate in a number that constitutes a quorum as defined in NY state laws in a non-public meeting. According to NY state law and our by-laws, "A quorum is a majority of the full membership of the board, including any absences or vacancies.”
Proposed resolution #2:
Recently, the chair of this board appointed Howard Polivy to be part of the interim leadership team. To my understanding, board members must be independent, and as the chair of this board mentioned in prior emails, board members should not be involved in operational matters nor act on behalf of the full board. Furthermore, his involvement and decisions have not been coordinated with this oversight board, nor has he updated us on his activities.
As such, I recommend a resolution to ratify that individual resident board members should not be officially seated in any other position within RIOC not mentioned in our bylaws that might reduce their capability of maintaining independence or create that appearance as required by our bylaws and the law.
Neither resolution was approved. Resolution #1 was tabled, meaning no vote on the substance of the motion was taken and Resolution #2 was rejected by a 5-4 vote.
Here's the discussion during the June 20 RIOC Board meeting.
Tomorrow's RIOC Board of Directors meetings may be very interesting.
Let's see what happens.
By ROOSEVELT ISLANDER at 8:55:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: executive session , Haynes/Robinson Lawsuit , RIOC Board of Directors Meeting , RIOC Management Upheaval
Roosevelt Island resident Joan Brooks shares this message she sent to former Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) interim leadership team member Gerrald Ellis complimenting a Red Bus driver.
According to Ms Brooks:
I need to take a few minutes of your time to send you a quick note about one of your red bus drivers. Matthew (sorry I don’t know his last name)I typically take the “senior” bus to Costco maybe once or twice a month on Tuesdays.
Matthew is the driver on the 12:30 pick-up. He is always:
- Kind
- Courteous
- Caring
- Makes sure carts are safely stacked
- All passengers are back on the bus.
- Extremely helpful
If you have a “ driver award” certainly Matthew the red bus driver deserves it for all the above reasons.
But there are significant maintenance issues keeping Roosevelt Island Red Buses working on Main Street. As reported July 2:
... Of the 4 Red Buses, 2 buses are currently working on Main Street. 1 Red Bus is out of service and is expected to be back in service this week which will restore Octagon Bus Service. The 4th Bus is out of service for maintenance and no date yet for when it will be fixed. 2 new Red Buses are on order....
Last evening RIOC announced:
Dear Roosevelt Island Community,
We regret to inform you that due to the ongoing maintenance issues affecting our Red Bus fleet, tomorrow morning’s rush hour service will be severely delayed along Main Street, and there will be no Octagon Express service. We will also be shortening the Red Bus route tomorrow morning—the southbound Red Bus will turn right on North Loop Road and not go around Cornell Tech—to help reduce wait times at stops along Main Street.
We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have these issues resolved as quickly as possible. Please leave yourself extra time for your morning commute.
-RIOC Transportation
Today RIOC added:
Dear Roosevelt Island Community:
Our Transportation Department was able to restore service to a second Red Bus following this morning’s outage. It is back on the road and we expect to have 2 buses running tomorrow morning, with a 15-minute headway between stops on the island. Please note however that Octagon Express service will remain suspended until further notice.
We know this has been difficult, so we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through these issues.
Thank you.
-RIOC Transportation
RIOC Communications Director Bryant Daniels discussed the Roosevelt Island Red Bus service problems during the July 1 Community Board 8 Roosevelt Island Committee meeting.
More information on the Roosevelt Island Red Bus fleet problems
at this June 21 post.
... creates The Lunatics Radio Hour Podcast, Lunatics Magazine and short horror films. The Lunatics Radio Hour Podcast explores the history of horror and craft of modern day scary storytelling. Lunatics Magazine is a bi-annual creepy art zine that showcases creative work from a collective of talented artists around a central theme.Based in New York City, Abby and Alan produce these creative projects from their apartments. Abby works in media and Alan is a production sound mixer and director of photography....
The latest Lunatics Project podcast features Roosevelt Island.
I am beyond thrilled to present today's episode, a collaboration with our friend Alan at A Storied Native. We discuss Roosevelt Island, the New York Lunatics Asylum and Nellie Bly, the lost estates of Astoria, Queens and North Brother Island. https://t.co/zDlmKssVLZ pic.twitter.com/bXq1r10WsV
— LunaticsProject (@lunaticsproject) July 3, 2024
Have a listen to the Roosevelt Island portion of the podcast.
and learn more about the history of Roosevelt Island's historic buildings and legendary journalist Nellie Bly's investigation of conditions at the Octagon Asylum.
More info about the Lunatics Project available at their website.
