According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Real Estate Development Advisory Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Monday, February 3, 2025, at 3:30 p.m. at the RIOC’s Operations Office, 680 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York 10044.
AGENDA:
1. Discussion of Eleanor’s Pier next steps
2. Update on Roadways status
3. Discussion of the Southtown Building 8 lease amendment
4. Any Other Committee Business that May be Brought Before the Committee.
Enrollment is now open for a summer of fun! Register today to take Advantage of our early bird offer: $200 off per week of Advantage Day Camp and $100 dollars off per week of Advantage Tennis Camp.
According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC), it is illegal to give Roosevelt Island residents and workers
preferential boarding on the Roosevelt Island Tram before sightseeing tourists.
As previously reported, last November, I submitted to RIOC a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for:
... a copy of the full legal analysis (not the previously released
public statement) that RIOC is relying on for its current position that
resident/worker Tram boarding preference would be illegal. If necessary,
please consider this a FOIL request.
and followed up:
... Also, please include copies of any Franchise Agreement with NYC
that RIOC is relying on to assert that a resident and worker boarding
preference for the Tram is illegal....
On January 8, RIOC provided copies
of the Tram franchise agreements but denied my FOIL request for the legal
analysis. Later that day, I appealed RIOC's denial of my FOIL request for
the legal analysis as well as followed up by asking for:
... any other agreements with any party including the MTA that RIOC is
relying upon to assert that a resident and worker boarding preference for
the Tram is illegal....
On January 27, RIOC denied my appeal for their legal analysis via this
letter.
I replied to RIOC later that day asking:
... Assuming for the sake of argument that the legal analysis is subject to
attorney client privilege, RIOC can waive that privilege and make the
analysis public.
In the spirit of transparency and openness, I am requesting that RIOC waive
any privilege regarding the public release of Tram priority boarding
preference for residents and workers legal opinion and send me a copy of it
so I can publish it for the Roosevelt Island community.
The issue of tram boarding priority preference for residents and workers is
of great concern to the Roosevelt Island community.
Please let me know if RIOC will waive any attorney client privilege on this
matter and make the legal analysis of this very important issue public for
the community to understand. If RIOC declines to waive the privilege, please
explain why RIOC does not want the Roosevelt Island public to see this
information.
RIOC Associate General Counsel Lada Stasko answered today:
Please be advised that RIOC has concluded its review of the referenced matter
and is closing the file. We will not respond to any further correspondence
about this matter.
Thank you for your attention.
Here is the August 28, 2023
RIOC statement
on Priority Service at the Roosevelt Island Tram
Click here to view the Roosevelt Island Tram Franchise agreements with NYC.
I'm still waiting to see if there are any other agreements RIOC is relying
upon for their claim that Roosevelt Island resident and worker priority
preference boarding the Tram is illegal.
Roosevelt Island RIVAA Gallery invites you to celebrate Black History Month with their upcoming exhibition highlighting the contributions of unlauded Black inventors.
Curators: Amazia Thompson | Angie St. Louis | Bleu Pablo | Dhierry Clermont |
Saundra Lamb
The Lives That Made The Life We Live is an exhibition highlighting unlauded Black inventors and their silent impact on our way of living. Through this exhibition, artists explore the effects of Black inventions on the physical world and human psyche in mediums ranging from paint and textiles to photography and film. Serving as a tribute to these forgotten legacies, it calls for recognition and respect for Black creators who touch every part of our lives, often missed and taken for granted, spanning culture, technology, medicine, and everything in between and beyond.
Join us at RIVAA Gallery on February 8th, for art, music and performances at the opening ceremony of this exhibition honoring Black History Month.
Learn about a museum showcasing black inventors being planned in New Jersey.
Our Tram operator, Leitner-POMA, has scheduled upcoming repair work for the Tram’s South cabin, which will require the cabin to be taken out of service for several days. The repair work is scheduled to take place from Monday, February 10th through Friday, February 14th.
This repair work mirrors the work done last February when the North cabin was taken offline to replace a hydraulic tension cylinder at the Manhattan Tram Station. This work is necessary to perform periodically to ensure the Tram continues to run safely and efficiently.
Please be advised that only the North Tram cabin will be in service during this repair period (February 10th–14th). Travelers should consider utilizing other modes of transportation, including the F-train, Ferry, and Q102 bus for off-island travel. The North cabin will remain in service throughout the entire day during this time, and the POMA team will work to ensure full service is restored as quickly as possible.
We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
- Team RIOC
WHAT: South Tram Cabin out of service to replace hydraulic tension cylinder
WHEN: Monday, February 10th through Friday, February 14th
WHERE: Work will take place on the Manhattan side Tram Station
No mention from RIOC about providing any Tram priority boarding preference for Roosevelt Island residents before sightseeing tourists during this time.
includes an interview with Leitner Poma Roosevelt Island Tram Assistant Manager Darren McCarthy who started working at the Tram in September 2023. According to the RIOC Newsletter interview with Mr McCarthy:
... What are the biggest challenges in operating the world’s most popular aerial tramway?
Regular maintenance is crucial to ensure the tramway’s safety and reliability. This includes inspecting and replacing cables, maintaining the tram cars, and ensuring the mechanical and electrical systems are in top condition — we pride ourselves on the reliability of the Tramway. The Tram has the best reliability hands down compared to any other urban transportation in New York City and around
the world. When we do have a disruption of service be it in the air with passengers or on the ground before the Tram leaves the station, we assure passengers the Tram is safe and in fact is the safest form of transportation in NYC.
We also get a lot of questions about Tram maintenance, which POMA performs every day during the midday period. Can you tell
us what that maintenance entails, what the team is checking, and the general importance of this maintenance?
During the week excluding holidays our maintenance begins at 10:30AM and stops at 2:30PM. We take one cabin out of service at a time to perform our daily Preventative Maintenance (PM). Our mechanics performs inspections on the Towers looking for any issues that need to be address immediately. Cleaning and lubricating the
ropes and saddles on all Towers. Safety checks are top priority. Automation and control systems are tested to verify smooth operation, including communication systems between the Tram cabins and stations. Once we are completed with one cabin we switch services to handle passengers to we can
do maintenance on the second cabin. Safety mechanisms, such as emergency brakes and backup systems, are inspected to ensure
they are in optimal condition. The structural integrity of the Tram is also inspected. We follow a very rigorous PM schedule; each shift needs to complete assigned PMs daily.
Finally, what’s the best part about working on Roosevelt Island?
The community. They are very involved with the Tram. I feel very close with the public and RIOC associates. I feel I have a strong connection with transparent cooperation with RIOC. Collectively we want to make the Tram the best experience. Additionally, working with the advanced technology of the tramway is both challenging and rewarding. It’s exciting to
be part of a team that ensures the operation of such a complex system....
UPDATE 1/29 - A Roosevelt Island parent shares this correspondence with RIOC:
Is there anyway to shift the week of tram maintenance by one week? All the kids would be out of school then, and the tram demand would be substantially lower for RI residents.
No school for kids Feb 15-23.
It would make so much difference to RI residents.
RIOC answers:
Thank you for your email and suggestion regarding the upcoming Tram repair work the week of February 10th. We are expecting heavier than normal Tram usage the following week (2/17-2/21), which coincides with the Presidents' Day holiday, and we want to have the cabin repaired and back in service beforehand to account for the increased ridership. We understand that any Tram outage presents a difficult situation for islanders, so we apologize in advance for the inconvenience and will work restore the second cabin to service as quickly as we can.
Have a lovely rest of your day,
The parent replies:
Yes I figured there would be more tourist traffic 2/17 - 2/12, but less RI resident traffic in President’s Week. I was hoping the resident traffic would be higher priority.
Feel free to email us with any questions or concerns. Thank you for taking
the time to let us know how we are doing. Any feedback can be emailed to
thecafefbservices@tech.cornell.edu
The
Cornell Tech Café
is a great spot on Roosevelt Island for breakfast, Daily Hot Lunch Meals,
Specialty & Grab and Go Sandwiches,
Make Your Own Salads, Flatbread and Neapolitan Pizza, Salads, Soup,
Coffee, Smoothies, beer, wine,
ice cream, and more.
Bring your laptop if you wish. The Cafe has very good wi-fi connection
and very relaxing outdoor patio seating.
This fills a longstanding need, and thanks to all the leaders who pulled it together. For balance now, we need resident leadership to come up with something similar. RIRA is a wreck waiting for...
Jesus Christ. Give it up. The priority boarding is not going to happen. If the line is too long, take the subway. It's not that far from the tram station on either end of the trip.
The protections from Public Safety for tram safety diminish the man hours of protection that Roosevelt Islanders pay for to protect us right here in our community. While It's necessary,...
It good idea but need to think about a limit number of passes per person or some other control to stop people trying to grab multiples for sale. Also have to think where/when do you get the daily...
There is no extra fee for the annual Fast Line Pass. The idea is the same thing as what your are calling Priority Boarding. The idea that is different is that anyone (residents/workers/visitors)...
Re. the 8:30 update: The Roosevelt Landings Residents Association determined that at least 22 heater sparkings and fires had taken place in our building in recent months. I personally experienced 3...
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.
