Take The Roosevelt Island Columbia University Graduate Architecture School Survey - What's Your Favorite/Least Favorite Place, What's Working, What Can Be Improved And What Do You Think About Cornell

Marena Wisniewski is a student at Columbia's Graduate School Of Architecture. I met her earlier this week at Starbucks and had a brief conversation about Roosevelt Island. Ms Wisniewski reports:

We are currently in the middle of trying to gather responses to a quick poll about the island, similar to the questions I asked you at Starbucks. However, as fun as it would be to ride the tram all day asking people questions(which I did on Monday morning) it's not very effective.

Ms. Wisniewski adds:

We are first years in Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in the Historic Preservation Program. As part of the curriculum, we are assigned an area in New York City to research and come up with some idea of what preservation means to that specific place.

For our group, we have decided to craft a preservation plan for the island, and believe that resident input is of critical importance. The responses will be used to help evaluate significance of the buildings on the island, and what perhaps should be pointed out as historically significant, or what kinds of transportation/infrastructure could be employed to make the lives of RI's citizens better. Citizen input is really going to influence how we will proceed with a plan, and what sort of things we will include in it.

We would really love to hear just exactly what islanders want for the future of their island.

Please click here to take the survey.

Image Of Roosevelt Island Columbia Student Survey

Previous Roosevelt Island academic studies were done by Hunter College, Cornell University and Columbia University.

Please Take the Survey.

Help Bring B-Cycle Bike Sharing To Roosevelt Island - Make Sure To Vote And Select Roosevelt Island For Bicycle Sharing

2009 You Tube Video of Montreal Bike Sharing Program

Continuing on the bicycle theme from earlier today, wouldn't it be great if a bike sharing system was established on Roosevelt Island like the one in Montreal described in video above as well as many other cities?

Are you wondering what bike sharing is all about? It's a simple concept. According to The Bike Sharing Blog, Bike Sharing is a:

short-term bicycle rental available at a network of unattended locations;

RIOC Director Jonathan Kalkin has been working to bring Bicycle Sharing to Roosevelt Island for some time. Yesterday, Mr Kalkin sends in this link to Gizmodo article on Bike Sharing recently started in Denver by B-Cycle. From Gizmodo

... How does it work? Well, there are B-cycle stations all around Denver. Once you have an account, you can grab a bike from any of them. When you're done, you can then drop it off at any other station. The GPS unit inside the bike (there's no nav screen, it's hidden inside the bike itself) tracks your route and lets you check it out online when you're signed in...

and:

...They're currently finishing the details on the next batch of cities, although they're mum on what those cities will be. You can vote for your city on their site if you want to try to get it near you.

(I was told that in order to bring the system to NYC, they need a whole lot of grassroots support...

Streetsblog adds:

...In Denver, B-cycle will be financed by ads and user subscriptions, with annual memberships priced at $65. Members get RFID cards that they can use to to check out bicycles at individual docks with a wave of the hand. The first 30 minutes of each ride are free, with each additional hour priced at one dollar...

Mr. Kalkin writes:

As you know the Columbia study (Page 38-41), I commissioned and the Hunter (Page 38-40) study both recommended Bike Sharing. It is a great idea for the island and NYC. I also approached a member of Community Board 8 about this idea. This company is having a vote competition to see what area in the country is interested. I posted it on Twitter and Facebook and we are currently ranked 7th in the US now. I would like to approach them and it would be helpful if your readers could put a vote for 10044 in and make sure they pick the Roosevelt Island, NY (full spelling) option. (UPDATE 8:16 PM - I just realized we were ranked 7th in the state at the time, not the US.)

So, if you want the B-Cycle Bike Sharing to come to Roosevelt Island, click on this link and vote.

More information on B-Cycle Bike sharing in this video below

You Tube Video of B-Cycle Bicycle Sharing

and the Denver B-Cycle program here as well.

You Tube Video Of Denver Bike Sharing Program

Let's get those Bikes!

Roosevelt Island Landscaping Study By Cornell Architecture Students Underway- Help Shape Our Greenspaces, Plazas and Pathways

Image of Cornell Preliminary Presentation To RIRA From Jonathan Kalkin

During the April meeting of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council Meeting a presentation (Copy Below) was made by the leader of a group of students from the Cornell Graduate Program In Landscape Design. The students are participating in a project initiated by Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC) Director Jonathan Kalkin to help redesign Roosevelt Island's green spaces and pathways.

After several weeks of exploring Roosevelt Island, meeting with RIOC staff, RIRA members and other Roosevelt Island community leaders a preliminary plan was presented by the Cornell Landscaping team to the RIRA Common Council at the April meeting. The goal of the presentation was to receive comments, criticism and other feedback from RIRA members that the Cornell Landscape team can incorporate in a final Roosevelt Island Landscaping plan to be presented at the May RIRA meeting.

The initial plan presented at the April meeting envisions a 3 Phase Agenda including (Page 17 of the Presentation):

Phase One: Safe, ADA-compliant pedestrian circulation & community gardening

* Four greenways: four paths to improve existing pedestrian pathways

* Temporary greenhouse & nursery for container plants: partnership between residents, schools, & hospital for use

Phase Two: Expansion of Community Gardens and Public Plazas

* Construction of hardscapedplazas, community garden, and landscaping areas

Phase Three: Green Energy Projects

* Informed decisions about site-appropriate sources for energy– Informed decisions about site-appropriate sources for energy

* Agreement with power company on an energy cost reduction program for the whole island

* Installation of green energy projects

Among their proposals are (page 15)

Creating Plazas: Unify areas that contain several disconnected public spaces, using hardscaped, tree-lined plazas that can be used for performances, community events, and educational programs.

Redesigning for existing green spaces: Extend community gardens into Redesigning for existing green spaces: Extend community gardens into permanent locations; if a location is available temporarily, a greenhouse and nursery for container plants can be set up for residential, educational, and therapeutic use. Utilize disused spaces for stormwater-managing landscapes and/or native plant educational gardens.

The Cornell Group is seeking any additional feedback on their proposals (Page 19).

• Do you have any questions about this preliminary plan? Are there any features of it that are especially exciting, or especially worrisome?

• What do you feel are the best things about living on Roosevelt Island? What are the worst things about living here?

• Any other comments? Things we have overlooked? Ideas you have for the island’s landscapes?

Click To Enlarge Image and tell your favorite Roosevelt Island places you like and dislike.

Remember these are preliminary proposals and a final plan will be presented at the RIRA May Meeting. Of course, none of these proposals are binding upon RIOC but are helpful suggestions.

Below is a copy of the Presentation made before the April RIRA meeting.
Cornell Landscaping Roosevelt Island Project


Roosevelt Island has been the beneficiary of several other recent University Projects including the Columbia University Roosevelt Island Transportation Study and Hunter College's Access RI Accessibility Study.

Report From 5/6 RIRA Meeting- Red Bus Fixed Schedule Experiment, RIRA To Receive $10,000, Octagon Tenant Turnover Worries & RIRA Wire Column

Image of Roosevelt Island Red Bus from RIOC

Learned the following at last night's Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council Meeting.

• Assembly Member Micah Kellner has secured $10,000 for RIRA;
• RIOC will experiment with a fixed schedule for the Red Bus starting next month;
• during a discussion on Roosevelt Island ferry service, an Octagon RIRA delegate said there was immense concern over tenant turnover at the Octagon by building management;
  
• some RIRA members were concerned with the harsh tone of RIRA President Farance's 5/2/09 Main Street WIRE column regarding the recent Transportation Study conducted by Columbia University students (column is not yet available online) and
• during the discussion on the RIOC Board Nomination Elections to be held on May 19, it was reported that current RIOC Director Charlee Miller has retired and that RIOC Director Patrick Stewart was not going to be re-appointed to the Board
  

I inquired of RIOC President Steve Shane the following:

At last night's RIRA Common Council meeting, it was disclosed that there will be a new Red Bus Schedule, with fixed timing rather than a continuous loop, that will be implemented on an experimental basis next month. Is that true and if so, can you provide some additional details as to what the schedule will be?

Also, it was stated during the meeting that RIOC Director Patrick Stewart will not be re-appointed to the RIOC Board. Is that true?

Mr. Shane replied:

As to the experimental red bus schedule, we have agreed with Frank Farance to try a schedule from 9:55 until 11:30 AM which contemplates a 45 minute loop for the 3 buses in service, departing Octagon at 9:55, 10:10, 10:25, etc.

As to Patrick Stewart, I know that neither he nor anyone else has been nominated by the Mayor/Governor for the seat which he presently occupies and which, by statute, he continues to occupy until a successor is named.

Update - 12:30 PM - Advised by a reader that the 5/2 Main Street WIRE is available online in PDF file format. Also, if you have not read it yet, there is an excellent in-depth interview with RIOC President Steve Shane in that same WIRE issue marking Mr. Shane's two year anniversary as RIOC President. Happy Anniversary!

Green Roof Proposed For Roosevelt Island's Motorgate Garage By Columbia U Team - See What Else May Be Coming To Roosevelt Island In The Future!

Image by Columbia University Transportation Study Group

A Green Roof Garden for Roosevelt Island's ugly and sterile Motorgate Parking Garage together with a Pedestrian friendly ground floor retail corridor and more attractive Farmers Market Space are among the recommendations made by the Columbia University Urban Planning team that will be presenting their ideas tonight at 7:30 in the Good Shepherd Community Center (543 Main Street). I have seen an earlier version of their presentation that had many interesting ideas and it is well worth taking the time to attend tonight's meeting.

Image by Columbia University Transportation Study Group

The Main Street WIRE sends the following bulletin regarding the presentation:

Columbia University Grad Students Presenting Transportation Study to R.I. Community Thursday at 7:30.

Graduate students of Columbia University will brief Roosevelt Islanders on their study of the Island's transportation this Thursday night (April 16) at 7:30 in the Good Shepherd Community Center.

A limited number of residents who have had a preview call the students' work comprehensive and imaginative. It is strongly visualized and packed with facts about traffic, ridership, subway capabilities, destination data, and much more.

Led by Dr. Floyd Lapp, an adjunct professor of planning, the students considered a wide variety of transportation options and alternatives for the Island. A preview of their presentation indicates that the study has addressed issues like reconfiguration of Main Street traffic and the possibility of mixed use of the "channel" between Main Street buildings, pedestrian access to theQueensboro Bridge, a reworking of street-parking and Motorgate rates to free up Main Street parking, a long-term program of gradually discouraging use of cars, reduction of Main Street traffic signage, and measures to eliminate the bunching of red buses that leaves extended periods without service at rush hour.

The presentation will begin at 7:30 in the Good Shepherd Community Center, Thursday night at 7:30.

Image by Columbia University Transportation Study Group

One of the ideas that I hope the Columbia students addressed was the feasibility of having Car Free Days on Roosevelt Island as this Daily News article reported will be returning to Williamsburg and other NYC neighborhoods this summer.

...Civic and business associations in Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights have applied for city permits to repeat last year's successful projects that limited car traffic to through streets along a several-block stretch of two shopping corridors....

And:

... Last year's car-free weekend permits also were in effect in Jackson Heights, Queens and along Park Ave. and Lafayette St. in Manhattan.
The Transportation Department did not reveal which other Brooklyn streets permits were requested for this year.
"We are in the process of reviewing applications from communities across the five boroughs seeking to hold car-free events this summer," a Transportation Department spokesman said....

As we all know, developing innovative ideas is a great intellectual exercise, the challenge is to find ways to have them implemented in the real world if appropriate.

UPDATE - 6/17 - The NY Times has more on green roofs and urban farming:

... City dwellers have long cultivated pots of tomatoes on top of their buildings. But farming in the sky is a fairly recent development in the green roof movement, in which owners have been encouraged to replace blacktop with plants, often just carpets of succulents, to cut down on storm runoff, insulate buildings and moderate urban heat.

A survey by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, which represents companies that create green roofs, found the number of projects its members had worked on in the United States grew by more than 35 percent last year. In total, the green roofs installed last year cover 6 million to 10 million square feet, the group said....

Counting Main Street Traffic For Columbia University's Roosevelt Island Transportation Study - Is Traffic Light Needed at Motorgate Intersection?

One of the Columbia University urban planning students participating in the Roosevelt Island Transportation Study was conducting a traffic count in front of the Motorgate ramp to the Roosevelt Island Bridge on a cold Tuesday afternoon. Last May, Roosevelt Island Public Safety Director Keith Guerra told me that the Department of Transportation was going to conduct a traffic study to determine if a street light was warranted for the Motorgate Ramp intersection. I don't know what happened with that DOT study but I am glad that the Columbia students are investigating the issue as part of the overall Roosevelt Island Transportation study.

More on the Columbia University Roosevelt Island Transportation Study from a RIOC press release published in the 1/17/09 Main Street WIRE:

"As Roosevelt Island residents know all too well, the community has evolved during the past 40 years from the much heralded and highly innovative ¡®new town in town' concept of the 1960's. Formative concepts such as a ¡®traffic-free' environment and battery-operated ¡®minibuses' have given way to practicalities, budget realities and a growing population. A fresh look is needed at the impact of present and future growth.

"The Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture's Urban Planning program will focus on recommendations to improve access within, to and from the Island by looking at all the various transportation modes. Improving pedestrian and bicycle access will be evaluated especially since an early aspect of the design of Roosevelt Island was to have an auto-free community. Journey to work access will be evaluated by looking at all available and potential modes: bus, tram, subway, vehicular circulation, potential ferry and even perhaps new and innovative approaches that are not yet even on the radar screen."