Help Serve And Represent Our Community, Roosevelt Island Residents Association Common Council Building Elections November 8 - Nomination Forms Now Available

Are you interested in serving the Roosevelt Island community by becoming a member of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Common Council?

RIRA's Election Nomination Committee Chair Adib Mansour tells you how:

RIRA ELECTION IS COMING SOON! Serve your community and be part of this organization that is making a difference for a better life on Roosevelt Island.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH RIRA:

It has been an honor to be part of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) for the last two years. I’ve always heard of this volunteer-run organization whose members are elected by Roosevelt Island residents to improve our community and tackle any and all issues. In the first several weeks, I sat back and learned from all the members that have graciously served on the Common Council. I saw an opportunity to pitch in and offered to run an island-wide survey to take a snapshot parts of the island, in all the buildings. Five months later, more than 700 survey-takers have given us ample information and data to address at the end of this term and in the next term.

All the monthly meetings I attended were filled with collaborative efforts to take on different issues with Common Council members chairing an abundance of committees. These include the Planning Committee:

• that has worked on Emergency Preparedness, 
• transportation, 
• the impact of Cornell on our daily lives, and 
• short/long term parking, to name a few issues. 

Also noteworthy is the Social, Cultural & Education Committee:

• which taught several hundred residents Hands-Only CPR, 
• organized island-wide events, including the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Egg Hunt Event, and the ongoing NYC Compost Project. 

Other committees include the:

• Island Blood Drive in its 14th annual year benefiting the New York Blood Center; 
• the Government Relations Committee, which serves as liaison to local elected officials, and 
• the Public Purpose Fund Committee, which organizes the requests submitted by Island nonprofits for grants funded by RIOC.

The Youth Initiative Committee I chaired has organized numerous events for the youth of the island, including presentations by world-renowned chefs on Italian culture and cuisine and how their passions for culinary art became a worldwide business and established them as cultural messengers.

Other undertakings include the Make It Count Leadership Project that teaches young students how a bank works and exposes them to new job opportunities in the financial field, as well as budgeting and organizing activities and events for the Seniors on the island and earning recognition for their leadership engagement.

The rewards of serving are far greater than the time commitment of three hours per month to enrich the lives of our neighbors and community. Anyone who is at least 18 years old may serve, regardless of citizenship or nationality.

RIRA ELECTIONS:

RIRA will hold its next election for representatives on November 8th, and we invite you to be part of this organization. If you are interested in making a difference on Roosevelt Island, please contact me, Adib Mansour, Chair of the Election Nomination Committee at riradib@earthlink.net so we can arrange a conversation about RIRA and how you might participate as an elected representative.

NOMINATION FORM:

RIRA 2016 Nomination Form

Here is link to the RIRA Nomination Form in case you are interested. Nomination forms are also available at the Public Safety Department Office (550 Main Street) and New York Public Library Roosevelt Island branch (524 Main Street). Nomination forms are available until October 25.

If you would like to have a chat and further discuss the nomination process and any questions you might have about RIRA in general or any other inquiries, please contact me.

Nomination Forms should be deposited in the red box at the Public Safety vestibule NO LATER THAN TUESDAY OCTOBER 25 2016, 9PM. You may run for the Common Council as well as President and Vice President positions. Please refer to the nomination form for more details.

ELECTIONS INFORMATION:

RIRA’s elections are also on November 8th.

Candidates should plan to attend the following:

• Common Council Candidates Night: November 1st, 2016 - 8PM - To be announced in the Roosevelt Islander as well as the WIRE.

• President and Vice President: November 2nd, 8PM - Good Shepherd.

The RIRA) Common Council will meet this evening, October 5, at 8:00 PM in the Good Shepherd Community Center (543 Main Street).

As always, prior to the start of each monthly meeting there is a Public Session in which residents can come and address the Common Council Delegates on any issue of concern.

Here's the Agenda for the final meeting of the 2014-16 RIRA Common Council.

Perhaps next month you will be representing your Roosevelt Island building on the RIRA Common Council.

Contact RIRA Nomination Committee Chair Adib Mansour if you are interested in running or just want some more information.

Report From RIRA Planning Committee - Long Term Impact Of Cornell Tech On Roosevelt Island Facilities, Air Quality Monitoring, Bike/Pedestrian Signage, Southpoint Park Initiative, Water Quality And Meeting With RIOC President

Below is Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Planning  Committee report
 

Image From RIRA

to the June 1 Common Council meeting submitted by Committee Chair Dennis Lawson:

RIRA – PLANNING COMMITTEE Summary Meeting Minutes Notes, May 25, 2016

... The Committee had six items on its agenda: 1) Update on long term impact of Cornell Tech on RI facilities; 2) Update on follow‐up to Air quality monitoring initiative; 3) Update on RIOC immediate/future plans for bike/pedestrians signage; 4) Follow‐up to Southpoint Park planning meeting of 28 April; 5) Water quality on the Island; 6) Any other business.

1) Update on long term impact of Cornell Tech on RI facilities

The RIRA Planning committee Chair met with Andrew Winters, Senior Director of Capital Projects, Cornell Tech, and Jane Swanson, Assistant Director of Government & Community Relations, Cornell Tech on 19 May 2016 at Cornell Tech offices. He outlined that the RIRA Planning committee is trying to assess how Cornell Tech might affect existing RI facilities, including vehicle traffic and parking, sport facilities, biking routes, children playground.

Andrew Winters confirmed that Cornell had conceived their project on the island with a view to become an integral part of the RI community, rather than establishing a separate self‐contained campus. Accordingly, he stated that there should be 1600 students and staff at Cornell Tech by 2018. 50% of these are expected to reside on RI. Most Cornell Tech students however will be one‐year students in their 20s, including 40% foreigners sponsored by their tech companies to complete a masters’ degree. There will be 500 studio type residences for students and 16 apartments for faculty members on campus. Therefore, there will be only few families and children on campus and no pressure on RI existing playgrounds.

They will have a fitness room on campus and outside gym equipment for Cornell Tech affiliates also available to the RI community. They expect to have access to Sportspark and would be ready to contribute to the renovation of the structure, while avoiding to put too much pressure on the current residents use of facility. Their discussions on this matter are on‐going with RIOC.

They will have 40 parking spots underground for Cornell staff and students. There will be another 86 RIOC‐managed paying public parking spots along the road around the campus. They limited their own parking facilities on purpose to dissuade their affiliates to drive to RI. On the contrary, they will favor and encourage public transportation, including biking. They are a primary sponsor of the upcoming ferry service and committed $500,000 a year for 5 years from 2017 for that purpose. Lastly, given their schedule, students will commute at different times of the day not necessarily at rush hours.

2) Update on follow‐up to Air quality monitoring initiative

The RIRA Planning committee Chair updated the committee on his discussions with Cornell on this matter. He outlined the status of the RIRA‐led AQM initiative to Andrew Winters and Jane Swanson and difficulty to find funding to implement it. He congratulated Cornell for the manner in which they handle air quality at the construction site. He informed Cornell representatives of RIRA interest in possibly retaining Cornell existing AQM system once the construction is concluded to monitor air quality on the southern end of the island where pollution is more likely as a result of the Queensborough bridge traffic and FDR. Without committing, Andrew Winters stated that Cornell would certainly be amicable to considering the request by RI community to retain their AQM system post‐2018. He also indicated that the system requires daily expert management. The RIRA Planning committee Chair expressed appreciation for the Cornell’s consideration and suggested some arrangements might be found between RIRA and RIOC for third party support to manage the AQM system, as RIOC is interest in environment protection.

3) Update on RIOC immediate/future plans for bike/pedestrian signage

The RIRA Planning committee Chair informed the committee that he met Susan Rosenthal, RIOC Acting CEO & President on 2 May 2016 and presented her a series of issues on the planning committee agenda (see annex 1). The RIOC President approved the suggestion that marking and signs on the promenades for bike/pedestrian traffic safety would improve safety and could be implemented immediately. The RIRA Planning committee Chair, RIOC President and RIOC Transportation General Manager Cyril Opperman had a subsequent field visit on the West promenade. The RIOC President promised that bike/pedestrian lanes, yield markings, and slow down signs would be put in place as soon as possible. The Planning committee Chair informed the committee that he would attend a meeting with RIOC on 27 May 2016 to discuss bike lane markings on the promenades.

With regard to longer term bike paths development on the island, the RIOC President confirmed that an overall island bike plan had already been designed with Bike New York and would be implemented once construction on the island would be completed by 2018.

Taking note of the lack of information available to bikers on the island, the committee agreed that Frank Farance would draft a Tips for Bikers on RI for review by the committee.

4) Follow‐up to Southpoint Park planning Community Advisory meeting of 28 April 2016;

The Planning committee Chair updated the committee on the outcome of RIOC‐led 28 April 2016 on Southpoint Park planning initiative meeting. The Fitzgerald & Haliday Inc (FHI) a well‐established landscaping design company has been hired by RIOC to redesign Southpoint Park and hospital ruins, as per RI residents’ views. An iterative process of design is led by FHI through interactive and outreach meetings/events with RI residents on 14 and 26 May and 11 June, on‐line survey and public Community Advisory meetings. The Advisory Community committee composed of RI associations serves as liaison with the community. The process should be completed and a project designed by January 2017. During the 28 April meeting a very wide range of ideas were raised. The RIRA Planning committee discussed the consultation process and decided to dedicate specific time during its next meeting to narrow down the number of proposals that could be proposed by RIRA to the Community Advisory committee.

5) Water quality on the Island

Some concerns have been raised by RI residents about the quality of tap water and threat of lead in the plumbing. Concerns were also expressed about potential terrorist threats on water sources. The committee recommended agreed that residents concerned by the quality of their tap water should use rapid individual water quality tests easily available. The Planning committee Chair will reach out to DEP to request a broader assessment of the RI water.

6) Any other business

The committee agreed to discuss parking‐related issues (metered parking duration and location, reserved parking spots, resident vs non‐residents use of public parking spots, etc...), as well as the new ramp for bikes to be connected to the helix by RIOC and rearrangement of the existing helix RI exit circulation rearrangements.

And annex to RIRA Planning Committee Report:

David Lawson, RIRA Planning Committee Chair meeting with Susan Rosenthal, Acting RIOC President & CEO Summary notes – 2 May 2016

The RIRA Chair of the Planning committee, David Lawson, met with Susan Rosenthal, Acting RIOC President &CEO, on 2 May 2016 and discussed the following:

1) Governance/communication
The RIRA Planning committee Chair and the RIOC President agreed that RIOC and RIRA had only to benefit from each other and should entertain a constructive dialogue. The RIOC President’s agenda is solely designed to make the island a better place for its residents.

They agreed that the RIOC website could be more interactive to allow residents to provide feedback and ideas.

The RIOC President proposed to the RIRA Planning Committee Chair to meet monthly to discuss RIOC plans and for RIRA to provide advice, share concerns and constructive recommendations/ideas.

They agreed that such on‐going dialogue should only be constructive and problem solving.

2) RIOC’s agenda

The RIOC President informed the RIRA Planning committee Chair of the immediate priorities on her agenda for the island:

• Patchwork on the helix
• Tram fixing
• Motorgate repair
• Sportspark, roof, pool and boiler fixing
• Ferry MoU
• Bike helix ramp/signs
• Seawall benchmarks
• Island small parks management
• Repairs at the cultural center
• Kiosks at tram and subway stations

 3) RIRA Planning committee agenda

The RIRA Planning committee Chair presented the issues for consideration by RIOC

• The RIOC President approved the suggestion that markings and signs on the promenades for bike/pedestrian traffic would enhance safety and could be implemented immediately;
• The RIOC President confirmed that an island emergency plan existed and approved the idea that it be shared with residents;
• The RIOC President and RIRA Planning committee Chair agreed that Cornell was acting very respectfully with regard to the community and expressed appreciation for Cornell’s management of community relations. They also agreed that Cornell could be involved in future developments on the island as an active contributor the community. With regard to environment protection, the RIOC President confirmed that she was ensuring that the new ferry service would not increase pollution levels. She agreed to the RIRA Planning committee Chair’s suggestion to request Cornell to maintain their air quality monitoring system in place to monitor air quality on the Southern part of the island even after the site construction is completed.
• The RIOC President confirmed that she would check on compatibility between the recycling program and existing AVAC system.
• The RIRA Planning committee Chair informed the RIOC President that some concerns had been expressed about the water quality on the island, and that further reflection would needed within the committee before he could get back to her with more details.
• With regard to long term planning and protection of the green areas on the island, the RIRA Planning committee Chair congratulated the RIOC President for the initiative on South Point park and enquired about potential plans for the /lighthouse Park. The RIOC President explained that no planning could take place until NY City Hall had shared their plans for the NY City managed‐Coler Hospital.

The Acting RIOC President & CEO confirmed that she would get back to the RIRA Planning committee Chair on the issues discussed.

Here is the June 1 RIRA Common Council discussion of the RIRA Planning Committee Report.

Report From Roosevelt Island Residents Association President Jeff Escobar - You're Invited To Join RIRA Planning, Communications, Services, Housing, Governance & Other Committees, Happy Thanksgiving Too

  Image Of 2014-16 RIRA Common Council (RIRA President Jeff Escobar Kneeling Wearing Suit)

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Jeff Escobar sends the following Report To The Community:

Friends and Neighbors,

At the December 3, 2014 Common Council meeting, the Common Council will be reconstituting its committees, as well as electing and seating each committee’s chairs. The bulk of the work that the new Common Council will do this term will be completed in these committees. As has been reported in the past, any member of RIRA – and by virtue of one’s residency on the Island, every resident is automatically a member of RIRA – can serve on a committee. Here is a quick glimpse of some of what the committees currently have on this term’s agenda:

The Communications Committee is undertaking an overhaul of the website www.RIRAonline.com. The goal is to transform it to a useful resource for residents seeking current information about activities and groups on Roosevelt Island, and to serve as an electronic repository for official documents. The committee will also be undertaking an initiative to use social media and other forms of electronic publication to keep Island Residents apprised in “real-time” of the ongoing activities of the Island. Residents who are skilled in web development and writing are invited to contact the current Communications Committee chair Janet Falk at janetlfalk@yahoo.com for more details.

The Planning Committee this near term will be largely focused on infrastructure and transportation safety. With the advent of the Cornell campus coming online to full construction-mode in 2015, coupled with the tragic accident involving one of our neighbors who collided with a Red Bus, infrastructure and transportation safety will be the focus as RIRA works to find real solutions for the Island. Recently, the group reported its thorough discussion of the lighting and roadways where bicycle traffic proceeds; bicycle and pedestrian use of the promenades vs. Main Street; and the role of Public Safety in issuing violations for failure to yield and observe stop signs. During just that short discussion, there was general agreement that a traffic light should be installed at the base of the helix; “sharrows” or shared roadway arrows should be painted in the promenade roads; and lighting must be improved at all crosswalks. Pending further research and study, a resolution(s) prepared by this Committee will be submitted to the Common Council to be recommended to RIOC and all City public agencies.

As Hudson Related finishes work on its seventh tower, with the eight and ninth towers waiting in the wings, in 2015 the Planning Committee, Island Services Committee and the RIRA President will be calling for a number of Town Hall meetings and hearings with Hudson Related, RIOC, the City and Island Residents and Stakeholders to study the impacts – including environmental, social and economic impacts – that the construction of the seventh and remaining towers will have on the Island as it struggles with the construction of the Cornell Campus. Similarly, the Main Street Retail Advisory Committee will be pushing for the planning and completion of the lease-up of the remaining retail spaces on Main Street in 2015, setting forth their recommendations for the currently empty storefronts.

The above is just a glimpse of the work and initiatives that the RIRA Common Council Committees will be undertaking this new term. From Government Relations and Housing, to SC&E (Social, Cultural and Education) and Public Safety, there exists a committee which is calling for you, as an Island Resident, to come and serve. Interested in joining a committee or finding out more information? Attend the next RIRA Common Council meeting on Wednesday, December 3rd at 8:00pm in the Good Shepherd Center, or reach out and contact RIRA President Jeff Escobar at jeffrey.escobar@gmail.com.

Turning from service on RIRA Committees to service on the Common Council, an Orientation for New Representatives was held on Thursday, November 20. Topics included procedures of working within committees and bringing motions to the Common Council for discussion, as well as answering questions of new members. In addition, a presentation was made by Mickey Rindler, Chair of the Ethics Committee, on the recent requirements of New York State regarding disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, as well as a presentation by Lynne Shinozaki, a past SC&E Committee Chair, and Sherie Helstien, RIRA Vice-President, on what it means to serve on the Common Council and work being completed by committees.

If you are interested in serving on the RIRA Common Council, which meets monthly, there are still a few seats on the Octagon, Manhattan Park, Southtown and Roosevelt Landings delegations. Take the opportunity to perform direct advocacy by representing your building neighbors on the Common Council. Please reach out to either RIRA President Jeff Escobar at jeffrey.escobar@gmail.com or Aaron Hamburger, Chair of the Nominations Committee, at ashamburger33@gmail.com for more information. 



Lastly, as we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday, the RIRA Common Council wishes to extend a joyous Happy Thanksgiving from our families to yours. Please take a moment to look back and reflect on the blessings of this past year, as well as remember those in our community who are less fortunate and in need. Whether through a donation to a local food pantry, handing out food at our City’s overburdened shelters, or pitching in at the dinner at the Senior Center, hopefully each of us will find a way to help everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Your RIRA Common Council

Roosevelt Island Wide Air Quality Monitoring Study With Queens College Center For The Biology Of Natural Systems Proposed By RIRA Planning Committee - May Actually Happen

Image Of Black Smoke From Transcanada Big Allis Power Plant From Eva Bosbach

Former Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Ellen Polivy previously reported on efforts to establish air quality monitoring on Roosevelt Island. According to Ms. Polivy:

... One example of balls in the air is the idea and planning of an air monitoring project on Main Street. On our internal blog, we began talking about Cornell and their agreement to do air monitoring only on their construction site. We understand that Cornell is worried about being blamed for pollution that might not be caused by them, so therefore they only want monitoring equipment on their site. However we had a lively conversation on our list serve about general air quality concerns on the Island from the amount of pollution generated from the bridge and the electric plant and other construction around the City. Therefore I suggested that we start an ad hoc committee to study this. Ball was tossed and picked up by Howard Polivy RIOC Board member who thought this was an interesting concept. He did a small amount of research and discovered that Queens College is doing an air quality study. He threw the ball to me. I passed it along to Helen Chirivas who had expressed interest in this issue. She researched a little more and tossed it to Frank Farance who called Queens College and decided to take this idea into the Planning Committee. Now ball is with Frank Farance who is in discussion with Queens College about getting air quality equipment on Roosevelt Island and having us be a part of their Citywide study. But first money needs to be raised for the equipment. Lets see where this goes from here. Ball is still in the air. We will be watching. It’s an exciting project...

RIRA Planning Committee Chair Frank Farance adds:

There are increasing concerns about air quality with the decades long construction of Cornell, and other industrial work around us (e.g., power plant). Rather than a piecemeal approach, we (the RIRA Planning Committee) seek a coordinated strategy with appropriate data/analyses sharing such that the air quality on Roosevelt Island can be monitored and, if necessary, appropriate actions can be taken to address short-, medium-, and long-term concerns. In addition, we might find other neighborhoods (Sutton Place, Queens West, LIC/Ravenswood, Astoria, etc.) who might want to partner, collaborate, and/or support our efforts. Such a nested grid (data fusion) approach might help reduce False Negatives (air quality problems that exist, but go undetected) and False Positives (e.g., air quality problems attributed to activity on Roosevelt Island, but are in fact broader problems in our area). We expect all data to be open and shared.

I have presented this topic at RIRA meetings and there has been strong support. We are working on a plan where Queens College researchers would expand their air quality measurements to Roosevelt Island, but with a smaller grid size (better resolution) than present City-wide monitoring, and with real-time data samples (as compared to the City's two-week samples that take 6-8 weeks to analyze - not timely at all!). There are several nuts-and-bolts aspects of this plan that require further study before we can present it to RIRA for endorsement. I've contacted the research institution at Queens College and they are enthused to work with us.

As part of our air quality efforts, RIRA Planning Committee members toured the Ravenswood power plant (Big Allis) recently.

Mr. Farance shares this message he sent to Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Charlene Indelicato seeking the assistance of RIOC in conducting a comprehensive air quality monitoring program for Roosevelt Island.

Ms. Indelicato

As you are aware, the RIRA Planning Committee has been investigating air quality (AQ) monitoring for Roosevelt Island and coordinating it with the City-wide NYC community air quality survey. We have made good progress, and we need help from RIOC to support this effort, which would provide Reference Data for a Roosevelt Island survey, as calibrated with the City-wide Winter Season sample that is completing this week.

I've also spoken with Peter Krokondelas of the Cornell team and he will be contacting Andrew Winters to connect Dr. Eisl of the AQ research team at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Queens College. In addition, Dr. Eisl will be coming to the Island and I'd like him to me you and other RIOC staff, and Cornell staff (if possible).

Simply, the collective WE (the Island, RIOC, Cornell, etc.) have the opportunity to do this Right: to get Reference Data, which will be calibrated City-wide, and will be the most authoritative data on air quality for our community for decades to come. I urge you and RIOC to support this effort (by granting permission to mount AQ monitors on five lamp posts), and to encourage those around us (Cornell, Hudson-Related, etc.) to be supportive of these efforts. I expect further AQ monitoring during the demolition and construction phases over the years.

Below, please find:

- RIRA Planning Committee's Efforts
- About CBNS, Follow-Up With CBNS
- What CBNS Is Willing To Do For Us
- Why This Is Important To Do NOW
- Specific Request For RIOC's Help

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

RIRA PLANNING COMMITTEE EFFORTS

As I reported last Monday:

"There are increasing concerns about air quality with the decades long construction of Cornell, and other industrial work around us (e.g., power plant). Rather than a piecemeal approach, we (the RIRA Planning Committee) seek a coordinated strategy with appropriate data/analyses sharing such that the air quality on Roosevelt Island can be monitored and, if necessary, appropriate actions can be taken to address short-, medium-, and long-term concerns. In addition, we might find other neighborhoods (Sutton Place, Queens West, LIC/Ravenswood, Astoria, etc.) who might want to partner, collaborate, and/or support our efforts. Such a nested grid (data fusion) approach might help reduce False Negatives (air quality problems that exist, but go undetected) and False Positives (e.g., air quality problems attributed to activity on Roosevelt Island, but are in fact broader problems in our area). We expect all data to be open and shared.

I have presented this topic at RIRA meetings and there has been strong support. We are working on a plan where Queens College researchers (Center for the Biology of Natural Systems) would expand their air quality measurements to Roosevelt Island, but with a smaller grid size (better resolution) than present City-wide monitoring, and with real-time data samples (as compared to the City's two-week samples that take 6-8 weeks to analyze). ... As part of our air quality efforts, RIRA Planning Committee members will be touring the Ravenswood power plant (Big Allis) this week."


ABOUT CBNS, FOLLOW UP WITH CBNS

I have met with Dr. Holger Eisl, the Program Director at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (CBNS). CBNS is on the Queens College campus and they have been conducting the City-wide air quality survey for many years. Here is the NYC.gov Department of Health page that discusses AQ, and also cites Dr. Eisl's research (see NYCCAS Scientific Publications on bottom of page):

The CBNS describes their City-wide work on their project home page:

Steve Markowitz (MD DrPH), the Director, is a physician specializing in occupational and environmental medicine. Here is a sampling of his lectures:

I note that CBNS is also doing saturation monitoring at the 126 Street Bus Depot in Harlem to measure before/after affects of the green technologies being incorporated into the bus fleet.

WHAT CBNS IS WILLING TO DO FOR US

Dr. Eisl is willing to do a Reference Data survey immediately on Roosevelt Island. There would be five sampling points with the following approximate locations:

(1) Southpoint Park transverse road (approx. equivalent to 53 Street in Manhattan)
(2) Sportspark transverse road (approx. 59 Street)
(3) Blackwell House turnaround (approx. 65 Street)
(4) Helix Base (approx. 72 Street)
(5) Octagon Park (approx. 79 Street)

Dr. Eisl can also do a simultaneous Noise survey at these points.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT TO DO NOW

Having Reference Data before demolition and construction start is critical for comparative study for decades to come. The Cornell demolition has not yet started, nor has Cornell yet hired an oversight manager at RIOC, so it is important to get the AQ survey done right now. It addition, CBNS is completing their City-wide Winter Survey this week, so the data can be tied-to/calibrated-with this City-wide data.


SPECIFIC REQUEST FOR RIOC'S HELP

CBNS would need to mount AQ sensors on five light poles, and they need RIOC's permission to do this.

Yesterday, I asked Ms. Indelicato about the status of this air quality study project proposal. Ms Indelicato replied:

We need to get all the information as to locations, installation, insurance, power source, maintenance etc before we say yes or no- I believe the Queens College people are meeting with engineering and IT

Mr. Farance discussed the Air Quality Monitoring Project



at the February 5 RIRA Common Council Meeting.

Report From RIRA President Ellen Polivy - Roosevelt Island Air Quality, Tram Elevator, Amalgamated Bank Mortgage Seminar, Experts List, RIRA Non Profit Compliance and Code Of Ethics

Image Of Black Smoke From Transcanada Big Allis Power Plant From Eva Bosbach

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President Ellen Polivy sends the following Report To The Community:

The Non Profit Revitalization Act of 2013

Effective July 1, the Act mandates every nonprofit to adopt a conflict of interest policy to ensure action in the nonprofit’s best interest. This provision applies to all NYS nonprofits. Among other things, the Act requires that the conflict of interest policy include the following: (1) a definition of what constitutes a conflict of interest; (2) procedures for disclosing a conflict of interest; (3) a prohibition against any attempt by the person with the conflict of interest to influence improperly the deliberation or voting on the matter giving rise to such conflict; and (4) a requirement that the existence and resolution of the conflict be documented in the nonprofit’s records, including the minutes of any meeting at which the conflict was discussed or voted upon. RIRA is acting to have an explicit policy adopted as necessary.


Code of Ethical Conduct

The ad hoc Ethics Committee has reviewed codes of ethical conduct from a variety of organizations and come up with a suggested code. The core issue is how we treat each other. We will be holding a public meeting on Thursday February 20 at 8pm to get public comment. Then at the March RIRA meeting, it will be voted on. Watch for more information. I believe that as a non-governing body, we are essentially an advocacy organization. We must first decide what we are going to advocate for, how we will do it and then speak with one voice. If we cannot do that cooperatively, then we become a clamor of competing voices and no one knows what we as a group stand for or will care to listen to us.


Balls in the air

The Super Bowl is a great example of teamwork. Each player does what he can at the moment where it can do the most good and try not to go crashing into another team member. On Roosevelt Island we are all on the same team since we all want our community to run smoothly and support our residents. I like to treat members of RIOC as our teammates. With this attitude, we all work together to get the ball to the goal.


Planning Committee

One example of balls in the air is the idea and planning of an air monitoring project on Main Street. On our internal blog, we began talking about Cornell and their agreement to do air monitoring only on their construction site. We understand that Cornell is worried about being blamed for pollution that might not be caused by them, so therefore they only want monitoring equipment on their site. However we had a lively conversation on our list serve about general air quality concerns on the Island from the amount of pollution generated from the bridge and the electric plant and other construction around the City. Therefore I suggested that we start an ad hoc committee to study this. Ball was tossed and picked up by Howard Polivy RIOC Board member who thought this was an interesting concept. He did a small amount of research and discovered that Queens College is doing an air quality study. He threw the ball to me. I passed it along to Helen Chirivas who had expressed interest in this issue. She researched a little more and tossed it to Frank Farance who called Queens College and decided to take this idea into the Planning Committee. Now ball is with Frank Farance who is in discussion with Queens College about getting air quality equipment on Roosevelt Island and having us be a part of their Citywide study. But first money needs to be raised for the equipment. Lets see where this goes from here. Ball is still in the air. We will be watching. It’s an exciting project.


Island Services

The committee has been advocating to fix the tram elevator. RIOC has acted on this problem.The elevator upgrade will take around a year and in the mean time RIOC plans to expedite fixing the broken elevator and is trying to avoid the freezing problem that was causing it to break in the first place.

Aaron Hamburger and Frank Farance have been talking with Cy Opperman at RIOC on certain bus related issues. On April 1, there will be no fares on the red bus, but the street parking fees will double to make up for lost revenue.


Housing Committee arranged a mortgage seminar

On Wednesday February 26, 7pm at the bank, Amalgamated Bank will be providing a mortgage seminar for residential housing.


Experts List Outreach

The experts list, an initiative of the government relations committee, is a panel of residents who have attained the highest levels in their chosen fields and who have agreed to make themselves available pro bono mostly to help address specific ad hoc questions and issues. I hope that by compiling such a list it will become easier for the community to seek answers and develop collaborative strategies with other interested parties such as RIOC and elected officials who might want to run questions and ideas by specialists in fields about generally accepted principles. We need anyone with a little time and energy to volunteer their expertise on issues they really care about. It could be you. We need people with all sorts of expertise who understand engineering, architecture, information systems. We need organizers, artists, designers technicians, educators, attorneys, psychologists, social workers, scientists. We hope by developing a panel of experts and interested volunteers ready to step in for particular issues and interests that we should speed the process of aiding and helping to build our community. You would help amplify and improve RIRA’s and perhaps RIOC’s ability to develop plans and responses to evolving issues.

Some concerns we face are land-use and facility development issues. For example the Motorgate arcade is a large space which could be put to good use. Another example might be to propose utilization of the old tram cars. Uses evolve, and there are fields and parks to be considered. Finally without regard to specific projects it would be wonderful if your expertise could help build an overall strategic plan could be developed to carry Roosevelt Island forward further into the 21st century.

Youth mentoring may be an important component and an opportunity for all sorts of people in the community to spend a little time to work with their neighbors, and maybe aid someone in need of occasional help and some information.

You can certainly help in your field of interests and also provide services in the community. For example, during the Cornell ULURP year we needed engineers, scientists, construction experts to read various chapters of an 800 page draft environmental impact study and give their comments. We were fortunate to have the benefit of some scientists, engineers, a City planner and attorneys to read the relevant sections. But we could have used more. People move in and out of volunteer work and we need an easy way to reach experts as we need them. If you are willing to periodically give us the benefit of your knowledge, please email your interest to RIRApresident@gmail.com with the subject line Experts List. Also, you may attend one of RIRA’s ongoing committees. We will be asking RIOC and the elected officials how they could use occasional expert input and will be developing a template for each expert to complete. But first we need more members on our government relations committee. If you would like to help us develop the questionnaire for this experts list, please join the government relations committee.


Thank you for your time and again thank you for the opportunity to serve you and the community.

This is Ms. Polivy's final RIRA President's Report after resigning last week from RIRA.

Ms. Polivy has accomplished many positive things for the Roosevelt Island community on RIRA, should be proud of that work and thanked for her contributions to the community.

Roosevelt Island Southtown Korean Pavilion Proposal, Four Freedoms Park Usage, Ferry Service, Air Quality And Cornell Campus Subject Of RIRA Planning Committee Meeting On Monday, January 6 - You're Invited To Learn And Share Information On These Subjects

Are you interested in learning more about the future of  Roosevelt Island development and providing input on important issues involving your community?

If the answer is yes, Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Planning Committee Chair Frank Farance invites you to attend the next RIRA Planning Committee meeting tomorrow evening. According to Mr. Farance:

There will be a RIRA Planning Committee Meeting on Monday, January 6, at 8 PM in the Island House (555 Main) Community Room. Given the length of the agenda, attendees should expect the meeting will last 90 minutes, I will do my best to keep it as short as possible.

The following is the proposed agenda.

1. Opening Remarks

2. Information Sharing On Korean Pavilion

- Note: Personally, I have been asked to provide input to the Korean Association on questions/info about RIOC and their process. I don't feel comfortable having a private meeting because I am also Chair of the RIRA Planning Committee. As I said at the December Common Council meeting: I believe the community needs an open and transparent process towards long-term features of Southpoint Park, and I believe that organizations (such as the Korean Association) need to be treated fairly and consistently with their proposals. By having such an open discussion, I feel that addresses both goals.

3. Development of a RIRA Position On Four Freedoms Park usage policy
- Note 1: We (RIRA Planning Committee) have determined that FFP Conservancy is not a leaseholder on the property, thus RIOC controls its operations. The purpose of developing the RIRA position is (1) to acknowledge that RIOC is in control and it should take charge, (2) to express the desire that RIOC develop a use policy, with input from the community, on the kinds of uses are permitted/prohibited, such as what can/can't be brought into the park (e.g., presently, children are not permitted to juice/milk in the park), and (3) all use/permits be coordinated through RIOC.

- Note 2: We might also develop a position on a proposed ferry stop at FFP. In short, I believe it is the position of Common Council members (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that putting a ferry stop at FFP might deter the Island getting a ferry stop next to the Subway/Pier (which was the most desirable spot, according to a RIOC study).

4. Prepare Request For Long-Term Monitoring of Air Quality by City/etc.
- Note: There are increasing concerns about air quality with the decades long construction of Cornell, and other industrial work around us (e.g., power plant). Rather than a piecemeal approach, we seek a coordinated strategy with appropriate data/analyses sharing such that the air quality on Roosevelt Island can be monitored and, if necessary, appropriate actions can be taken to address short-, medium-, and long-term concerns. In addition, we might find other neighborhoods (Sutton Place, Queens West, LIC/Ravenswood, Astoria, etc.) who might want to partner, collaborate, and/or support our efforts. Such a nested grid (data fusion) approach might help reduce False Negatives (air quality problems that exist, but go undetected) and False Positives (e.g., air quality problems attributed to activity on Roosevelt Island, but are in fact broader problems in our area).

5. Investigate, Analyze, and Make Recommendations on RIOC Seawall work.
- Note: I've heard that RIOC is starting a new project. There have been several seawall projects on Roosevelt Island in the past several decades, we (RIRA) need to provide community input/review on RIOC's proposed work.

6. Recent Cornell Agreement With City
- Note: We need to discuss this, understand it better, and provide analysis and commentary.

See you there.

Roosevelt Island's Version Of Wikileaks - RIRA Committee Reports Made Available Prior To Tonight's Monthly Meeting

 Image From The Public Record

Roosevelt Island's own version of Wikileaks - below are the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Committee Reports which had been the subject of January 2011 RIRA Censorship Resolution preventing their publication to the public prior to Monthly Meeting.

As you can see from reading these Committee reports, there is absolutely no reason why they cannot be made available to the public prior to the RIRA Monthly Meeting as they had been on this blog for the last two years. Hopefully, RIRA will repeal their Censorship resolution at their meeting later tonight.

Government Relations Committee Report
1/17/11

The Government Relations Committee met on 1/17 to provide background to members concerning the present state of governance on Roosevelt Island and how we got that way. The meeting brought the members of the committee, as well as members of The Maple Tree Group, the sub-committee, together.

Margie Smith, past Chair of GRC, gave the history of the community’s governing structure. Ashton Barfield, immediate past Chair of GRC identified the conditions that relate to the upcoming election, slated for November, 2012 which will fill expired RIOC Board terms for Resident Board Members.

Discussion took place concerning possible alternative governance options and brought to light the statement made recently by our new Governor regarding closing some of the Public Benefit Corporations maintained by the State. The matter is under consideration with no definitive stance.

Dave Evans volunteered to update the contact list of Government Officials and their staffs who represent or interact on Island affairs.

Margie’s information confirmed the role of Government Relations as the connection point between the Common Council and our elected representatives. The GRC should be contacted when any committee or Common Council Member needs to interact with someone who is in an official or elected capacity.
Submitted By: Joyce Mincheff

RIRA – ISLAND SERVICES COMMITTEE (ISC) REPORT TO THE COMMON COUNCIL MEETING 2/2/11

At the 1/12/11 meeting of ISC, we adopted 7 issues to work on:

o Red Bus schedule –Goal is to have a reliable and predictable bus schedule. (Frank Farance will be the lead ISC person for this issue).

o Main St. stores – Objective is to have more and better stores. (Max Long & Alex Fletcher are lead persons.)

o Public Library –Goal is to relocate library to a larger and better space (likely 504 Main St.) and upgrade services and collections. (Marilyn Atkins is lead person.)

o Strollers on Red Bus during rush hours – Change RIOC policy so strollers are allowed on bus at all times. (Frank Farance is lead person.)

o Parks – Monitor operations of new Southpoint Park (which opens in April or May). Correct/improve park regulations and procedures as necessary. (Matt Katz is lead person.)

o Night programs for senior youth – If the Social, Cultural & Educational Committee agrees to lead RIRAʼs efforts on this issue, ISC will join the expected Task Force to work on this issue. (Erin Feeley-Nahem is lead lSC person.)

o Pedestrian safety barrier on Queens side of RI bridge – Goal is to have the Department of Transportation install a pedestrian safety barrier similar to the barrier on the RI side of the bridge. (Jim Bates is lead person.)

Recent developments In mid-January, after meeting with RIRA representatives, RIOC began a 15 minute Red Bus schedule in non-rush hours to see if this will give us the desired reliable and predictable bus schedule. So far, there’s not enough data to know if the plan is working. We’ll need about two months of operation to know if this new schedule is performing as RIOC expects.

Aaron Hamburger, Chair - ISC


Communications Committee Report
Meeting Date: January 24, 2011
Chairs: Ava Dawson & Vini Fortuna
In attendance: Ava Dawson, Vini Fortuna, Matt Katz, Sherie Helstien, John Paul, Frank Farance, Rick O’Connor, Ahmed Darwish, Barbara Allen, Lorena Fortuna and Joseph Terranella (arrived after voting)

Committee Internal Censorship

•    Resolution: Be it resolved that it is our standing policy to make public the minutes, reports and “work products” of this committee with the exception of sensitive information or unless otherwise specified.

o    Unanimous approval: 10-0-0 •    Resolution: Be it resolved that sensitive information will include specific e-mail addresses/contact information, passwords/access codes/credentials, internal urls security codes and proprietary information.

o    Unanimous approval: 10-0-0 •    As a courtesy to the committee, draft committee reports and minutes will be sent to the committee for comment at least 24 hours before being sent to the president for inclusion in the agenda package when possible.

Island Censorship
•    Tabled

Update on Publication of the RIRA Column
•    Matt and Dick have reached an agreement regarding the re-publication of the RIRA column. The RIRA column will be made available for publication on the RIRA website the Wednesday following WIRE distribution at 3pm. A specific credit line will be included in the re-publication. Additionally, past RIRA columns will be made available for publication on the RIRA website. The communications committee thanks Dick Lutz for allowing us to provide more island residents with access to this information.

The RIRA Website

•    The RIRA website, Facebook and Twitter were launched on 1/28/11! The website is available at www.riraonline.com with links to the Facebook and Twitter.

•    Calendar – Barbara, Vini, Matt and Sherie will have posting access to the calendar. Committee chairs will send their meeting times to the calendar address previously specified (please contact the above named for the address if necessary).

•    The communications committee will issue a press release to the WIRE and the Roosevelt Islander Blog when launched.

•    The committee is considering the creation of a forum or group function on the website and will discuss the implementation of such a function at our next meeting.


Subject: RIRA Planning Committee Report 
Date: 2011-01-28
From: Frank Farance

The RIRA Planning Committee met on Wednesday, 2011-01-12 for approximately 90 minutes. We adopted an initial work programme for the remainder of the 2010-2012 term that includes the following six items:

Topic #1: Blackwell Park Planning. Scope: In the prior RIRA session, we had collaborated with RIOC on a Master Plan. We need to provide continuity for RIOC so that community involvement is not lost. The Blackwell Park Subcommittee (of the RIRA Planning Committee) was handling this task. We have new/different members this RIRA session, so we need to make sure there is follow-up.

Topic #2: Long-Term Financial Planning/Budgeting for Roosevelt Island. Scope: In the 1990's there was a state subsidy of $1.6 million. As presented at the November meeting, the RIOC CFO has presented a bleak financial picture. We should be investigating the amount of revenue lost by the lack of State and City taxes returning to Roosevelt Island. By saying "lack", it doesn't mean zero, it means that we aren't getting our fair share. The purpose of this activity would be to research and calculate what our fair share might be, and then to make suggestions on how to acquire that kind of funding and/or services.

Topic #3: Amendments to Roosevelt Island's General Development Plan (GDP). Scope: There is an existing GDP, but more will need to be said about the present and near-future configuration of the Island. One might ask: Why worry about the GDP if most of the development (except Southtown 7-9) is complete? Answer: The GDP also identifies open spaces, parks, etc. and if the GDP becomes a weak document (because both sides, City and State, are ignoring it in residential development areas), then it becomes equally invalid on designation of park spaces and such. This activity would look towards providing revised wording (even though we aren't a party to the contract) and advocacy through the Mayor's office.

Topic #4: Working on an Island-wide evacuation plan. Scope: At present there is no Island-wide evacuation plan, but RIOC has plans for several kinds of emergencies (snow, cold, heat, power failure). Normally, the City's OEM (Office of Emergency Management) coordinates all of this, including ordering evacuations, i.e., the Mayor orders this, not RIOC. The lack of planning for Island-wide evacuations has been a concern of residents for many for years. We plan on working with RIOC, the Roosevelt Island CERT, and the City's OEM.

Topic #5: Main Street and Retail Planning. Scope: We recognize that the master-lease process is ongoing within RIOC, but there is a need for resident input on planning topics that are long- range, not merely short-term questions of providing specific services. We plan on coordinating and collaborating with the RIRA Island Services Committee to formulate RIRA planning positions.

Topic #6: Roosevelt Island Waterfront Planning. Scope: This work involves coordination with the NYC Department of Planning and their "Vision 2020" effort (a comprehensive waterfront plan).

NOTE: The RIRA Planning Committee is free to revise its work at upcoming meetings, based upon priorities and resources. The purpose of establishing a work programme is to announce our intentions for areas of study and recommendation.


SC&E Committee Meeting Notes
Thursday, January 18, 2011, 7pm-9pm

Present: Shinozaki, Katz, Polivy, Helstien, Greene, Darwish, (Nina) Kaul, Feely-Nahem, Reid Absent: Strong, Ferrera, Marcus

We reviewed several ideas that were discussed in our first meeting:

1.    EZGlide 350 Company:    S. Helstien contacted company and got pricings for various size and timings for the possible ice-skating idea.
We discussed more specifically, venue and funding: if outdoors, location and especially security would be major issues; there are three possible outdoor basketball courts (Capobianco, Blackwell or outdoor court behind Sportspark). Security is a real issue as we would have skates, the panels that create the skating surface, rubber matting for the lace-up area to keep secure and protected. If indoors, we might be able to use Sportspark the indoor basketball court. Security would then be no problem. No discussion has been had with RIOC yet. It was decided that we should first meet with Doryne Iseley of Roosevelt Landings to see if Urban America, the RL owners, would be interested in being a part of the funding of this endeavor and if Ms. Islely would be able to then help us get other building managements into the funding circle. We need to know how much each of the building/complex managements would be willing to put into the pot to make this happen. Then we can go to RIOC to talk about spaces they control. We were initially aiming for February, but we may not be able to make it happen that soon. Pricing details below.
Pricing is high: from $10,085 for 2 days (in Feb) up to $16,395 for 14 days. We have pricing in increments from 2 days, 7 days/$12,452, 10 days/$14,088, 14 days. They will offer incremental donations because we are a 501(c)4 non-profit organization.($1000, $1500, $1800, $2800). All pricings include the following:
80 EZ Glide 350 DoveTail panels, EZ Glide Enhancer, 200 pairs of Skates, 560 square feet of Rubber matting for the skate lace-up area, All surface preparation Accessories and Installation materials, Freight to and from venue
RIRA would charge for skate rentals; there is a W hotel in the city that has a skate rink made of this synthetic material. Skating is free, but skate rentals are $12 per pair. We will investigate this further.

2.    Shinozaki and Feely-Nahem, Public Safety Committee Chair, will meet with the Legacy High School President, to discuss RI teen youth issues. We would like to work with the school and their expertise with children to develop a plan Loitering is a problem and the kids need a place to “hang out” from 9pm – midnight. There has been agreement from a sub-committee of Island Services as well, to help and support this effort to find a place for these kids to congregate and socialize.

3.    Helstien and others discussed picking up the Bollywood party. Possible venues again discussed, along with food ideas. Helstien will call Tiffin take-out/restaurant, which advertises with The WIRE and does food delivery on the Island to see if they’re interested and what they might charge for catering. Feely- Nahem has some other food ideas as well.

ACTION ITEMS:

1.    “Welcome Wagon” - L. Shinozaki – Approached the management of Manhattan Park and met with a positive response. Shinozaki will pursue this idea further for that complex. It was decided by the committee that the respective RIRA building reps need to be present for any of these building events. It was originally thought that any of the RIRA reps could be present at any of these WW’s and that may also be possible, but it was recognized as discussion progressed that it would be incumbent on the specific reps to be available during an event for their building, as this is how we link with the community that elected us. Helstien informed the committee that the RIRA website will soon be launched (no date available at the time of this meeting) and that we would like to have some print materials available for these WW sessions talking about the link.
The Committee supports unanimously going ahead with this project and will bring this information to the February Common Council meeting.

2.    “MarketAmerica” - Bob Darwish - We revisited this fundraising program. The link is: http:// marketamerica.na4.acrobat.com/npo The committee voted unanimously to proceed with this and will bring this information to the February Common Council meeting. It costs RIRA nothing, and it has the potential of bringing in some money to RIRA (people shop through this website and a percentage of the money spent comes back to RIRA). SC&E will propose that this program be included as a link on the website as well. This information would be included in print material for the Welcome Wagons. We want to see this site posted on the RIRA website, on Rick O’Conor’s blog site if possible and possibly in The WIRE.

The Committee supports unanimously going ahead with this project and will bring this information to the February Common Council meeting.

Respectfully submitted, Lynn Strong Shinozaki

Interesting to note that the Island Services Committee Report is already on the RIRA Website.

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) June Committee Reports For Island Services, Planning, Government Relations & Mosque Seeking Space

Image of June 2010 RIRA Meeting

Below are the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Committee Reports For Island Services, Planning and Government Affairs presented at the June RIRA meeting by their respective chairs. Subjects included

• Public Library Improvements
• Main Street Stores
• Roosevelt Island 311 System
• Main Street Parking
• Blackwell Park Master Plan and
• Future RIOC Board Appointments as well as others
  

RIRA – ISLAND SERVICES COMMITTEE (ISC REPORT TO COMMON COUNCIL MEETING – 6/2/10

RI Public Library improvements
ISC met with representative of RICLA (Janet Falk & Lorraine Lasker) to discuss what and how to improve the services of our RI branch New York Public Library (NYPL). We developed a priority list of needs. The highest priority need is to relocate the Library to a substantially larger and more suitable space. Other high priority needs are to provide a bathroom, make the Library more accessible to the disabled (including automatic opening doors), more outlets for computers and other electronic equipment, and a meeting room for public gatherings, lectures, book group events, and showing of films. We will continue to expand the “needs” list.

We are encouraged by a report from RIOC (at the Real Estate Committee meeting) that NYPL is very interested in 504 Main as a future site for the Library. Personnel from the NYPL Capital Fund group inspected 504 Main last week. Also, relocating the Library to Southtown Bldg. #7 may be back in play if Bldg. #7 construction begins by early 2011.

Main Street Stores
The RIOC Real Estate Committee is still working on the Master Lease Agreement. However, itʼs expected that the document will be completed and approved by mid-June. If so, the Real Estate Committee will then initiate the bidding process before the end of June.

RI-311
ISC has committed to RIRA President Frank and RIOC Board Member Jonathan Kalkin that we will work to reinstall the RI-311 system on Roosevelt Island. RI-311 is a computer reporting system for residents where various service problems (needed road repairs, safety incidents, bus problems, lighting outages, etc.) can be relayed to the appropriate RIOC department and follow-up reports made.

Joe Terranella has accepted the assignment of making RI-311 happen. He will work with Kalkin and Farance (both are knowledgeable about the “guts”, software and such, of the system). When completed, the system will be presented to RIOCʼs Operating Committee for implementation.

Main St. Parking
Members of ISC are spot checking vehicles parked on Main St. Over the last 3 weeks, we observed that the more aggressive enforcement of parking regulations by Public Safety seems to be working as evidenced by the number of parking tickets issued and the low number of illegally parked vehicles. However, on one day, 5/25/10 afternoon, there were an unacceptable number of illegally parked vehicles – 3 in Southtown and 2 in Northtown. Weʼll continue to monitor the situation thru June.

Aaron Hamburger, ISC Chair

Planning Committee Report – June 2, 2010

RIOC Vice President, Rosina Abramson, has made available an artist’s rendering by landscape architect, Lee Weintraub, which conforms to the RIRA Resolution vote on last January. We shared it with the Blackwell House sub- committee members for their consideration and comments. There being no substantive objections to the drawing, sub-committee chairs, Judy Berdy and I have sent the following comment to Ms. Abramson:

Blackwell Park Sub-Committee of the RIRA Planning Committee Response to the Recent Artists Rendering June 1, 2010

We have shared the Weintraub drawings with the sub-committee members along with a copy of the RIRA Resolution that codifies our expectations for the conceptual planning phase of Blackwell Park. We received no negative comments or requests for clarification or more information. Based on that, we believe that the rendering conforms to the general preferences of the participating community members. Of course, we understand that the conceptual plan encompasses only broad strokes and that the practical details will be found in the design elements to be considered next. Until we understand what those design elements are, where they will be placed and what they (and the entire project) will cost, our support may be construed only for the overall conceptual plan. We look forward to working with you to develop and cost-out those design elements.
Respectfully submitted, Matthew Katz, Chair

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE – JUNE 2, 2010

Government Relations Committee (GRC)

Ashton Barfield (Chair)
Erin Feely-Nahem
Russell Fields
Sherie Helstien
Matthew Katz
Ellen Polivy

Maple Tree Group (MTG) subcommittee

Ashton Barfield
David Bauer
Linda Heimer
Sherie Helstien
Matthew Katz
Dick Lutz
Nurit Marcus
Joyce Mincheff
Margie Smith

There hasn’t been much GRC or MTG activity in the past month.

We’re still waiting for additional information from Assemblymember Micah Kellner’s office about the term expirations for the RIOC Board seats and the appointment dates for the current resident occupants, to determine when elections will be needed for each Board member, and to evaluate how to coordinate RIOC Board elections with the even-year-November Common Council elections.

There hasn’t been any need to meet.

From now on, I'm going to include the non-MTG members of GRC (Russell Fields, Erin Feely-Nahem, Ellen Polivy) in MTG news, in the hope that they’ll find themselves so interested in its activities that they’ll become involved with it.

Margie has passed along a few updates to the elected-officials contact list, but I haven't yet had time to input them, or to contact the offices (other than Micah’s) to notify them that I'm now the chair.

The only other GRC-related matter is that both Margie and Matt have forwarded to me the East Side Democratic Club endorsements of various candidates. I'm distributing the list to both MTG and all Common Council members via this report (on the second page).

East Side Democratic Club endorsements
May 27, 2010

Senator
Chuck Schumer
Kirsten Gillibrand

Governor
Andrew Cuomo

Lieutenant Governor
Robert J. Duffy

Attorney General
Eric Schneiderman

Controller
Tom DiNapoli

65th Congressional District
Carolyn Maloney

State Senate, 26th District
Liz Krueger

State Senate, 28th District
Jose Serrano

Assembly, 65th District
Micah Kellner

State Committee, 65th Assembly District
Jim Clynes
Ruth Halberg

It was pointed out during the meeting that RIRA does not endorse political candidates but will provide a forum for any candidate wishing to inform the Roosevelt Island community of his or her views.

At the June meeting, RIRA also passed a resolution supporting a request made by members of Roosevelt Island's Islamic community (approximately 200 families they say) seeking premises for the location of a Mosque although the resolution did not state where that might be. (Will post the resolution when I receive a copy of it). The residents seeking space for a Mosque expressed frustration at the slowness of the process with RIOC in trying trying to secure space but were repeatedly assured by RIRA members as well as RIOC Directors present that this was typical with all seeking space from RIOC. 503 Main Street in the Rivercross Building was mentioned as a site being considered for a Mosque.

It will be interesting how any future private sector Master Leaseholder for the Main Street Retail premises accounts for the Roosevelt Island non-profits, (Gallery RIVAA, Thrift Store) including religious institutions, as the Master Leaseholder attempts to bring new retailers to Roosevelt Island.