It's Open House New York Weekend On Saturday and Sunday - Take A Tour Of Roosevelt Island's AVAC Underground Garbage Removal System and Visitors Center Kiosk

You Tube Video of Roosevelt Island AVAC System

This weekend is one of the real treats for those of us who like to explore New York City's architecture and unique locations. It's Open House New York (OHNY) Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. According to OHNY:

To celebrate the city’s architecture and design, the 9th Annual openhousenewyork Weekend will once again unlock the city, allowing New Yorkers and tourists alike free access hundreds of sites talks, tours, performances and family activities in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. From private residences and historic landmarks, to rooftop farms and sustainable skyscrapers, OHNY gives you rare access into the extraordinary architecture that defines New York City, while introducing you to the people who make the city a vibrant and sustainable place to live, work, and play.

Roosevelt Island sites on the OHNY schedule are the AVAC Underground Garbage Collection system and the Roosevelt Island Historical Society Visitors Center Kiosk. A tour of the FDR Four Freedoms Park construction site is also on OHNY's schedule but is sold out.

A previous post of Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Leslie Torres Report included this information on the AVAC system.

... Since 1975, the Automated Vacuum Collection System (“AVAC”) has been transporting the majority of Roosevelt Island’s solid waste through tubes connecting the residential buildings to a sanitation facility located by the Roosevelt Island Bridge. Because of this system, we are able to reduce the number of NYC Department of Sanitation trucks that ride our street by 18 trucks a month.

Now, we are exploring new technologies that will allow for the integration of source-separated (recycled) and commercial waste into the system. Additionally, it might be possible for access points to be located in key areas of the district, eliminating the need for curb-side pickup. CUNY’s Urban Transportation Research Center for Region 2 has been awarded a grant from NYSERDA to investigate the feasibility of integrating such a system into the Island’s facility....

More information available from previous posts on the Roosevelt Island AVAC system and Visitors Center Kiosk.

Don't Get Stuck In Trash Sucking Roosevelt Island AVAC Underground Garbage Collection System - It Could Kill You Says Engineer

Image: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

A reader sent in this link to an article in today's Wired Gadget Lab about New York City's Trash Sucking Island - which is, of course, referring to our own special Roosevelt Island pneumatic tube underground garbage collection system. From the Wired Gadget Lab:

The system of pneumatic trash-sucking tubes running beneath the surface of New York City’s Roosevelt Island is either a quirky relic or a glimpse of the future, depending on how you look at it.

A network of 20-inch tubes takes garbage from the island’s 16 residential towers, collecting from every floor, to a central collection point where it is compacted and trucked off the island. It is at once a simple and elegant solution to gathering trash, and an aging and complicated beast that needs a lot of upkeep.

“I can’t run the system right now, I got guys in the pipe. It would kill them,” said sanitation engineer Jerry Sorgente. “We have contractors here from Sweden. They crawl through the pipes, find holes and repair them...

The Roosevelt Island Automated Vacuum Assisted Collections Facility (AVAC) was the subject of the recent Fast Trash exhibit at the Gallery RIVAA. Watch the simulation of garbage hurling through Roosevelt Island's underground tubes as it makes it's way to the collection facility.

Fast Trash - Roosevelt Island's Pneumatic Tubes and the Future of Cities from Project Vimeo.

Additional information on Roosevelt Island's AVAC system and the Fast Trash exhibit is available from previous posts.

Also, more information about these types of automated garbage collection systems from the the contractors, Envac.

Roosevelt Island Rats Infesting Riverwalk Buildings Area

Click on image for close up view of rat on lawn in front of Starbucks

The addition of more restaurants and outdoor eating options in the Southtown Riverwalk area is a welcome amenity for Roosevelt Island but it has also resulted in a notable increase in rats brazenly scampering all over the place particularly on the lawn in front of Starbucks, near the new fruit stand and elsewhere. While sitting at the Starbucks outdoor patio recently, I noticed out of the corner of my eye what I thought (hoped?) was one of the black squirrels scampering nearby but soon realized it was a huge rat. Very, very disgusting!

I inquired of RIOC President Steve Shane the following:

I have received several messages regarding a rat problem in the Southtown area, particularly around the new Fruit stand concession and lawn in front of Starbucks. I even saw a huge rat scampering in front of the service entrance at 425 Main. Is this the responsibility of the Landlord to address or RIOC? If RIOC's responsibility, can you advise what is or will be done about this problem.

Mr. Shane responded that RIOC:

... and Southtown (Hudson/Related/Riverwalk) are all in the fight together, that we live in an urban waterfront environment and there never will be a perfect solution, that cleanliness and attention to trapping, poison, etc. are a good thing, but that construction sites in particular, where established nests are disturbed always give rise to rat appearances. Everyone has the problem. We need the Pied Piper.

On Monday evening, I noticed this mound of garbage piled up high outside of Riverwalk buildings 3 & 4 on Main Street which could make a gourmet feast for our neighborhood rats.



I advised Mr. Shane of this situation:

... there is an additional problem of the Riverwalk buildings leaving their garbage bags on the street from early evening until early morning when the garbage is finally picked up. A sumptuous feast for the rats as well. Yesterday, the garbage from Riverwalk Buildings 3 and 4 were on the street from at least 5:30 until 4:30 the next morning. Attached is a picture. Will Southtown ever be connected to the Island's underground garbage removal system?

He replied:

The AVAC system is connected to Southtown. I do not know the origin of the garbage piled outside except if its from the commercial stores. Need to figure something out.

One thing we as residents can do is to stop throwing left over take-out food from the Fruit Stand, Starbucks, Nonnos and Fuji East on the street and put it in the waste basket where it belongs. I have seen many people just throwing their scraps on the sidewalk or lawn despite their being garbage cans not more than 5 feet away. Also, people throwing their crumbs to the pigeons at Starbucks contributes to the rat infestation problem here on Roosevelt Island. It would be helpful if we stop supplying meals to the rats and that Starbucks put up some signage advising others not to feed the pigeons.

You Tube video of Do not feet the pigeons