Report From RIOC President Leslie Torres - Roosevelt Island Public Safety Officer Performs Heimlich Maneuver On Choking Victim, Bicycle Parking Policy Change, Tramway Plaza Rat Update and Main Street Reconstruction Replacing Z Brick
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Lesie Torres sends the following report to Roosevelt Island residents.
Greetings Roosevelt Islanders! I want to start this week’s column by thanking you for your cooperation while we renovated the Tram stations last month. We have a little bit more work to do, but the main portion of the project was completed last Friday, as scheduled, so there will be no more disruptions to the regular Tram schedule.
PSD Officer Saves Choking Victim
On the night of August 27, RIOC’s Public Safety Department received a call for assistance in the lobby of 625 Main Street. Four officers – Lt. Gary Yee, Sgt. Raul Hernandez and Special Patrol Officers Frensheria Michael and Leonard Bunbury – hurried to the scene to find a woman who was choking. SPO Michael quickly examined the woman, who was turning blue and unable to speak, and saw the imprint of an object in her throat. She performed the Heimlich maneuver on the woman twice, causing her to cough up a piece of beef that had been lodged in her throat. Later, Emergency Medical Services arrived and confirmed that the woman’s vitals were good. I’m thrilled that she’s okay and grateful to SPO Michael for her terrific work!
Bicycle Parking Policy Change
Overnight bicycle parking is currently not permitted on RIOC bicycle racks, but that’s about to change. Starting on September 17, overnight parking will be allowed on our bicycle racks with two exceptions: the rack located on the West Drive at the F-train station and the rack located in the Roosevelt Island Tramway Plaza. Overnight parking between 2:00 am and 5:00 am will still be prohibited on those two racks in an effort to reduce overcrowding and ensure space for daily commuters.
Please note that long-term storage is not permitted on any RIOC bicycle rack. Any bicycle that appears to be abandoned will be tagged by the RIOC Transportation Department with a warning tag. The owner will be given seven days to claim their bicycle before it will be removed and held by Public Safety for seven days. After seven days any unclaimed bicycles will be donated to the Roosevelt Island Thrift Shop located at 520 Main Street.
Tramway Park Rat Extermination Update
In the June 16 edition of the RIOC column, I wrote about the rat problem at Tramway Park on the Manhattan side of the Tram. As I said then, Tramway Park is the property of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and thus not RIOC’s jurisdiction, but we would work with the Parks Department to assist in their extermination efforts as much as we could.
Last month, with the Parks Department’s approval, the East Midtown Partnership, which is the Business Improvement District covering the Manhattan side of the Tram, agreed to assume the responsibility for a major rat extermination effort in Tramway Park. As part of this initiative, they have hired a new extermination company that has already begun its work. RIOC representatives met with representatives from the Midtown East Partnership and the Parks Department, and we are optimistic that their work will be thorough and successful.
Main Street Reconstruction to Begin
The street work for Phase II of our Main Street Reconstruction Project will begin on Wednesday, September 12. During Phase I, completed in 2009, we replaced Z-Bricks with asphalt pavement on the roadway from 40 River Road to the Fire House Station. Phase II will continue the same work from 40 River Road to the bottom of the Helix ramp. The asphalt surface is better at handling heavy vehicle traffic and the elements, and it won’t require the frequent and costly repairs involved in maintaining the Z-Bricks.
