Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Director Jack McManus and Deputy Director Lynda Marmara met with members of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Public Safety Committee last night. Among the topics discussed were improvements to Roosevelt Island bicycle infrastructure and bicycle safety.
The discussion began with RIRA's Helen Chirivas reporting that she agreed with RIOC President Charlene Indelicato that the Roosevelt Island bicycle infrastructure needs to be improved before Citibike can install their bike stations.
RIRA's Rosanna Ceruzzi noted that she thought Citibike was too expensive and suggested that Bike NY's Roosevelt Island programming include less expensive bike rentals.
RIRA's Lynn Strong-Shinozaki emphasized the need for wearing bike helmets. Ms.Strong-Shinozak said the Roosevelt Island bike rider, Anna-Maria Mostrom, who was killed in the collision with RIC Red Bus was not wearing a helmet at the time. Ms Strong-Shinozaki added that the Red Bus involved in the collision had to drive around a parked cab which may have contributed to the accident.
Also discussed were RIOC Public Service announcements about bike safety. Deputy Director Marmara suggested using some local Roosevelt Island talent to produce the bike safety announcements though she specifically hoped any public service announcement would not be like the previous Public Safety Recruitment Video
Here's video of the discussion.
Will have more of this very interesting Roosevelt Island Public Safety conversation soon.
Bike New York Roosevelt Island Community Outreach Manager Caitlin Goodspeed invites you to a bicycle excursion around Roosevelt Island tomorrow evening. According to Ms. Goodspeed:
Join Bike New York for a ride around Roosevelt Island THIS Thursday at 6:30pm. We'll meet at our container under the Helix Ramp. Don't have a bike and/or a helmet? You can borrow one from us! After the ride we'll head to The Riverwalk Bar and Grill for dinner. Can't wait!
Come out to the FREE Family Safety Day Event- Thursday, July 19th from 3:30-6:30 PM at Good Shepherd Plaza (543 Main Street)
Both children and adults can participate in many fun activities and will receive prizes! Along with the exciting activities, there will be free bike helmet giveaways! Remember, safety always comes first.
For more information, call (212)839-4750
Sponsored by: Toyota, Safe Kids New York City, New York DOT & Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department.
On Tuesday, July 20th, the Public Safety Department Co-Sponsored its 2nd Annual Bicycle Helmet Day with SafeKids NYC. Volunteers from DOT assisted with the fitting and distribution of 360 Free Bike Helmets on a beautiful Summer day. PSD Officers were on hand to meet and greet the residents and provided refreshments to all the patient people who waited in line. Cheryl Johnson from DOT was quoted as saying, "This was the 1st time that we actually ran out of helmets." This event is such a hit with the Roosevelt Island Community that the Public Safety Department vows to have one every year. So please, wear your helmets while riding and encourage the kids to wear theirs as well.
Excellent program - please remember to Bike Safely.
Roosevelt Island Public Safety Director Keith Guerra sends the following message to all Roosevelt Island young people under the age of 18 and their parents:
In conjunction with Safe Kids NYC, FREE bicycle helmets will be given out to the kids in the Roosevelt Island community on August 14th from 3:00-6:00PM in the Good Shepherd Plaza. They will be given tips on bicyclesafety and will even have the opportunity to have their bicycles etched and logged at PSD.
You may think you're a pretty good biker, but crashes happen all the time to very good riders. In fact:
Wearing a bike helmet is the single most important thing you can do to protect your brain - and your life - when you ride your bike.
Children between ages 5 and 14 have the highest rate of injury of all bicycle riders.
Each year, more than 500,000 children go to hospital emergency rooms or doctors' offices due to bicycle injuries.
More than half of these collisions happen on neighborhood streets, sidewalks, or playgrounds.
Nationally, only about 15 percent of all kids wear bike helmets. In an AAA survey of school children, here's how often kids wore bike helmets:
Always or most of the time 43% Occasionally 11% Seldom or never 44% No answer 2%
Here is the reason why wearing a bike helmet is so important.
The story of Daniel Kane who survived being hit by a car while riding his bike because he was wearing a helment and his mother's advice on how to prevent similar accidents.
Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.
The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.
