Residents Ask Why Was Chain Link Fence Installed Blocking Access To Roosevelt Island East River Eleanor's Pier And Will Pier Tables And Chairs Return When It's Fixed?

Last Friday, Roosevelt Island residents noticed chain linked fencing being installed at Eleanor's Pier on the East River waterfront promenade

 

and asked:

• Do you know what happened here? It’s fully fenced
• What is this fencing???? So strange they would close the entire pier 😔 

Last month, a portion of the Eleanor's Pier seawall railing collapsed.

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On April 1, Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Communications Director Bryant Daniels replied to my question asking what happened and reported:

On Saturday evening an individual was holding onto one of the railings on Eleanor’s Pier when it collapsed back onto the pier. Thankfully, that person was ok and did not require medical attention. No other individuals were involved in the incident, and nothing went into the water. 

RIOC has cordoned off the entire area for public safety purposes and begun investigating why the railing collapsed, and whether the rest of the railings will require any remediation work to ensure their structural integrity. We don’t yet have a timeline for the repair work but will be sure to keep the community up to date when we know more. In the meantime, for those visiting the pier, we are asking everyone to please adhere to our temporary boundary and not cross into the cordoned off area.

Subsequently, additional problems were discovered at the Pier which required it to be closed for safety precautions. 

Also, several residents have asked:

Do you know what happened to the chairs in Eleanor’s pier? They disappeared slowly and never came back.

Do not know yet RIOC's plan to fix and timetable to re-open the Pier or if the tables and chairs will return.

Will update when more info becomes available.

The same pier seawall railing area collapsed in February 2023

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and the Roosevelt Island boat prow is still closed 

a year after the damage was discovered in April 2023.

Roosevelt Island Community Report From RIOC President Susan Rosenthal - Seawall Railings, Sportspark Opening Soon Maybe, Blackwell House, Tram Platforms & Elevators, Youth Center Rats, Renovation, Operator, Renwick Ruins, Water Safety, Picnic Tables, Water Fountains & BBQ's

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Susan Rosenthal reported to the March 23 RIOC Board of Directors meeting on current projects including:

• Seawall railings replacement - start construction in June,
• Sportspark announcement regarding opening hopefully by Monday or Tuesday,
• Blackwell House renovation Request For Proposal (RFP) posted,
• Tram Platforms renovation (both Manhattan and Roosevelt Island stations)
• Rat problems at Roosevelt Island Youth Center,
• Youth Center Building Renovation,
• Youth Center Operator RFP being revised with assistance of NY State Office of Children & Family Services,
• Renwick Ruins Scaffolding To Repair Falling Cornice and 
• Final Report coming soon on status of Renwick Ruins condition commissioned by FDR Park (estimated cost of stabilizing Ruins is $20 Million)

Here's Ms. Rosenthal's report to the RIOC Board (Part 1)



Part 2:

• Tram Elevator RFP - creating glossy brochures and exploring personal contacts seeking contractors,
• Roosevelt Island Public Space Water - It's safe,
• New BBQ's, picnic tables and benches, and water fountains,
• Motorgate Gallery Art Gallery Opening and
• Renwick Ruins Stabilization and future plans for re-purposing.

Portion Of Roosevelt Island Seawall Railing Held Together With .... A Plastic Water Bottle - RIOC Plans $13 Million In Seawall and Railings Improvements For Upcoming Fiscal Year

The Roosevelt Island Twitterverse reports:

One way to fix a railing I suppose. #thereifixedit @ Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island http://t.co/uW03OiY2hj
— jonathon townley (@jptownley) October 29, 2014

Image From JP Townley via Instagram

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2015-16 (Page 6), RIOC has:

... proposed improvement of the seawall at Southpoint Park ("SPP"). The capital plan as proposed includes a scheduled corresponding expenditure for seawall and railing work at SPP in FY 16‐17. The critical shoring of this infrastructure will stem further deterioration of the affected seawall sections and increase the longevity of RIOC's capital investments in the area...

RIOC's Proposed 2015 -16 Fiscal Year Budget Capital Plan contemplates spending $10 million on the Southpoint Park Seawall and $3 million on Seawall Railing Replacement (Page 9).

Here's the discussion of Roosevelt Island seawall improvements by RIOC President Charlene Indelicato and RIOC Director David Kraut during October 22 RIOC Audit Committee meeting on RIOC's Proposed 2015-16 Fiscal Year budget.



The full audio web cast of the Audit Committee meeting on proposed budget is here.

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 Emergency Management Preparedness Update/Lessons Learned Discussion At RIOC Operations Committee Meeting - More Community Involvement Planned, Communications Back Up and Seawall Needs To Be Fixed Too

Image of Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park Flood From Hurricane Irene by Michael Girard

This previous post following Hurricane Irene reported on Roosevelt Island Assembly Member Micah Kellner's letter to Mayor Bloomberg seeking improvements in Roosevelt Island's emergency preparedness management. An excerpt from Mr. Kellner's letter:

... I am concerned about protecting and evacuating the residents of Roosevelt Island, which is located in my district.

Roosevelt Island requires special consideration when it comes to emergency planning; the Island is home to two acute-care hospitals, Coler and Goldwater, and nearly 14,000 residents, many of whom are elderly or disabled. Further, as the Island looks to expand with the possible location of an applied sciences center, with the accompanying residents and staff, it is more important than ever to focus on emergency procedures. Had the City faced a more severe storm that required the evacuation of Zone “B”, there is currently no practical plan in place to safely evacuate Island residents....

The subject of Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness was discussed during the September 28 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Operations Committee meeting (audio webcast of entire meeting is here).

RIOC Vice President of Operations Fernando Martinez provided an update/lessons learned to the RIOC Directors on Roosevelt Island emergency management preparedness and informed them that some staff have received more advanced emergency management training subsequent to Hurricane Irene. Mr. Martinez also reported that RIOC will start planning on improving  community involvement in Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness Management by involving the Roosevelt Island Communty Emergency Response Team (CERT), RIRA and other stakeholders in the emergency planning process.

When asked if the Roosevelt Island CERT Team was called into service during Hurricane Irene, Mr. Martinez said that it was not because the CERT Team comes under the jurisdiction of NYC Office Of Emergency Management (OEM) and was not activated by OEM during Hurricane Irene though several members assisted at the Long Island City Newcomers High School evacuation center.

One question that always arises regarding Roosevelt Island emergency preparedness is if there is an emergency evacuation plan and why does the community not know about it? RIOC Director Howard Polivy said that there was a plan, that he and RIRA President Matt Katz have reviewed it but that for security concerns, certain elements of the plan could not be made public. Mr. Polivy asked to the extent possible, the plan should be made more public and disseminated to the community.

RIOC Director Margie Smith wants to make sure that RIOC has a back up emergency communication system in place after the experience of Verizon phone service being down during the Hurricane as reported in this post at the time:

 ...Please be advised that due to the Verizon telephone outage, we are providing the Public Safety Department with temporary phone numbers....

Below is the RIOC Operations Committee meeting discussion on Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness Management.

You Tube Video of Roosevelt Island Emergency Preparedness Management Discussion

There was also a discussion on fixing the Roosevelt Island seawall particularly in light of the seawall break across the East River in Long Island City following Hurricane Irene as pictured below.

 Image Of Queensbridge Park Seawall Break From RIHS President Judy Berdy via Waterwire

Image of Queensbridge Park Seawall Break From Katie Ellman via Waterwire

Here's a Hurricane Irene aftermath video interview with Mr. Fernandez and more information on Roosevelt Island Cert Team from member Frank Farance here.

Roosevelt Island East River Seawall Not Broken During Hurricane Irene But Queens Seawall Damaged In Long Island City and Astoria

 Image Of Queensbridge Park Seawall Break From RIHS President Judy Berdy via Waterwire

Our Long Island City/Astoria neighbors across the East River were not quite as fortunate as Roosevelt Island during Hurricane Irene.  Although we had some East River Flooding over our seawall, the seawall did not break like it did at Queensbridge Park.

According to the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (MWA)  9/1 issue of Waterwire:

"That doesn't look right," Judith Berdy noted, looking out her window across the East River on Monday, August 29, the day after Tropical Storm Irene blew through New York City. She squinted. Had part of the Queens seawall fallen into the river?

As president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, Ms. Berdy has connections. She called the office of Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens commissioner for the Dept. of Parks & Recreation. She went downstairs, took photos and emailed them to anyone who could help, including the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance...

Read the entire article here including how other parts of NYC were impacted by Hurricane Irene.

Image of Queensbridge Park Seawall Break From Katie Ellman via Waterwire