Here's a brief virtual tour of Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossoms from April 16-17. (Click on the full screen icon at bottom right of video for better view).
It was an arranged marriage. We didn’t know each other; we hadn’t worked with each other before. And when we started, we weren’t quite sure how it would work. It’s been a 20-year relationship that expanded to us taking over all the retail on Roosevelt Island together.
Did you know it was going to be a 20-year project when you started?
No. We almost sent in a resignation letter. I mean it didn’t seem as sexy to be designated to work with Roosevelt Island [in the 1990s]. I drafted a letter saying, “No thanks, love and kisses, Hudson.” But I was chatting with some colleagues, and they said that seems like too good of an opportunity to turn up. So I put the letter away. But getting there … we didn’t start construction until December 2001...
Click here for entire The Real Deal interview with Mr Kramer.
Hudson Related is currently in construction on Riverwalk 8,
... Under the proposed Building 8 Ground Lease, a 21-story building comprised of approximately 240,000 square feet of floor area and 341 rental units, will be constructed. Building 8 will be financed under the Department of Housing Preservation and Development of the City of New York and the New York City Housing Development Corporation’s M2 Mixed Middle Income Program. RIOC seeks to preserve affordable housing, consistent with its mission and statutory purpose.
BUILDING 8 GROUND LEASE TERMS
Under the Building 8 Ground Lease (i) 3% of the 341 units will be reserved as Homeless Units, (ii) 3% of the units will be reserved for very low-income families with household incomes of 40% of AMI, (iii) 14% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 50% of AMI, (iv) 10% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 80% of AMI, (v) 20% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 100% of AMI, and (vi) 50% of the units will be reserved for families with household incomes of 130% of AMI. This breakdown provides an even greater degree of affordability than was set forth in the Fifth Amendment.
To the extent permitted under the financing programs, current Roosevelt Island residents will be given preference in any affordable housing lottery with respect to Building 8....
and here's video
of Mr. Kramer with his Related colleagues discussing the affordable housing plan with RIOC Real Estate Advisory Committee during November 7, 2018 meeting.
During the November 7 meeting, Mr. Kramer said he would love to give Roosevelt Island residents a preference for the affordable units but the NYC Housing Preservation Department, which is providing project financing said the preference is for entire Community Board 8 and not limited to Roosevelt Island residents.
It's impossible to walk down Roosevelt Island's Main Street without hearing residents talk about the transportation mess that occurred at last Saturday's Cherry Blossom Festival.
Huge line for Roosevelt Island Tram. Overwhelmed by Roosevelt Idland cherry blossom festival and visitors are still coming. Vehicles are stopped from coming over RI bridge. pic.twitter.com/UNE5mlbmP2
There are so many stories of Roosevelt Island residents and visitors safety put in danger by the enormous crowds overwhelming our local transportation infrastructure. Just one example from a resident described:
What a mess. The attendees were put in great danger. The accountability goes to the organizers and RIOC. There were not enough food vendors, the water was shut off, public transportation was insufficient and at some point almost impossible to get off the island. The subway station was so crowded that no one could go in or out of the station. That was really VERY DANGEROUS. Neighbors reported close to an hour wait to get out of the station. Where was public safety?, why was NYPD not contacted to help with crowd control?
Organizing an event of this magnitude requires many hours of work, carefully crafted contingency plans and lots of logistic organization.
We are in the midst of debriefings and will have a lot to say in the near term. But, there were no “transportation problems”, ... — there were about 3 times as many folks as last year. NYPD and RIOC made decisions based upon safety concerns. No one was hurt and no one got arrested.
A RIOC spokesperson provided a more detailed statement this evening:
On Saturday, April 13th, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) presented their annual Cherry Blossom Festival, partnering with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) and FDR Four Freedoms State Park. While the event was highly successful, with great weather, fabulous entertainment, Japanese culture, and of course the beautiful cherry blossom trees, the island experienced overcrowding in its transportation hubs, at the Tramway, Subway, and Ferry. In addition, the Roosevelt Island Bridge had an influx of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, causing intermittent delays and, at times, complete shutdowns to vehicular access were necessary as a safety precaution.
Historically, the typical crowd size for this event has been approximately 2,000 – 3,000 people, until 2018 when approximately 10,000 guests attended. As a result of this increase, RIOC anticipated an even larger crowd size in 2019 and, focusing its attention on safety, re-evaluated the event layout, travel restrictions, staffing, and security plan preceding this year’s event.
The RIOC Public Safety Department (PSD) partnered with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and NYCEM to provide additional on-island support. In addition, PSD was in contact with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to ensure there were no interruptions in subway service to Roosevelt Island. There were roughly 60 dedicated security personnel, which were comprised of RIOC Public Safety, NYPD officers, and outside security officers, on hand at the Festival. The NYPD provided an additional 16 officers, a lieutenant, and a sergeant who were on standby in case they were needed to manage the larger crowds.
This year the Cherry Blossom Festival had a record number of approximately 30,000 people attend. The Festival activities took place between 11 AM – 5 PM, however crowds continued to arrive on Roosevelt Island late in the day, reaching peak capacity between 4 – 4:30 PM. After closely monitoring the overcrowding at the Tram and subway, the following occurred:
The NYPD shut down the escalators at the Roosevelt Island subway stop at approximately 4:20 PM, allowing access in and out of the station from both directions.
At 4:45 PM the MTA stopped incoming trains to Roosevelt Island. RIOC also stopped Tram service from Manhattan so that both Tram cabins could be utilized to more quickly reduce crowd size on the island.
Bridge traffic onto the island was halted as a safety precaution.
Additional service (R Train) was added to the F line subway at Roosevelt Island.
MTA resumed incoming service at the Roosevelt Island subway at 4:54 PM.
At 6:15 PM, PSD reported trains were operating in both directions to the island and the Roosevelt Island Bridge was open to regular vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Regular Tram service resumed at 7:05 PM.
Overall, there were no incidents or injuries reported at the Festival. “Future Cherry Blossom Festivals, and other potential events of this scale, will be the subject of upcoming discussions among RIOC, its Board members, and RIRA now that greater NYC has discovered our island.” stated Susan Rosenthal, President/CEO of RIOC. “Roosevelt Island may no longer be the best kept secret in the city.” Rosenthal added.
Can you please address issue of the disruptions in lives of Roosevelt Island residents caused by the overwhelming number of visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival including the long delays getting to and from Roosevelt Island on the Tram, Ferry, subway and RI Bridge?
Also going forward, based on your experience, do you believe Roosevelt Island has infrastructure to handle events that will attract large number of visitors and do you plan on doing Cherry Blossom Festival next year?
The RIRA Cherry Blossom Festival Committee replied today:
The Cherry Blossom Festival on April 13, 2019 was a most memorable day for the following reasons:
The fantastic performances: everything from the Japanese Cultural Fair at Gallery RIVAA to the Tea Ceremonies at South Point Park, to the performances at Four Freedoms Park. The visitors were dazzled by the performers and we received endless positive feedback. The Cherry Blossom Festival Committee is very grateful to the neighbors, musicians, dancers and supporters who shared their talents.
For the first time in our nine-year history, the Committee was able to raise enough funds from local merchants, building managements and off-island organizations to pay the world-class musicians and dancers for their performances.
Members of the Committee are very thankful for the vast support and coordination among the local groups: the Roosevelt Island Residents Association, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, FDR Four Freedoms Park, Gallery RIVAA, the Roosevelt Island Japanese Association, the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance, The Noguchi Museum, the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association, the Roosevelt Island Parents’ Network, Amalgamated Bank, Bozzuto Management Company, Bread & Butter Deli, Cornell Tech, Fuji East, Gristedes, Hornblower, Hudson and The Related Companies, Island House Tenants Corp., Island Wine & Spirits, The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation, Manhattan Park, Resobox, Starbucks, Urban American, Wengerd Farms, Westview Preservation Partners and Wholesome Factory Market. Thank you as well to the financial sponsors and donors who gave in-kind items.
Our neighbor, the renowned Noguchi Museum, participated in our Cherry Blossom Festival for the first time!
The exuberant attendance exceeded all expectations. It’s safe to say no one anticipated the overwhelming number of the many thousands of people visiting. Whether visitors headed south to participate in our programmed events, or simply strolled north of the tram and subway to view the necklace of cherry blossom trees around Roosevelt Island, everyone delighted in this annual glorious spring display.
Let’s also give credit to all the employees of all the island establishments and the Cherry Blossom Festival volunteers who, in the face of an overwhelming number of visitors, maintained a calm and orderly atmosphere.
The scope of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association is the creation, production, staffing, promotion and maintenance of the cultural integrity of the Cherry Blossom Festival’s programming. One of the quintessential elements of the traditional Japanese cherry blossom celebration is to witness to the actual popping of the cherry blossoms while picnicking under the trees. We give our residents and visitors alike that rare opportunity and that special experience, not often found outside Japan, as they picnic under the cherry blossom trees around the island. This is what makes our festival most authentic. Every year is a learning experience; as the Cherry Blossom Festival continues, we will incorporate what was learned this year, and in the previous years, into our plans.
As for the issues related to transportation, to the best of our knowledge, RIOC was in regular communication with the MTA prior to the Festival regarding continuous service of the F train.
The status of our infrastructure and transportation shortcomings, which is something that Roosevelt Island residents know all too well, has again been called to the attention of our elected officials. Many of them spoke to our festival audiences and witnessed different aspects of these challenges. Let us hope this first-hand experience, plus the widespread news coverage, may serve as the basis to address and fix the shortfalls in our infrastructure and transportation.
Here's the RIRA Cherry Blossom Festival Committee welcoming crowd at FDR Four Freedoms Park and describing the origins of the Festival.
It's true that the Cherry Blossom performances at Four Freedoms Park were great
but a serious conversation must be had as to whether such events drawing huge crowds are worth the serious disruptions to the daily lives of Roosevelt Island residents.
I’ve never wanted to experience anything like Fyre Festival, but today I got way too close when we were stranded on Roosevelt Island. Had to walk across bridge to Queens just to get off! #FyreFestival#mta#fail#poorplanning#nyc@MTA
Registration is now open for Roosevelt Island's nine-week Spring youth soccer program, sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Youth Center.
The program is open to both residents and non-residents of Roosevelt Island. Boys and girls ages 5-18 are encouraged to sign-up by the April 22nd deadline.
The free program will run every Saturday from April 27th through June 29th. The program will take place at two locations: ages 9-18 will play at Firefighter’s Field between 9 AM – 12:30 PM and Ages 5-8 will play inside the Sportspark gymnasium between 1:30 PM – 5 PM. A detailed schedule will be released after the close of registration.
The program will provide varied workshop sessions of skills, drills, and scrimmages. Please note that space is limited. Registration is first come, first serve.
The plan to keep Firefighters Field permit-free on Saturday’s remains. Having the younger kids (5-8) at Sportspark was intentional, providing more focused skill development and a better understanding of the game. The spring soccer schedule will also allow for more play time on Firefighters field for the community.
Long time Roosevelt Island resident Nina Lublin reports:
I will say this about our Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department (PSD) -- on Saturday, April 13, they quickly rose to the occasion regarding a bizarre incident by the Good Shepherd Chapel
around 10 am. Please read carefully:
With the Farmers Market in high gear, early Cherry Blossom Festival arrivals out on Main Street, & the usual Saturday morning activity, only a small handful of folks saw a black van pull up to the bus stop by the Good Shepherd Chapel, saw two folks jump out from the van to grab a young woman kicking, screaming and resisting being pulled into the van, which then drove south on Main Street.
A few quick thinking RI folks ran to the PSD office while a few others looked for folks near
Nisi & the Chapel who saw what happened. The one PSD officer who was detailed to the Farmers Market & Crosswalk & closest to what was happening, was among the last to pick up on what was occurring.
In the 60 seconds it took the PSD folks to come out from the office, it was determined that the "grab" was part of a video or movie being recorded by some guy with a small video camera near the church -- WITHOUT any RIOC permit or even notifying PSO that they were even doing this.
The van was pulled over by PSD on its way back from their U-turn at the flagpole & held in front of the PSD office, with it's occupants laughing, the young woman inside saying "I'm OK, really", and with the Sargent in charge, whose name I cannot remember, lecturing the "film maker" about RIOC permits, PSD notifications, and responding to his claim that "we told the people in the bus stop what we were doing", as if that made it OK.
The mom of the two small children (about 4- & 6-yrs old) and a few others were a little traumatized after being too close to what was happening. We all did our best to calm them down.
This could have been a very different event with a different outcome... We are lucky to live somewhere that when we do see something, we do say something -- and quickly.
Bravo to the PSD for doing their jobs -- especially this time.
Here's an update to yesterday's post about the Roosevelt Island transportation mess resulting from the huge numbers of visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival.
The line to get to the Roosevelt Island Manhattan Tram Station on Second Avenue stretched almost to 3rd Avenue during yesterday's Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival as shown in picture below showing Tram riders waiting on line in the middle of 60th street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues.
Roosevelt Island residents are furious today over the long lines and delays at the Tram, Subway, Ferry and bridge caused by the overwhelming number of visitors going to the Cherry Blossom Festival today...
Today, I asked Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Susan Rosenthal:
Any statement from Rioc on the transportation problem yesterday during Cherry Blossom Festival?
Ms Rosenthal replied:
We are in the midst of debriefings and will have a lot to say in the near term. But, there were no “transportation problems”, ... — there were about 3 times as many folks as last year. NYPD and RIOC made decisions based upon safety concerns. No one was hurt and no one got arrested.
3 times as many visitors as last year would mean 30 Thousand visitors compared to last year's 10 thousand.
This beautiful Island is not prepared for big events like this, more bathrooms are needed there even in ordinary days to acomódate tourists, but some kind of system should be set up to give priority to residents when events are held or limited transportation is in order.
And
What a mess. The attendees were put in great danger. The accountability goes to the organizers and RIOC. There were not enough food vendors, the water was shut off, public transportation was insufficient and at some point almost impossible to get off the island. The subway station was so crowded that no one could go in or out of the station. That was really VERY DANGEROUS. Neighbors reported close to an hour wait to get out of the station. Where was public safety?, why was NYPD not contacted to help with crowd control?
Organizing an event of this magnitude requires many hours of work, carefully crafted contingency plans and lots of logistic organization.
And:
"Roosevelt Island residents were held hostage today on their island. Couldn't leave or return for hours. No toilets, no porta potties for the thousands of guest that visited the cherry blossom festival. No garbage pickup. Heads should roll on this."
And
"I’d like to know why, on a day temps were reportedly going to be in mid-seventies, all water fountains were TURNED OFF??!! We were directing visitors to them & they told us they weren’t working!! Another reason having a State Agency, RIOC, run a community just doesn’t work...no one in Albany listens or gives a damn. Welcome to our lives fellow New Yorkers!"
CM Kallos - We're seeing these reports at the Rail Control Center and are sending every other R train (in both directions) via Roosevelt Island to help provide more service to help alleviate the crowding in the station. ^SS
Roosevelt Island residents are furious today over the long lines and delays at the Tram, Subway, Ferry and bridge caused by the overwhelming number of visitors going to the Cherry Blossom Festival today at the southern section of the Island - FDR Four Freedoms Park
Will have much more on this but for now social media has the info.
It’s very crowded at Roosevelt island cherry blossom festival. 5500 people entered Southpoint Park as of approximately 1:30. pic.twitter.com/VY14gMf6dd
Visitors on way to Roosevelt Island cherry blossom festival walkingfrom subway on Main Street. Over 10 thousand people counted so far entering Southpoint Park. pic.twitter.com/hcr4nVCd2C
Reports of unsafe conditions at Roosevelt Island subway station @NYCTSubway as its being overwhelmed by visitors for today’s Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival. @RIOCnyhttps://t.co/5DeTgw0Yfb
#RooseveltIsland#NYC is crowded as f#ck. Long lines for the 🚠and Ferry, Checkpoints for the park😳🙄 If you really want to relax, enjoy the island and the blossoms, visit tomorrow or during the week! #nyctouristippic.twitter.com/NEL1tsmU89
As reported last Tuesday afternoon, April 9, the Roosevelt Island Tram had an emergency stop in mid air. A Tipster on the Tram at the time reported:
The tram just had a bad malfunction where it rocked sideways to extreme angles. I was on it. They had to stop it for 20 minutes mid air until they figured out how to bring it down.
What happened exactly is that the tram did stop suddenly, the driver immediately exclaimed "everyone hold on" while he was moving around his control I guess in attempt to check or activate something underneath the main screen.
A young girl on board said this exact thing happened before in the past (a few years back).
After the sudden stop the main issue is that they couldn't get it going again. They tried to start the movement but it wasn't starting smooth, kind of like a car anti-brake system feels when you break suddenly. They stopped again, tried again. For 3 or more times....
Here's video from inside the stuck rocking and swaying Roosevelt Island Tram after the emergency mid-air stop.(Click on full screen icon at bottom right of video for better view.)
Roosevelt Island Tramway Emergency Stoppage Update
At 3:27 PM on Tuesday, April 9th the south cabin of the Roosevelt Island Tramway was halted mid-trip above the East River, for approximately 10 minutes due to the emergency stop button being activated by a passenger on the Manhattan Tramway station platform.
According to the Tramway operator, Leitner-POMA, the emergency button was manually released 3 ½ minutes after being activated. Before completing the trip to the station, it was necessary for the cabin to stop swaying (caused by the force stop), allowing the Tramway’s wireless receptor to re-synch...
The next day, Wednesday, another Roosevelt Island Tipster reported two more incidents of the Tram stalling in mid-air:
Just came off the tram and it stalled for a few minutes midway. Also, as luck would have it, was on the 8am-ish tram this morning and it also stalled. This evening the tram conductor announced that someone at the station pushed the buttons again. I’m starting to question this excuse. Two time in a row that someone pushed this said button? Who’s watching the button at the tram station?
A third Roosevelt Island Tipster added another incident:
It was Monday night, April 1, last week. I was coming back from dinner in the city and grabbed the tram. The time was about 10:30-ish to 11pm. We left the Manhattan side of the tram, and just past 1st Ave, the tram suddenly jerked to a stop and started swinging back & forth.
The Tram operator immediately said, "Everyone please remain in your places and remain still until we continue." Then, I heard him call the station, and he said, "Hey, did anyone over there hit the emergency stop button?" The guy at one of the stations (not sure if it was on the city side or the Island side) responded, "No, why?" The tram operator said, "Cause we stopped for no reason."
The station guy said, "Really? No, no one one that I know of." After about 5 minutes, the tram started again and we continued to the island without incident. That's all I know.
Received these additional comments:
It happened again yesterday {Wednesday}! My daughter said the tram stopped midair and was shaking with a packed cabin and resumed after a few minutes.
swaying is half the fun...you can see tourists scream.
I think the greater question is why is a passenger tripping the emergency stop button from the ground. That person needs to be found and given a citation and fine, or worse. Not cool.
I asked RIOC President Susan Rosenthal
... Why is there an emergency stop button at Manhattan Tram Station that can be pushed by passengers?
According to Ms Rosenthal:
Explanation from POMA
Per ANSI B77.1-2011, section 2.2.9, “All automatic and manual stop and shutdown devices shall be of the manually reset type”, and, “manual control devices shall be installed at all conductor and operator work positions, control rooms, machine rooms, and out-of-doors in proximity to all loading and unloading areas.” The reference to “out-of-doors” is the requirement to have these switched located outside of the doors in the public areas. If the switches were to be removed, the State of NY would consider this a violation of the code and would shut the tram down.
I followed up?
Is there any way to cover or protect the button so unauthorized persons are not able to activate the emergency stop?
ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS Apr 12 - 15, 9:45 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon Coney Island-bound F trains run via the E from Roosevelt Av, Queens to 42 St/Port Authority, Manhattan and via the A express to Jay St-MetroTech, Brooklyn...
... No Coney Island-bound F service at 21 St-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Av/63, 57, 47-50 Sts, 42 St-Bryant Pk, 34 St-Herald Sq, 23, 14, B'way-Lafayette Sts, 2 Av, Delancey St, East Broadway and York St.
E Trains replace the F, in both directions, between 21 St-Queensbridge and Lexington Av/63 St and run via the R between 57 St-7 Av and Whitehall St...
... ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS Apr 12 - 15, 9:45 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon Jamaica-bound F trains are rerouted via the E after 47-50 Sts, Manhattan to Roosevelt Av, Queens
No Jamaica-bound F service at 57 St, Lexington Av/63 St, Roosevelt Island and 21 St-Queensbridge.
E trains replace the F, in both directions, between 21 St-Queensbridge and Lexington Av/63 St and run via the between 57 St-7 Av and Whitehall St...
Both Tram cabins will be in service on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 4/12 - 4/14.
Tram repairs will resume on Monday, 4/15 at 6AM, with one tram cabin in service.
The RIOC Red Bus will not operate on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 4/12 - 4/14 and will resume on Monday, 4/15 at 4PM. The first bus will be leaving the Roosevelt Island Tram Plaza and the last bus leaving Manhattan at 8:30PM.
The RIOC Red Bus mentioned in advisory is the Shuttle to Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Red Bus will operate as usual except for Saturday when it will not go South of the Tram Station due to the Cherry Blossom Festival.
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.
