First Fruit Cart Comes to Island

Roosevelt Island moved one step closer to "retail" civilization with the opening this morning of Onur Benirbaz's fruit and vegetable cart right across from the entrance to the local subway station. In honor of the opening a free banana is being given away to each potential customer.

Mr. Benirbaz has two other carts open in the City, one in downtown Manhattan and one in Brooklyn Heights. The cart in Brooklyn Heights apparently opened with a bit of controversy as localmerchants were not thrilled with the competition and the story eventually even hit the newspapers.

The opening of this cart stand will be welcome addition to the island's morning commuters as it was stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables that all looked great.

Blackwell House Back Porch - The View

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Roosevelt Island's Blackwell House Faces Queens but most residents know the back porch, which faces Manhattan, as the view of the house they see from Main Street. This video is the view from the back porch.

Caged Bungee Jumping? Don't Think So.

Apparently there is some sort of Tram tower maintenance project going on. Yesterday the men in orange were in Tower 1 on Roosevelt Island (pictured). Today they were seen in Tower 2.

WSJ: UDC's Ed Logue Needed at Ground Zero

Logue on Main Street - NY Times 1974 Article

Today’s Wall Street Journal notes that the Ground Zero projects needs greater direction on the scale of a City Planner like Ed Logue who helped develop Roosevelt Island in the early 1970’s. Most City development types these days, the story reports, would not even know who Logue is and the same goes for most Roosevelt Island residents.

It was Logue’s vision, while at the Urban Development Corporation, that got the project off the ground that became our Roosevelt Island. Logue had the vision and abilities of a Robert Moses and the style to not be a tyrant like Moses. His other most publicly know NYC project while with the UDC was helping to rebuild the Bronx at a time when no one thought it worth the effort. Two articles (1, 2) from the NY Times remember Logue upon his passing in 1990. A website exists that remembers him even today, The Friends of Ed Logue.

Sketch from WSJ article cited

Images: Island House Main St. Passage

The above photo was taken on Friday evening, August 22, 2008 looking North from the start of the passageway by 510 Main Street. The full size version can be found on Flickr.

The Stairs Down Roosevelt Island's Subway Station

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For those of you wondering how bad the stairs at the Roosevelt Island subway station could possibly be I have prepared the above video.

If the elevators go out this is what our residents have to deal with as long as the lone pair escalators from the Street to the Lower Mezzanine are locked as "up only".

Now don't get me wrong, I'd rather walk down this never ending stairway than up it and I just putting this video out there so people can see how deep the stairs and escalators have to go.

First Morning Rush - No Down Escalators

Today, 8/25, is the first morning rush hour that the Roosevelt Island subway station will have no down escalators for the next three weeks. Now this may sound like no big deal but when that means descending 8 sets of stairs each about 15 stairs in length just to get to the lower mezzanine, not even the platform, when about 6000 residents commute through the station in the morning it's a big deal.

As discussed in previous posts the reason for the change is the current escalator rehab is now marrying up the most recent new escalators (ES 412/415 - not yet open) with existing set ES 413/416. For this three week period ES411/414 are locked in a perpetual up direction.

Overall from 8:00am through 8:30am there were no issues to deal with. A number of residents appeared caught off guard despite the number of signs put up the last two weeks. As expected the elevators down were a bit backed up but cleared out rather quickly as the red buses and Q102s did not get to bunched up dropping off riders at the station.

Pics: A Roosevelt Island Midsummer Night's Dream

Photos from Saturday's performance of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Roosevelt Island, Eastwood Amphitheatre) are already showing on on Flickr. The above photos (1,2,3,4) are by Darks Adria. The play is again playing at 4pm this afternoon and is FREE.

NYT: Verdant to Deploy Third Gen. Turbines

The New York Times on Friday August 22, 2008 ran an article that Verdant Power, over the next twto weeks, will be deploying their third generation of underwater turbines into the East River's East Channel alongside Roosevelt Island. The tides destroyed the first two generations and as the article points out progress comes with experience.

"City Island" Shoot Night 2 on Roosevelt Isle

The above YouTube video is again from "City Island" Director Raymond De Felitta's video blog "Movies 'Til Dawn" and is a pretty cool view of watching the crew and the director walk through and film a scene where the actors are walking along Roosevelt Island's Westerm promenade.

Tram Video from the Director of "City Island"

The above YouTube video of the Roosevelt Island Tram was posted by Raymond De Felitta, a flim director currently shooting the film "City Island" on his blog "Movies 'Til Dawn" . This sequence was filmed last night.

Movie "City Island" Filming on Tram

The rumor at the Manhattan Tram platform this evening was that the filming tonight involves actor Andy Garcia. No confirmed sightings yet. The film crew working at the Roosevelt Island Tram station did confirm that the movie was indeed "City Island" which Garcia is starring in.

As of 9:00 pm only one tram cabin was running on a rush hour schedule so the film company could load equipment into the other cabin. The production vehicles were lined up right down Main Street all the way to 425 Main from the Tram circle.

F Train Transit Advisories : Aug 23-25

F

Manhattan-bound F trains run on the V from Roosevelt Avto 47-50 Sts
Aug 23 – 25, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon

Jamaica-bound F trains run local from 21 St-Queensbridgeto Roosevelt Av
Aug 24, 12:30 AM to 5 AM

Sunday Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Roosevelt Avto 21 St-Queensbridge
Aug 23, 12:01 AM to 5 AM Saturday

For more detailed information about these scheduled service changes, click

http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/subsrvnweekend.htm

Shakespeare This Weekend at the Eastwod Amphitheatre

This Saturday and Sunday afternoon the Eastwood Amphitheatre will come alive (at 4:00 pm each day) with the sights and sounds of Shakespeare with a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Each performance is FREE. The shows are being sponsored by RIOC.

Film Project: "Rescue Me" Filming at Goldwater

It appears that the cable television show "Rescue Me" has returned to Roosevelt Island and will be filming down by Goldwater Hospital some time this morning. This is according to the website "On Location Vacations".

It is possible but no confirmation yet whether "Rescue Me" is also filming on the Tram this evening causing the Tram to shut down early by one hour.

UPDATE: This evening's filming is "City Island"

Urgent Request: Short Term Housing Needed re Incoming Coler-Goldwater Patient

Yesterday both myself and fellow blogger Roosevelt Islander were sent messages requesting any assistance we could provide regarding an incoming patient, Nick Dupree, at Coler-Goldwater Hospital. The patient’s primary caregiver, his elderly mother, is accompanying him to NYC. The grandmother is in need of short term housing, about 7 days, until her son is fully aclimated into Coler-Goldwater. The full request for help is below.

For information regarding the patient and his story you can link to “Nick’s Crusade”, Nick’s Wikipedia user page, and a Comcast Xanga website he maintains.

I am writing on behalf of someone who will soon be living on Roosevelt Island. Nick Dupree will be a patient for long-term rehabilitation at the Goldwater campus of the Coler-Goldwater Hospital. This comes at the end of a long struggle to receive appropriate services, which has him leaving his state and traveling to New York. If you are interested, please feel free to read more about it at: http://www.nickscrusade.org

What I am trying to find out is if it is possible to find short-term accommodation on the island. Nick will arrive in in New York on August 28, and will be traveling with his mother, who will be staying for 7 days to help him transition at the hospital. While staff at Coler-Goldwater have been very accommodating so far, they cannot actually provide a place for her to stay. Since there is no hotel on the island, they recommend staying nearby in Manhattan or Queens. Ordinarily this would not be an issue, but his mother is in very poor health herself. She cannot walk more than a few blocks, and it would be very difficult for her to navigate the subways or buses.

My goal, as a friend, patient representative, and New Yorker, is to try and find a way for her to stay within walking distance of the hospital, perhaps with someone who is living on the island. I'm in a position to collect funds to compensate someone who could provide that kind of accommodation.

Please let me know if there are any suggestions or leads I could try. I appreciate very much the time you've taken to read this e-mail. Please do not hesitate to reply to this message with any questions or comments; you're also welcome to contact me by
phone.

Sincerely,

Alejandra Ospina
email@superaleja.org

Thank you.

Tram Advisory: Early Closing 8/21 due to Film Project

Per a Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Advisory on Thursday, August 21, the Tram will be closing at midnight due to a film shoot. The Tram will reopen on Friday August 22, at 6am.

No word yet on what the film is or who is starring in it. So for you night owls feel free to stop by take pictures and send them to this blog at RooseveltIsland360@gmail.com.

Rebirth of the QueensBridge Wind Project?

With Mayor Bloomberg's call for exploring the use of wind power it is appropriate to bringback this video of installing wind turbines on the Queensboro Bridge above Roosevelt Island. I first spoke about this project back in January 2008 and the Roosevelt Islander found the above video and put it on line this past May 2008.

I love the concept of using wind power and the bridge seems a natural but again my concern is proximity to the Tram lines. Comments made on this blog at that time were concerns as the bridge was not designed to handle the additional stress of such turbines. But overall I applaud the Mayor for putting forth the call to explore this renewable energy source just as he has supported the Verdant water turbine project currently in test mode partially powering the local parking garage and supermarket.

Sharing Governor’s Island: The Roosevelt Island Model?

Over the past few days there have been a number of articles, on line and in print, regarding the issue of sharing Governor’s island using the Roosevelt Island model. My question is what is that model?

In short Roosevelt Island politically votes for Manhattan elected officials, is part of Manhattan School District #2, and Manhattan Community Board 8. For emergency services Roosevelt Island is served by a Queens based NYPD police precinct (the 114) and by Queens based FDNY houses. The latter services dictated by the fact that Roosevelt Island’s only connection to the mainland being the Roosevelt Island Bridge connecting the island to 36th Avenue, Long Island City. I am unsure which borough serviced then Welfare Island before the Bridge’s construction. Presumably either borough could have sent units to the middle of he Queensboro Bridge and taken the elevators down to the island.

Other than this division of services and political sub-divisions what sharing agreement / model is there? At present, the day to day operations of the island are not even run by City agencies but by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, a state created authority whose predecessor the Roosevelt Island Development Corporation and the UDC, were created to rebuild the island and manage it under a lease with a New York City that had allowed the island to go to waste and disrepair.

So how that model would work with out a bridge from Governor’s Island to Brooklyn I am not sure. But I would support such a bridge.

A Wedding at Southpoint Park

All I have to say is you have to go see these pictures by Jerry Yoon Photography of this wedding at Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park. I have never seen a personal event like this at Southpoint and I have to say if this is the first wedding at the site this couple did it right. they look amazingly happy and the groom is a lucky fellow as his bride looked radiant.

If pictures like this alone do not justify stopping the FDR Memorial from destroying the views I don't know what will. Can we convince RIOC that if it continues to rent out Southpoint Park for weddings perhaps they will see that the space is more valuable than any old FDR memorial can possibly be to the community? Of course if they actually take up this idea we would want to limit the number of dates the park is taken out of public use. If RIOC agrees then we can keep the land undeveloped in the manner most of us love today.

Starting Aug 25th - Down Escalators Closed

Staring next Monday, August 25th the escalators (ES 411 and 414) normally locked in the down direction will be locked as "up" escaltors for three weeks and the only down to the platforms will be the stairs or the elevators. G-d help us if the elevators are out of service.


The reason for this temporary inconvenience is that the curent "up" escaltors, ES 413 and 416, are being closed so that the adjacent escalators, ES 412 and 415, currently under construction can be completed.

No word yet when ES 413 and 416 will be taken out of service for long term construction. Presumably after ES 412 and and 415 are fully back on line.

Resident Profiles - The Roosevelt Island Faces Project

I happened upon the Misha Cohen Photography project blog quite by accident but was happily surprised to see that the 13 images posted thus far are all of individuals that either live here on Roosevelt Island or who work here. A nice opportunity to sit and meet a few of our island neighbors.

The Main Street WIRE has its own Faces project with many many more photos but without the detail that Misha provides about each of his subjects.

Three Dog Night – Island Style

First it was a documentary about a Neil Diamond cover band now it is Three Dog Night(s) on Roosevelt Island. No the band is not coming to Roosevelt Island but now dogs have three nights of playgroups at the dog run located just North of the Octagon on the Eastern side of the island just inside the grounds of the Coler Hospital Campus.

The Roosevelt Island Dogs blog announced this evening the addition of a second night of the "Small – Medium" playgroup, now on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In addition an "All Sizes" playgroup was announced for Mondays as well.

Perhaps they should play a little Three Dog Night / Joy to the World to celebrate.

6 Year Old Child Rides Roosevelt Island Tram "Alone"

It was bound to happen my six year old son who lately has been zoooming everywhere ahead of his mother did so into the Roosevelt Island Tram two days ago and found out the hard way that rush hour on the Tram begins before 5:00 pm when the doors closed and he was unattended during the Tram's flight from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island. Obviously he was not exactly alone as the Tram was full.

He was fine and after my wife realized what had happened, she had been walking our other child up the Manhattan Tram stairs, she notified the booth attendant that he was on board by himself. He certainly is the not the first child that this happened too and we can assume he will not be the last.

Over the course of several emails with the Director of Tram Operations (Armando Cordova), the Public Safety Director (Keith Guerra) and RIOC's President (Stephen Shane) I have learned what the protocol is for handling this type of event. Simply put once aware of the situation the Tram's operator or the booth attendant is supposed to contact PSD and an officer is dispatched to the Tram station to wait with the child until the parent makes the next trip to the station where the child is located.

As I stated at the top of this post it was bound to happen as my son, like most of the younger kids, zooms into the tram every time to claim the prize of the step stool seat behind the tram operator. He learned his lesson and so did we that this one needs to be held a little closer when approaching the Tram. Good thing it was not the subway that is all I have to say.

If this happens to your kid, stay calm as the child is safe and simply let the Tram staff know what has occured and your child will be waiting for you, perhaps chastened by the presence of the PSD officer, when you arrive on the next tram.

Bike Safety Event - A Big Success !

Kudos to the Roosevelt Island Public Saety Department for hosting a sucessful first ever Bicycle Safety event!

According to reports from PSD Director Keith Guerra 244 bicycle helmets were given away to children and those adults requesting helmets and "NYC DOT & Safe Kids NYC has agreed to come back to Roosevelt Island to do it again" based on the great turn out. Again congratulations to everyone involved in this event!

From There to Here: East 33rd Street / Lex to Roosevelt Island

On a sunny day getting from East 33rd Street and Lex to Roosevelt Island one would expect that commuters would travel either via (1) the Northbound 6 train to 59th Street/Lex and then walk to the Tram or (2) take the uptown M101/102/103 bus via Third Avenue to East 60th Street and walk over to the Tram.

But if it is (a) raining and you want to avoid being above ground altogether or (b) if the Tram is temporarily shut down due to lightning or (c) next year shut down for reconstruction how would you accomplish your goal?

Simple: The Downtown 6 Train connection to the F Train at Broadway - Lafayette.

Now granted this adds a little bit of time and has you going South away from Roosevelt Island on its first leg but it is quite possible. This obviously also works from any downtown 6 line station. It is does not work from the Uptown Number 6.

[Administrative legal housekeeping: The subway map segment shown is copyrighted by the MTA / NYCTA and has only been modified to add pop up instructions and terminus points. The full subway map can be found HERE.]

Welcome amNew York Readers !

For those of you looking to learn more about Roosevelt Island that found this little blog via today's amNew York real estate article (online, paper) welcome to the neighborhood and feel free to wander around and see if any of our past posts are of interest to you.

For Selfish Reasons: My View

As a Roosevelt Island based blogger I have written extensively about my concerns that overdevelopment of the island will overburden our infrastructure etc etc. But I will admit also that a resident I have no problem with Hudson / Related slowing their development of their Riverwalk Southtown complex if it means I get to keep the one scenic view my apartment has of the Queensboro Bridge.

It is a foregone conclusion that when Buildings 7, 8, and 9 are built my view will be gone forever so if a slowing economy delays any ground breakings and steel from being erected between the Riverwalk Toddler playground and Firefighters Field I will not argue or feel bad for the developer, or any prospective tenants, as it will allow me a few more months of being able to look out my window and see my sliver of the 59th Street Bridge.

Sure I am still concerned about the number of future residents overrunning our subway and tram but for now I ask is it selfish of me to wish these buildings never get built just because I want to keep my view? You bet.

Is Southpoint Park Ready for Neil Diamond?

The screening this Saturday night at Roosevelt Island’s Southpoint Park of the film “Song Sung Blue” is sponsored by Rooftop Films and so far they seem to be getting the word out pretty well. I have seen mention of the event on several websites including Gothamist among others and it appears the turn out will be pretty strong for this free event.

Place: Southpoint Park
Time:

8:00 pm for karaoke,

9:00 pm start for films (a short 4 minute film will precede the feature.)

The question is whether Southpoint Park is ready for the event? Certainly RIOC and the local PSD will be handling basic security and cleanup as agreed to when RIOC allowed the event to be booked. Southpoint Park annually hosts a July 4th fireworks viewing which is well attended and local security, the NYPD and the MTA beef up their presence here on the island.

The movie includes some strong content and language and may not be suitable for young children. As noted in my earlier post about the film the movie is a documentary about a local Milwaukee cover band “Lightning and Thunder.” Thunder is expected to be in attendance with two of her and Lightning's children

It is unknown how many Neil Diamond fans that did not secure tickets to his Madison Square Garden shows starting that same night will descend on Southpoint to see the movie. But the expectation is that a number of these fans will come to the island to take part in this event in addition to a number of subscribers to Rooftop’s mailing list.

Per the Rooftop Films website the event is being cosponsored by the IFC, New York Magazine and the Manhattan delegation of the NY City Council lead by Jessica Lappin.

NY1: Video of Variable Speed Escalators on Roosevelt Island

Bobby Cuza from NY1 has a much better video piece shot here on Roosevelt Island than I can possibly shoot showing how the variable speed escalators change speeds from slow to standard.

Link HERE.

Videos of Escalators: Variable Speed and Standard

The first video below is a quick video showing the difference in speeds between slow at 15 feet per second to that of the standard 100 feet per second as taped on Roosevelt Island. I was not yet able to capture the transition from slow to standard. Direct YouTube link.

The second video is a quick tour of the upper escalators without venturing down to the track level. Watch for future updates. Note that construction currently is blocking off one pair of escalators ES 412 and ES 415 from the street down to the lower mezzanine.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

MTA Unveils Variable Speed Escalators Today

I did not get the chance to commute through the Roosevelt Island subway station today to gauge reactions to the new variable speed escalators but I suspect most commuters did not notice as I am sure it was a rare instance during rush hour when the escalators would slow down to the 15 feet per second speed.

I am unsure what directions the escalators were running this morning but a street view of the escalators this weekend indicated that the escalators closest to the Manhattan elevator (ES 413) was turned off and the escalators closest to the token booth (ES 411) were running “up” from the lower mezzanines.

As of August 25th when four escalators in total will be turned off and blocked for construction ES 411 and ES 414 (closest to the token booth and Queens elevator) will be locked on an “up” position leaving only the stairs and elevators available for riders looking to descend to both the Queens and Manhattan / Brooklyn bound tracks.

UPDATE 7:00 PM:

Rick from the Roosevelt Islander happened to be heading through the station this morning and is quoted in a late afternoon NY Times piece regarding day one of Variable Speed escalators. Some of Rick’s comments were misquoted and the woman discussed was his mother-in-law not his mother. Ricks’s quote was referring to the on-going escalator problems we are having on the island not just the variable speed escalators.

Mystery Photos – Photographed From Where?

Today’s “mystery photo” contest asks from where on Roosevelt Island each of these images were taken?

The top photo is by STG54 and was taken and uploaded onto Flickr on August 10, 2008. The structures seen in this image all blend together in the shadows adding a few seconds to determining where this shot was taken from.

The bottom photo shows the Ravenswood energy plant, formerly owned by Keyspan and now owned by Trans Canada, but I admit I am unsure what the structure is in the foreground with all the windows. This photo was taken by Paul Antonson on August 9, 2008 and uploaded onto Flickr August 10th.

Last Leather Strap Post ?

Apparently the New York Daily News enjoys writing about leather as much as we do as they ran a story this past Friday August 8th, similiar in theme to our own 7/24 post, about the leather hand straps in our Roosevelt Island Tram being the last in the MTA system.

Nice to see in print RIOC President Steve Shane's statement that the straps will be going to the Rooseevelt Island Historical Society when they are retired. As a fan of the NYC Transit Museum I hope at least one would end up there as I also wish the Tram would be given some sort of mention there.

I learned from Judy Berdy, President of the RIHS, that the current straps when worn down have been replaced as needed through a Queens leather / shoe repair shop so it's unclear which if any of the current straps are actually original to the Tram's inception.

Update: 7:00 pm - Monday Aug 11, 2008

My apologies to Brendan Brosh over at the News if he felt in any way my above post above was taking a dig at his article at is was not my intent.

Progress is Four of Six Nominees to be Seated.

Some will undoubtedly say that the fact that two of the elected six nominees for the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Board of Directors are not seated is a loss. While it is a loss it is certainly not a defeat. The Main Street WIRE is reporting this afternoon that the Office of the Mayor of New York will be announcing that it will appoint Howard Polivy, of the elected RIOC Six, as one of Mayor Bloomberg’s two appointees to the RIOC Board.

The fact that now collectively four individuals directly elected by their fellow island residents will be seated on the Board is a great step forward and certainly progress that should be built upon. The Maple Tree Group has worked for this event for years and they should be heartily congratulated for getting us there.

It may be years, if ever, that direct elections will ever result in seating a full slate of residents but the fact that the door has been opened alone signifies a change worth celebrating. No other State Authority has such a Board as no other Authority directly affects the lives of residents as part of their domain so it was only right and time for this time to come but it should be expected that an Authority such as RIOC will always be subject to the decisions of the Governors and Mayors that can make these appointments so it should never be a surprise when they exert their power limiting such gains. But it can not be argued this is not a gain and as such this appointment and confirmations should be celebrated.

Our thanks go out to Frank Farance and Erin Feely-Nahem even though they will not serve in the positions we elected them for. We appreciate their participation and I am sure like them we all will be paying attention to the actions of their appointed colleagues as down the road there will be future elections that this accomplishment has opened the door to.

Tram Circle Traffic Sign Update

As promised by Roosevelt Island Public Safety Director Keith Guerra a new sign has been added to the Tram Circle making it clear to drivers that they must bear right around the circle when looking to make a left turn towards the steam plant and beyond. I had reported on the shortfall in the prior signage last month despite the added street marking that PSD had put into effect.

In addition PSD has moved the sign out from the circle making it clearer to drivers and ensuring that the Red Bus drivers tighten their turns leaving no chance that they would ever hit a vehicle sitting behind the sign waiting for the bus to complete its turn.

"Ugly Betty" on Roosevelt Island ?

According to “On Location Vacations” the hit TV show “Ugly Betty” was on Roosevelt Island today filming at Coler-Goldwater Hospital. No sightings being reported.

Being unfamiliar with the show I am unsure if the story line has a character being admitted to the hospital or whether they are using the hospital to represent another type of structure or office space. Recall that "New Amsterdam" filmed at least some exterior balcony shots at Coler-Goldwater as scenes from their detective's squad room.

NYPD Requests Help re Missing Man

As reported by the Queens Courier on line this afternoon:

"The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing person.

Dean Barnes is a 44-year-old male, six feet tall, and weighs 120 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red shirt and red pants with white sneakers inside of 900 Main Street [Coler Hospital] on Roosevelt Island.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS."

Transit Respect: Inclusion in a Traffic Report

Normally the Roosevelt Island Tram is not even noticed by transit reporters unless they are doing a special report good or bad about the Tram. Certainly most web sites that include traffic updates don't reference the tram on a normal day.

So imagine my surprise when at work I pulled up the traffic report on my Bloomberg terminal and found a listing stating "Roosevelt Island Tram - No delays reported". Pretty cool.