Volunteering Your Local Bunny

We don't have any bunnies in our apartment but do you? If you do and if your bunny has a gentle disposition maybe your bunny can volunteer (along with you) at Coler Goldwater Hospital and make a difference.

There was a story in this weekend's NY Post about a Jackson Heights woman who volunteers her bunnies, via the Animal Medical Center (AMC) Pet Outreach Program and they come to Coler Goldwater here on Roosevelt Island. It made me wonder how many local bunnies (or other animals) we have on the Island that can volunteer and expand the program locally for patients at the hospital and perhaps also through the Roosevelt Island Senior Association and perhaps the Roosevelt island Disabled Association. Just an idea.

To volunteer for AMC’s Pet Outreach Program, call 212-838-8100 x7348.

RI Visual Arts Assn : RI Tram Past & Future

A new exhibit to debut at RIVAA, the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association, of large photographs by Island resident Tad Sudol of the Roosevelt Island Tram from the old machine room along with the design for the permanent exhibition of the old tram's parts.

Donating Your Old Tram Tokens ?

Among the Roosevelt Island items that makes the rounds over at eBay are the old Tram tokens that were used prior to the Tram being connected to the MTA MetroCard system. I wonder how many of these old token are still in drawers across the Island.

If we set up one of those large water cooler bottles at the Visitor's Center once they re-open how many could we collect? Would be an interesting display. Perhaps then the Historical Society could sell them for $5 a token to the tourists.

Blog Wars: OYIT versus RI360?

Apparently I am engaged in a Blog War with One Year in Texas. I did not intend it. My children are safe for now but I worry about their future if I am wounded. It started here. Continued here. And for now the battle rages here. If you support me please man (or woman) your keyboards.

As an aside OYIT in Texas does like Rick's Roosevelt Islander blog. I did not know it but apparently Roosevelt Island is limited to one blog per 10,000 residents. I will have to check the General Development Plan when this place was set up.

Residents: Morlocks and Bill Gates ?

I don’t believe I have seen Warren Buffet or Bill Gates on Main Street lately, have you?

Glenn, of the blog “One Year in Texas”, stated recently that Roosevelt Island is full of wondrous beauty and some of the wealthiest people in the world. There are many beautiful sites across the Island so it’s great that Glenn is letting folks know about the island but as for thinking our residents are among the wealthiest in the world I ask Glenn, who are you talking to? Glenn makes both of these statements in a post titled “Good Morning Welfare Island”. At the same time his posts compares the population to being a “combination of the Morlocks from The Time Machine and C.H.U.D. from C.H.U.D.”

Once again Glenn is showing that as an island Roosevelt Island gets very little respect. We should be used to it as after all we are effectively the Rodney Dangerfield of NYC islands after Manhattan, Staten Island, Governors Island, Randall's and Ward's Islands and even City Island.

Seems like Glenn has not ventured too far North of Southtown and the Riverwalk buildings demographically. I am not denying that the purchase price and rental prices for the Riverwalk buildings are pricy by many standards but they are hardly representative of the majority of the Island’s residents much less that the island would draw Buffets and Gates to its shores.

Glen continues his love fest with the Island by stating: “Roosevelt Island is unique as the only island in the world that doesn't support any life form other than humans (or what we consider by New York standards to be human). The climate is too unstable and there isn't enough space for animals to spread out and enjoy themselves. Thankfully people don't need the same accommodations.”

In truth the apartment density on the island is less tightly packed than that of Manhattan such that the spreading out comments just seem off. I also don’t think Glenn is aware of the booming cat colony up at the Garden Club as proof that life does exist beyond our human populace. And to be honest the “24” hour Counter Terrorist Unit headquarters located under Southpoint Park and the Soul Storage Company located at Coler Hospital each don’t want the Island to be that active as more life forms may impact their operations.

Glenn has also predicted that NYC will win the bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics but that the site will be Roosevelt Island and many of our buildings will be torn down in prep for those games but that “Right before [these] massive construction projects gets underway, a lawyer representing the Canarsie Indians will show up and try to lay claim to the island for their wayward tribe. Mayor Bloomberg, in his 6th term, will give an impassioned speech about religious freedom and instead of a stadium they will turn Roosevelt Island into what it originally was: a large mosque.”

Somehow I am not sure Glenn really wants to step into the political mess of the Ground Zero Mosque. I know that Roosevelt Island currently has no official prayer site for the island’s Muslim residents which is surprising given the empty store frontage on the island. As for whether the Canarsie Indians will return to lay claim to the island, all I ask is don’t turn the Goldwater campus site into a casino unless the transportation infrastructure is improved including a second subway line and perhaps a second tram.

FREE Showing of Stallone's NIGHTHAWKS This Sat Night

A free , outdoor movie, being shown mere yards away from one of the most climatic scenes shot in a NYC cop / bad guy movie. Who can't say they did not love seeing Stallone in our own Roosevelt Island Tram while trying to save residents from Rutger Hauer.

NYPD K9 Unit Hopefuls Tested at Roosevelt Island Subway Station

For those of you that were wondering why the NYPD was visiting the local Roosevelt Island subway station this morning, in large numbers, the answer comes courtesy of RIOC Public Safety Director Keith Guerra:

"The Officers at the Roosevelt Island Station were from the NYPD Canine Unit. They were having their Agility Tryout for prospective candidates for the K-9 Unit. .... Running up and down the stairs & escalators. Dogs were not being used because the dogs are assigned to specific Officers and only they can train with that particular dog. These are candidates trying to get into the unit and receive a dog of their own."

It would have been fun to see a few of the dogs this morning but why make them sweat out the heat when its only the humans being tested.

A Continued Fascination with our Garbage

After a period of years most residents no longer have as a great a fascination with the AVAC trash removal system that is maintained here on Roosevelt Island. But it continues to amuse and interest folks off-island. Today's blog post comes from the Gadget Lab page of WIRED.com.

Interesting slide show. Did not see the photo WIRED refers to of the Swedish technicians in the AVAC tubes. My kids still talk of the AVAC exhibition they held at RIVAA as they loved watching the pneumatic tube representation of the system.

What's more amusing is that news outlets hungry for stories love to pick up this stuff and post it everywhere:

A Few Views of a Bridge

Just a few pictures from my walk home last night after I returned to Roosevelt Island

SEA Paddle NYC to Pass Roosevelt Island

No Virginia, those are not surfers looking for a gnarley wave in the East River passing Roosevelt Island. They are surfers paddling for charity today circling Manhattan. Go to their website to learn more.

If anyone shoots pics of the paddlers today and sends them to RooseveltIsland360@gmail.com I will post them here. Make sure to include recognizable Island points of interest in the foreground or at least Manhattan views we recognize in the background (i.e. the Queensboro Bridge etc).

Does Anyone Off Roosevelt Island Care Who Runs RIOC?

I must admit that when I see stories about Roosevelt Island in the mainstream media I always wonder why do they care? When I see the stories I experience a mix at pride for where I live and also a mix of amusement as I know most of the City sees Roosevelt Island as an oddity of state and local government and as that place which used to be known as Welfare Island (where they really have no clue what that meant) as well as that place that has the aerial cable car.

So back to my post title, does anyone off island really care who is President of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation? (It's a rhetorical question, but if you have answer please feel free to answer.) See today's NY Times for their City Room article.

On a serious note, congratulations to Ms. Torres on her new position! I am the island's now minor blogger who occasionally delves into politics but now mostly is here to occasionally note something more of interest to me about this island that 12,000 of us call home. Please be one of the good ones that runs this place. There have not been many.

Out of Service But Under Construction?

Has anybody actually seen Escalator ES 416 at the Roosevelt Island subway station (F Train) being worked on by an MTA escalator repair crew? The escalator connecting the lower mezzanine to the upper mezzanine has been out of service for at least 2 to 3 weeks already but I have yet to see any work being done.

One morning I saw a few workers taking measurements but that was it. As long as the adjoining escalator ES 415 is working for rush hours allowing travelers to avoid walking up the steps we are ok. But it does get crowded sometimes. I can't complain too much but was curious to ask if during off hours anyone has seen work?