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.

Is Coler-Goldwater Being Phased Out ? Beds Moving to North General Hospital Site? New Skilled Nursing Facility at Goldwater?

According to an article in today's NY Times, 200 beds are being moved from a Roosevelt Island long-term rehabilitation center to the site now occupied by North General Hospital which just announced it will be closing due to bankruptcy issues.

Is this the start of the HHC closing or consolidating parts of Coler-Goldwater with an eye to the City possibly selling off the land of the closed structure?

Possibly I am overreacting but then again maybe not. I am not the only one wondering about this as at least one local representative's office is looking into the effect on Coler-Goldwater as a result of this ammouncement.

UPDATE 10:42 am:

According to the New York Real Estate Lawyers' Blog :

"The City of New York and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) have reached agreement with the Governor, State Department of Health, and North General Hospital to relocate more than 200 long term acute care beds and related services from the Coler/Goldwater Specialty Hospital on Roosevelt Island to the Harlem community. With capital financing from the City, HHC will also build a state-of-the-art skilled nursing facility to replace its outdated facilities on the Goldwater campus."

So this would mean that Goldwater won't be sold off for the land rights ... at least for now.

Report of Falling Bricks at Coler Hospital

Local blog Roosevelt Island Dogs is reporting that the fences erected partially around selected Coler Memorial Hospital buildings may be due to concerns of falling bricks.

I bicycled around Coler this past Sunday while photographing the island's fire call boxes and the fences are out in force. Had no idea there might be a safety concern and I did not notice any signage to that effect.

Former & Current Coler-Goldwater Employees Honored

NY Daily News - May 4, 2009

"Gloria Calderon, a former employee of Roosevelt Island's Coler-Goldwater Hospital, was honored by the NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation for her work as a volunteer in the city's Department for the Aging Foster Grandparent Program. Calderon supervised a maintenance crew at Coler-Goldwater until she retired at 62."

"Other awardees include Robert Wilson, for his work in the Therapeutic Recreation and Friendly Visitor program at Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility; Lygia Kensenhuis, who is on the auxiliary community advisory board and patient care committees at Coler-Goldwater."

Wanted: Individual to Sit on Coler Advisory Board

I was contacted by Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer's office to post the following information with respect to local Roosevelt Island institution Coler Hospital:

"Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer seeks community-minded individuals to serve on the Coler Specialty Hospital and Nursing Community Advisory Board (CAB).

The role of the CAB is to advise the Coler Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility by representing the views of the community in the hospital’s decision-making process and inform the community of the hospital’s goals and objectives.

CAB members provide a vital perspective on the development of hospital plans and programs, and they interact with community groups, local officials and hospital administration.

Individuals should have an interest in health care, be familiar with the Roosevelt Island community and available to attend monthly meetings during the evening.

For more information or to apply, please contact Jason Welch at 212.669.4546 or at jwelch@manhattanbp.org.

The opportunity to sit on the Coler Advisory Board is a great opportunity for a civic minded island resident to really make a dfference helping our neighbors with whom we share this island. So if you are interested please contact Jason welch as noted above.

Blog Claims Development Plans Afoot to Demolish BOTH Coler & Goldwater

Update 3:30pm - Fri Jan 30th

It was noted by the Roosevelt Islander in an email to me that the guys over at Smart Growth removed not only the above and below renditions but all mention of the project name "Transforming Roosevelt Island".

Update 5:28pm

According to Ben Cuddy at Smart Growth, their source is someone working directly on developing the TRI Project ("Transforming Roosevelt Island") and cannot be revealed at this time as "its still a work in progress". Cuddy promises to update his blog as time goes on.

According to RIOC President Stephen Shane there are no new plans that he knows of to develope these sites (per the Roosevelt Islander this evening).

Original Post

The blog "Smart Growth" is asserting today that a plan called "Transforming Roosevelt Island" is being developed to demolish both Coler and Goldwater Hospitals. The gist of the blog post asserts the plan makes no sense. According to Smart Growth, Coler would be rebuilt but both locations would involve the construction of a total of 2400 new residential units.

No source for the statement that the plan is cited nor for the source of the renderings posted on their site and here.

From all indications we as residents have from NYC and NYC the City is not actively looking at this and this issue was closed (for the moment).

Per Smart Growth:

The State is calling this scheme “Transforming Roosevelt Island”(TRI). However, anything the State has done in regards to transforming RI has been shortsighted, only looking to increase "the potential to achieve 'best value' and increased returns on public investment." Again, in this case the State is shortsighted. Before adding two more developments to the Island the State should fix the transportation situation, which still is a problem, and fix the defunct commercial leasing practice that has plagued the island for to long. What they should not do, which they are, is claiming that RI is a good transportation oriented development that would help knit Queens and Manhattan together. Anyone with knowledge of NYC knows that RI is not the best way to connect the two boroughs. Rather, improved subway and bus service would connect the two boroughs better than new developments on Roosevelt Island.

Brazilian Dance Perf Held at Coler - Goldwater

Locally the IESS Spiritist Society performed a dance from the Northeast of Brazil for the patients at Goldwater Hospital.

Direct YouTube link posted by SpiritismNYC

View from the Beekman Tower Hotel

My wife and I had lunch this past Friday at the restaurant "Top of the Tower" in the Beekman Tower Hotel located at East 49th Street and First Avenue. As opposed to most guests we chose a view of the East River and Roosevelt Island. No surprise there. The food was very good and the lunch prices quite reasonable.

Great views of the island and of the East side in general. I expect to post addition pictures on Flickr in the coming days. The above photo can be seen fully HERE and the full set HERE once they are posted. I can only imagine the views at night.

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.

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.

"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."

Roosevelt Island - A Water View - Bottom to Top

I had been wanting to film the island from one end to the other ever since seeing the Edison 1903 video filmed from the East Channel looking West. I have already filmed and posted the Island from that view but from Southpoint to Lighthouse where the Edison video starts at the North end and heads South.

I am now presenting the following video from the West Channel looking East at the Island starting at Southpoint and finishing at Lighthouse Park.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Direct Bus Access from [Roosevelt] Island to Manhattan ?

It was proposed that [Roosevelt] Island residents and employees be afforded direct bus service to and from Manhattan. Of course the proposal was made in 1957 by the entity that operated the last trolley line across the Queensboro Bridge with the goal of such service replacing their trolley operation with buses to then Welfare Island. This last trolley operated solely between 59th Street and Second Avenue to Queens Plaza in Long Island City

The above and below images accompanied a March 20, 1957 NY Times article discussing the proposal. According to the article 80 to 85 percent of the trolley’s riders were City employees either getting off or on the trolley at the mod point of the Queensboro Bridge to take the then elevator down to Welfare Island where they were employed at either Coler or Goldwater Hospitals. Under the proposal to switch to direct service, the trolley-goers were to be afforded door to door bus service to and from each hospital.

I am unsure if this is how the last trolley came to its end but I am guessing the full story can be found in the Queensboro Bridge Images of America book now being sold by the RI and Astoria Historical Societies.

Update: 5:32pm

On April 7, 1957, the last trolley, Car 602, rattled across the Queensboro Bridge, making one last stop mid point across the bridge at Welfare Island and proceeded across to Queens Plaza. According to the NY Times article of that day, riders were not afforded direct bus access prospectively to Welfare Island but were able to take the Q101 from Second Avenue in Manhattan to Queens Plaza, as you can still do stoday, and transfer to the Q102 onto Welfare Island.

For pictures of what happened to those last trolley cars (Car 601 etc) link HERE.

New Roosevelt Island Dogs Blog

It's official Roosevelt Island has gone to the dogs. Despite the old belief that no dogs were allowed on the island (see the parody movie) the past two years has seen an explosion of residents owning dogs due to the buildings at Southtown and the Octagon allowing dogs as pets.

The creation of a new blog "Roosevelt Island Dogs" officially seals the new reality and their place as residents. So far the blog chronicles in pictures and text the first meeting of the Small Dog Play Group at the Octagon-Coler dog run on the Eastern side of the island. The run is by the Coler Hospital parking lot facing Costco and the West Channel of the East River. The blogger who created the blog is listed as "Hanahlly" and lives in the Octagon. No contact info was provided nor does the blog provide for comments to be left by readers. A post on the Octagon resident's website is how I learned of the blog. A follow up post on that site gives information for those dog owners looking to joing the group.

Recently I had been speaking with one resident who commutes with his dog into Manhattan using Tram about the state of the Southern of the island's two dog runs which sits across from the Riverwalk buildings behind their sales center. As shown in the picture below the run at this point is pretty bare and some of the residents who use this run are hoping it can be improved but it is unclear who and what organization is responsible for its upkeep. I am guessing RIOC built the runs to encourage residents to limit off leash exercise to within their confines but I have not confirmed this assumption.

Queens Bridge to Medicine Dance Club – Performances at Goldwater Hospital !

Salsa

Bhangra - Boli Pani Mix

African

The Queens Bridge to Medicine Dance club was asked to perform for patients and students at Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island. These performances each took place on Saturday March 22, 2008. Very cool and congrats to all of the performers.

Each of these three videos was uploaded onto YouTube by CabralChris and can be linked to directly via the caption to each video.

Nursing Education Has Returned to Roosevelt Island

This past October 2007, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Goldwater Hospital to celebrate the opening of a new on-site nursing program. This past week Judy Berdy and the Roosevelt Island Historical Society visited the program and found the young women not dressed in scrubs but in uniforms similar to those worn by nurses of years ago.

An article is posted on the RIHS website describing the visit in detail. The above picture is from a set of four available on Flickr and within the article. The book pictured below can be ordered via the RIHS website.

The article begins as follows:

"A new Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) initiative created the Nurse Career Ladder Program for 400 mainly poor and low-income New Yorkers to enter and advance in the nursing profession over the next four school years. The program fills two needs: it creates a career ladder program in a growth industry, and it provides healthcare facilities with nurses who are currently in short supply. Ten of the students at the new school already work for the municipal hospital system and are advancing their careers to become LPN's."

EKGs Taking In the Winter Sun

It was such a sunny day that even these EKG machines took a break to bask in the Winter sun here on Roosevelt Island.

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The original picture taken on February 29, 2008 by Thomas R. Stegelmann can be found HERE on Flickr. This view is facing East and Long Island City from Roosevelt Island.

The Views from Goldwater Campus …

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Last July there were articles , news stories, as well as my own blog posts regarding a long term proposal that would result in the Goldwater Hospital campus being closed and the facilities merged with Coler Hospital at the North end of Roosevelt Island. The above video shot last month shows a brief glimpse of the views of the East River and Manhattan currently enjoyed by the Goldwater Hospital community.

If Goldwater were ever razed this property would be extremely valuable to NYC on the open market. As this is City property, occupied by a City Hospital, the usage of the land is not subject to the GDP that was signed by NYC when the bulk of the Island was rented to NYS.

Residents would be up in arms about infrastructure issues and the fact that the current transportation systems could not handle the added growth and patient advocates would have concerns egarding whether patients at both hospitals would suffer due to a merger.