River Rd Water Main Repair Delayed 'til Tuesday

Water main repair delayed. Apparently Thanksgiving weekend was spared but residents of Roosevelt Island's Manhattan Park could have a rough time of it over the next few days. Not sure how this affects Gristedes but it must as far as some departments. According to the below email PS 217 is also to be affected so it is also unclear whether school will be interupted by the water main shut off.

------Original Message------
From: Steve Shane
Sent: Nov 25, 2008
3:13 PM
Subject: Water Main repair

Gentlemen:

See revised e mail below changing scheduled water shut off. Note shut off will now be either Tuesday or Wednesday night, depending on what is found as a result of the excavation to begin Monday. Apologies to all for inconvenience, but weather is a problem.

"Preparations for the water main shutdown, affecting: Manhattan Park, Gristedes, Motorgate, RIOC Transportation Garage, the US Post Office and PS/IS 217, have been delayed by the inclement weather. DEP and RIOC are forced to postpone the shutdown and repair until next week.

Excavation for the repair will resume Monday morning Dec. 1st.

Depending on the conditions encountered, DEP is tentatively scheduling an evening shutdown for either Tuesday 12/2 or Wednesday 12/3.

The shutdown would occur between 6 :00 PM and 6:30 PM, with an estimated duration of 8 hours. Because of possible repair complications, DEP urges residents to be prepared for a duration of up to 24 hours.

You will be contacted via e-mail as soon as the actual shutdown date is confirmed by DEP. If you have any questions, please contact Santo Verta at RIOC, 347-297-0367."

Respectfully,

Thomas Turcic
Director of Engineering
Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation

River Road Water Main Shut Down This Friday 11/28

Picture Courtesy the Roosevelt Islander.

According to an e-mail circulated by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, this coming Friday Nov 28th, residents of Manhattan Park will find their water turned off due to a scheduled repair of the water main outside 40 River Road.

In addition to Manhattan Park, water will be turned off at PS / IS 217, Gristedes and the Motorgate Garage Complex. Residents are being warned that the shut off could last from 8 hours to 24 hours.

The above picture courtesy the Roosevelt Islander was from a Nov 17th post where construction related to AVAC repairs blocked off River Road.

Light Please?

A few nights ago, on Sunday June 1st, I was walking to and from Gristedes on the Eastern side of Main Street. After crossing over the ramp up to the bridge it was apparent that we need more light under the parking structure along that section of sidewalk between the ramp across to the old escalator entrances near Gristedes. The lack of light in that section is bordering on unsafe.

On my walk home that evening I stopped in at the Public Safety office and registered my request and concern with the officer on duty. He indicated he would file a report and that it would be reviewed by his supervisors. I will have to check back tonight to see if any additional light has been added or bulbs changed as I was unable to do so these last two nights. Both the officer working the desk and a fellow officer agreed that section is pretty dark.

Update 12:00 Noon:

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I was contacted this morning by Stephen Shane, RIOC's President, that it would have been quicker for me to contact RIOC directly so that their Engineering Department could attend to the lighting issue rather than my stopping in on PSD. As I replied to Mr. Shane, at that moment, I thought of the issue as a safety issue and thought it appropriate to go to them.

I will also admit by Monday morning I had forgotten about the issue until I saw the above picture in my camera. In the end Mr. Shane is correct that issues concerning Island operations and facilities should be reported to RIOC's offices directly for more appropriate action.

Hey the Farance kids got that sidewalk fixed real quick after sending Mr. Shane their letter so he is apparently ,aking sure such things do happen.

Would Roosevelt Island Residents Mourn Gristedes Departure?

According to the Gothamist, John Catsimatidis, Owner of Gristedes, believes that rising rents will drive grocery stores out of New York City. Many Roosevelt Island residents may not mind if our own Gristedes was one of them as many have complained that their prices have long been too high (due to a near monopoly) and that many products at this location are stale and out of date.

If you are a resident of Roosevelt Island would you mourn a departure of current supermarket Gristedes? Granted Catsimedes is stating that he thinks all supermarkets could be driven out not just his.

The Main Street Wire reported in its September 8, 2007 issue that six local vendors just had their leases renewed by RIOC. I don’t recall any mention regarding the Gristedes lease in recent issue or how long their current lease has. It is felt and hoped that with the addition of the Duane Reade at Southtown that Gristedes will lower prices and increase its quality. We shall see.

But if this Gristedes goes I know some residents will not mourn its loss. The problem is whether RIOC could even replace it with another supermarket chain. That is a whole separate issue as a “full service” supermarket is a necessity on the island. Thank heavens for Fresh Direct.

Another Red Bus Video: From the Octagon South

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A while back I began videotaping various aspects of life here on Roosevelt Island and for some reason one of the more popular topics has been the Red Bus. I can only surmise is that it provides the viewer a quick view of the island and at a quarter per trip it is seen as a bargain which “mainlanders” can’t believe. The above video was taken about two weeks ago and is of a bus ride from the Octagon South to the Church of Good Shepherd Plaza.

The video is hot facing the Western side of Main Street for the most part with a few quick shots looking East capturing views of the FDNY Special Operations Command, the Gristedes when the bus turned left into the circular pick up drive.

I thought about traveling further South to make it a complete trip down to the Tram but at four minutes the video is long enough and I have captured those views in earlier videos.