New Tram Cabin Arrives on Island !

One of the two new Tram cabins arrived on Roosevelt Island today. The ver helpful Judy Berdy forwarded a number of pictures to this blogger, the Roosevelt Islander and the Main Street WIRE.

Historical Walk - Update

It appears Roosevelt Island is getting closer to seeing new Historical Walk signs being posted around the Island. I have not yet seen what the new signs look like as Judy Berdy, President of the Historical Society, is still working on design issues regarding how the signs are manufactured. I did notice today that the broken sign that has been outside the subway station (picttured above) was finally removed presumably by RIOC.

The below slide show is of all of the signs existing as of this Summer. If anyone can confirm whether these other signs are still around or whether they have been removed that woud be appreciated.

As always the walk can be enjoyed electronically via its website linked HERE or via the photo button at the top right hand side bar of this blog. To see full size photos of any of these photos they can be found on my FLICKR set for the RI Walk.

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.

Island Once Again Referred to As Hidden Treasure

In a 2 minute video piece airing tonight, July 14, 2008, on NY1 and this evening on their website, Roosevelt Island is once again hailed as a hidden treasure within New York City.

Each of the island's landmarks are covered as well as a few familiar faces including Steve Shane of RIOC and Judy Berdy of the local Historical Society.

Some nice camera work highlighting the natural beauty of the island including our still existing 360 degree view from Southpoint Park.

WNBC Video: Gabe Pressman's Roosevelt Island Report

This below video segment on Roosevelt Island aired, this evening June 20, 2008, during the 7pm local WNBC newscast. It was filmed during the last week of May 2008.

It is always interesting to see how news segments are edited down to the final product. As expected the result of the interview Mr. Pressman conducted with us ended up summarized as one or two sentences. Matt Katz, RIRA President, likewise ended up with one sentence on the air. Ms. Judy Berdy is highlighted for a few more sentences as much of the segment focuses on the past history of the island.

I am guessing the aerial shots are courtesy of the News 4 helicopter. All in all not bad. And I said earlier meeting Mr. Pressman was fun and he is definitely a professional cut from the best.

For a cleaner viewing link HERE to the WNBC site itself.

WNBC Local News Story re Roosevelt Island - Tonight 7pm Newscast

Close to a month ago, Gabe Pressman came out to Roosevelt Island and interviewed Matthew Katz, Judy Berdy, and my family for a local neighborhood piece about living on the island. That story is now scheduled to run tonight, Friday June 20th, during the 7:00 pm local newscast.

Around the Web: New Hires & Old Buildings

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.: Rosina Abramson, 60, joined as vice president, planning and government affairs. She had been deputy commissioner at the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

....Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, said that while the Octagon has a long reputation as a mystic place, it's steeped in history....

Note: Click on either image to link to the articles excerpted.

WNBC News: Neighborhoods - Roosevelt Island

Sometime within the next week local television news station WNBC will be running a neighborhood segment on Roosevelt Island.

Veteran correspondent Gabe Pressman visited Roosevelt Island, yesterday May 28, 2008, and interviewed Matthew Katz, the President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association as well as Judy Berdy, President of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. And while I am not a President of anything but in my own mind, Mr. Pressman also interviewed my wife and I about our experiences on Roosevelt Island and how we came to be part of this community. According to Mr. Pressman the segment is expected to air during the 11:00 pm newscast.

It was an enjoyable experience and one that thankfully my children were in a good mood for and they did not destroy the nice and expensive camera that was brought to the island for the interviews. We covered the basics as to what drew us here, what we enjoy and the differences between living here and the rest of the City. As an aside I will say Mr. Pressman and his team were great guests and it is very easy to see why this man is still doing what he obviously loves doing. A real pro.

On camera at least I did not bore Mr. Pressman with my views and concerns regarding our ongoing transportation issues. Although my wife and I, on camera, did state how beautiful Southpoint Park is in its current natural state.

Between the interviews of Mr. Katz, Ms. Berdy and my wife and I, we (my wife and I) figure our part of the segment will be about 1 minute of an expected (our guess) 3 minute segment. Stay tuned.

New York Landmarks Conservancy to Honor Judy Berdy & RIHS

The New York Landmarks Conservancy will honor Judy Berdy and the RIHS, among others, with the prestigious Lucy Moses award for the organization's work bringing the former Trolley Kiosk to Roosevelt Island and restoring / transforming it into the Visitor's Center.

The Awards recognize preservation leaders, public officials, organizations, owners, builders, architects, and craftspeople who restore the beauty and utility of New York’s great architecture.

The ceremony will take place on April 30, 2008 at the historic Eldridge Street Synangogue.

Daily News Reports $7M Needed to Stabilize Smallpox Hospital

The NY Daily News ran an article in today's paper, February 12, 2008 which focuses on the funding needed to stabilize the former smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island. Double click the article at left to see the entire article.

From the article:

"We've been told by the engineers that to really do an adequate job, we need somewhere around $7 million," said Steve Shane, chief executive officer of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. "We have $4.5 million to spend on preservation. The rest of the money is slated for the parks, and I don't want to pit the preservation people versus the parks people."

"We're starting a campaign for another $3 million to make the stabilization better," said [Judy] Berdy [of the Historical Society]. "Four and a half million is not enough to make it stable."

It just seems crazy to me that the public must directly raise funds to support this stabilization when the state has years to ensure the collapse would not happen while the hospital was under its stewardship.