What's Behind East Side Officials Asking for Green Manhattan Tram Station Roof?

In a joint letter signed by virtually every East Side elected official the request was made to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation to incorporate into the design of the new Manhattan Tram station a green roof.

Why is this request coming now? Yes, RIOC is still in the design phase but it is interesting that the chorus has just started when the process discussing the new Tram and its stations has been going on for well over a year to two. If the overhaul had kept to its original schedule this question would be way late and impossible to even consider. My fellow blogger the Roosevelt Islander infers that it is because East Siders perhaps don't like the current design in some form.

For me I am all for "greening" our neighborhoods and construction practices but I say to these elected officials if you are going to push this at this time RIOC has a right to ask for the additional cash to make it happen. Let's see who is first to float a bill to increase the funding for the Tram overhaul for a green roof over another project they are currently backing.

I am in a cranky mood today so I apologize to each of the elected officials as the goal is admirable but I question why this project and why now and not earlier.

Lower Escalator Update: 2 Up & Now 2 Down

Ok, this may be good news for morning rush hour Roosevelt Island commuters but some commuters at night may not be happy with me.

Based on my November 25th post of last month, Paul Curtis, the Community Liason / Legislative Aide to Assembly member Micah Z. Kellner, asked the MTA why all four of the lower escalators are continuously running UP from the subway platforms to the lower mezzanine and not an even split of two up and two down.

Well, according to Mr. Curtis, the MTA finally got back to him and they expect, with the exception of rush hours, to now split the four escalators up with each platform having one escaltor running up and the other down. we'll see how well the station personnel do at switching the directions before and after each rush hour.

I can now see a number of evening commuters being unhappy with me as their sbway car empties by the escalator, not yet switched, going the wrong way as they see it.

Transportation Forum Produces Community Provided "Solutions"

The Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer organized Roosevelt Island transportation forum produced a list of short term and long term solutions as suggested by the attending audience as well as the priority of each solution. In an innovative method of collecting data via RF point and click technology, the organizers with the help of the Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, turned what is usually a standard speech dog and pony show with the expected rantings of upset community members into an event where the public provided the content and the elected officials (Micah Kellner and Jessica Lappin) spoke minimally. RIOC President Steve Shane spoke but offered nothing new for the community that he had not already stated at the recent Tram info event.

The only real problem was the transportation experts did not speak at all and the public was not given the opportunity to put these folks on the spot. Also while the solutions offered are nice in theory we heard nothing from the elected officials or the transportation officials as to the reality of any one solution being actually attainable or not.

Scott Stringer closed the event stating that this event was only the beginning of the discussions and tonight was more a gauge of where he and the other politicians should start on our behalf. The only problem is we only have until the Tram goes out to start determing what can be improved in the short term. Lets schedule the next meeting soon to keep the feet of these pols to a deliverable fire date to answer the realities of the solutions offered otherwise what was the point of taking away a particular good opportunity to simply rant.

The short and long term solutions and prioritization are below and each can be linked through to Flickr for larger views.

SHORT TERM SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS per the COMMUNITY

SHORT TERM VOTE

LONG TERM SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS per the COMMUNITY

LONG TERM VOTE

Oct 21st Stringer Sponsored Community Forum re Transportation Issues

This coming Tuesday, October 21st, Roosevelt Island residents will have another opportunity to discuss transportation issues affecting the island this time not just with RIOC regarding the Tram but with our elected officials and each of the government agencies that run and maintain our bridges, subways, and buses.

The Community Forum is being lead by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and as this post appears to also include Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Jose Serrano, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and City Councilmember Jessica Lappin.

According to a representative from Borough President Stringer’s office the agenda is not yet final but one of their goals is to make the forum as interactive as possible including discussions of issues as well as possible solutions.

As opposed to Community Board 8’s Roosevelt Island transportation forum which took place in Manhattan at the Blood Center this forum is scheduled to take place here on the Island and as such can expect a much better turnout than the less than a dozen who attended the CB8 meeting.

All residents are encouraged to attend as this is a great opportunity to ask questions and hear from all parties plans for next year when the Tram is offline for several months. The timing of this meeting is appropriate as at least one of the referendum proposed by RIRA for the November elections includes the Tram.

Assembly Passes Kellner Bill to Democratize RIOC Board

The New York State Assembly voted today and passed A09321 amending Chapter 899 of the 1984 laws creating RIOC to "Reconstitutes the Roosevelt Island operating corporation board of directors;provides that the corporation shall be governed by an elected rather thanappointed board; makes numerous related provisions, including provisions foradditional duties."

The bill had been previously submitted by Peter Grannis during his terms in office. the bill has now been delivered to the Senate where it will come before the Rules Committee. Unfortunately as yesterday was the last session of this term the outcome of this bill will have to wait.

The 3 RIOC Elected Board Members + David Kraut

Well it appears that Roosevelt Island is partially stepping foward into a democracy.

It was never promised but it was inferred that the Governor's office (which included then Lt Governor David Paterson) would accept and appoint the nominees elected by popular vote.

Having three out of four possible gubernatorial appointees when previously it was none is nothing to sneeze at.

The question is now will the Mayor select one, two, or none of the remaining three available elected nominees?

------Original Message------
From: Micah Kellner
To: Roosevelt Islander
To: Roosevelt Island 360
Sent: Jun 19, 2008 5:38 PM
Subject: The 3 rioc nominees

The governor's 4 rioc appointments were just confirmed by the Senate. There are already rumors that the Senate will hold a special session in July, where mayoral reccomendations (if any are made) could be confirmed.

WIRE: Rivercross Surcharge & Maintenance Hike

According to an email report by the Main Street WIRE

:

"DHCR Plans Hike in Rivercross Surcharge

DHCR plans to order an increase in the Rivercross surcharge, levied on residents whose income exceeds the maximum allowed in a building, from 20% to 30%, according to an e-mail from DHCR Commissioner Deborah van Amerongen to Assemblymember Micah Kellner.

Van Amerongen said that DHCR staff called the building's managing agent today with the news. In addition, DHCR has approved an increase in maintenance charges which, if levied in one step, would be $7.45 per room (about 2.5%) per month (or $4.97/room/month if levied in two steps).

With regard to the surcharge increase, van Amerongen wrote, "...the [Rivercross] Board will be informed of our decision sometime today. If they decide to challenge this that is of course their right, we will argue the case in court.""

NY Sun: Tram Outage at Time of Island Growth

Tomorrow's New York Sun, June 5, 2008, includes an article, available online now, by Real Estate Reporter Candace Taylor, which examines the convergence of the planned 2009 Roosevelt Island Tram outage with the increase in housing stock on the island. I spoke with Ms. Taylor a couple of weeks ago in prep for her article and outlined my concerns regarding these issues.

As expected the sales staff at Riverwalk see no issue due to the existence of the subway station despite our consistenly losing weekend service due to construction and security projects. Only Bruce Becker, the Octagon's developer, proactively began steps to bring another mode of transportation to the Island which hopefully will be operational by the Tram's outage. The question is will that even fill the need.

In 2006 when the Tram was offline for 4 months only two to three of the Riverwalk buildings were occupied. By the time the Tram goes offline six of the planned nine buildings will be open and filling up. During the last outage the Octagon had only just opened and now it is fully operational. As State Assembly Member Micah Kellner indicates the island is "literally bursting at the seams". This outage will truly test the limits how far the F train and Red Buses (to Queensboro Plaza) can handle the expected growth.

RIOC Board Nominees Complete Initial Interviews with Governors Office

According to Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner "the Governor's office has completed its initial interview with each of the RIOC nominees. We are now waiting for them to be interviewed by the Mayor's office and to see if they get police background checks." The above letter was sent by the Assembly Member to the Governor on Friday May 9, 2008.

Assembly Member Kellner Requests MTA Roberts to Further Examine Issues Affecting Roosevelt Island

Assembly Member Micah Kellner (65th AD) issued a letter today to MTA President Howard Roberts to further examine the transportation issues affecting Roosevelt Island in light of the pending 2009 Tram overhaul. See the original letter text by clicking on the attached images.

One of the most striking facts presented in the letter is resident Marc Diamond’s calculations that Tram’s daily ridership is approximately 50% of the subway’s daily ridership. The concern is therefore how will the F Train and our subway station handle a 50% increase in riders every rush hour morning?

Kellner suggests beefing up alternative bus routes to Queens Plaza as well as extension of the Q Lines and rerouting of R or V Trains through Roosevelt Island. I know that Roberts rejected the Q Train extension but this is the first I have heard of the R or V Train re-routing ideas I don’t expect that they will be well received.

Let’s see if Roberts issues a response to this letter. Getting the last response according to transit buffs was amazing enough. We definitely thank Micah Kellner for staying on top of this issue and pushing the MTA to respond to this important issue.

Assembly Member Kellner Requests Gov. Paterson to Reschedule RIOC Board Nominee Vetting Process

In a letter, dated April 1, 2008, to Governor David Paterson, Assembly Member Micah Kellner requests the Governor to restart the vetting process and to then formally appoint the six individuals elected by the residents to serve on the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation's Board of Directors. Thank you Mr. Kellner

MTA Roberts to Roosevelt Island: No Increased Service Coming Your Way

MTA NYCTA President Howard Roberts issued a reply, dated February 11, 2008, regarding the call to examine and increase subway service to Roosevelt Island. The reply was in regards to a January 20, 2008 request to President Roberts made by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Jose Serrano, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and City Council Member Jessica Lappin.

In short the letter reads that the ridership levels are within capacity and that the request to extend the Q Train to 21st Street / Queensbridge would only slow down the overall system as it would interfere with existing F, E and V Train service.

Please let us know your comments as they are being reviewed by our elected representatives.

Elected Officials "Urge" Gov. Spitzer to Nominate RIOC Elected Candidates

As stated in a joint letter to Governor Spitzer, four elected Federal, State and City representatives urge the Governor to nominate the elected candidates to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Board of Directors as only he can. The letter refers to the historic nature of the vote, the diversity of those "elected", and the large turnout of residents that voted in the election.

Double click the above image to read the full text of the letter in its original format.

City Comptroller Responds Regarding Kellner's Concerns at Eastwood

NYC Comptroller William Thompson has issued a letter to Assembly Member Micah Keller regarding concerns regarding Urban America’s management practices and issues concerning the tenants of the Eastwood apartment complex. Assembly Member Kellner had written the Comptroller as NYC pension funds had been invested in the City Investment Fund, Urban America’s partner in the purchase of the Putnam Portfolio which included Eastwood.



The New York Observer in September, 2007 reported on the City’s interest in CIF and possible concerns regarding affordable housing issues.

The full letter response can be read by double clicking the below image file.

Elected Officials Call for Extension of Q Line to Supplement F Line to Roosevelt Island

In a joint letter dated January 20th, 2008, to MTA NYCT President Howard H. Roberts, Jr., it has been requested that the MTA re-evaluate the transit needs of Roosevelt Island and requests that a short term solution be instituted that would include extending the Q Line through 21st Queensbridge until the Second Avenue Subway is operational.

The full text of the letter can be linked to HERE.

The letter is signed by United States Representative Carolyn Maloney, NYS Senator Jose M. Serrano, NYS Assembly Member Micah Kellner, and NYC Council Member Jessica Lappin. The letter is a follow-up to Council Member Lappin's July 2006 letter to the MTA.

The letter opens with the following paragraph:

"As elected officials representing the thousands of New Yorkers who live and work on Roosevelt Island, we urge you to address the developing crisis in the island’s mass transit link to Manhattan and the rest of New York City. Already, Roosevelt Islanders are faced with overcrowding on the island’s sole subway connection, the F line. With thousands more residents projected to join the island’s population in the near future, as well as a prolonged period of downtime planned for the Roosevelt Island tram, immediate action is required to prevent a transportation overload of critical proportions."

The letter closes with the following two paragraphs:

"In your response to Councilmember Lappin you stated that “our recent data continues to show that, on average, the F line operates within passenger loading guidelines.” While this may be true – though it conflicts with the daily experience of Roosevelt Island residents who ride the F line – it strikes us as a somewhat shortsighted view of the problem, in light of the island’s rapid population growth and the impending overhaul of the tram.

Given these realities, it is imperative that NYC Transit seriously consider ways to augment subway service to Roosevelt Island as soon as possible. We urge you to consider extending service on the Q line to 21st St./Queensbridge. If you believe this would not be practicable, we ask that you investigate alternate possibilities for increasing service to the rapidly growing population of Roosevelt Island."

Assembly Member Kellner Confirms ESDC FMV Real Estate Tax Bills Rescinded

In a press release issued today Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner (65th AD) confirms that ESDC Chairman Patrick Foye has rescinded the FMV real estate tax equivalency bills issued to Island House, Rivercross and Westview.

ESDC's decision puts a greater burden now on the Rivercross Privatization Committee as that buildings anti-privatization tenants will claim that the state no longer has a loaded gun to their heads and other avenues might be worthy of exploration regarding securing financing for capital projects and other issues. Pro-privatization tenants will still argue that the building has a right to leave the Mitchell-Lama program and that they expect that their plan is worthy of exploration which is all the upcoming vote is really for next week. But even such exploration has a price and it is expected to cost a few hundred thousand dollars to go through such a process.

A few excerpts of the Assembly Member's press release are as follows:

"ESDC has decided to rescind the tax bills sent last September to Westview, Island House, and Rivercross and to continue to allow the buildings to receive their tax exemptions as long as they remain in the Mitchell-Lama program. I’m glad to see, after six months of playing keystones cops, that the administration has finally come to its senses and rescinded this unfair tax bill."

“I could never understand how the administration could argue that threatening to raise taxes was an appropriate tactic to bullying struggling tenants and shareholders into remaining in the Mitchell-Lama program. This was a dangerous game of chicken that could have gone horribly wrong, costing thousands of families their homes."

“Let’s not kid ourselves, this issue is far from settled and the devil is always in the details. As we go forward I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the ground lease amendments are negotiated in such a way such that retroactive, unfair taxes are never again a possibility that looms over the heads of Islanders.”

Assembly Member Kellner Announces Roosevelt Island Office Hours at Festival

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New York State Assembly Member Micah Kellner took the opportunity at the 2007 Roosevelt Island Fall for Arts Festival to remind everyone that his office holds weekly office hours each Thursday between 3pm and 7pm at the RIOC located at 591 Main Street.

Emergency Preparedness Program – September 27 on Roosevelt Island

On September 27, 2007, the American Red Cross of Greater New York, RIOC, and NYS Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner are sponsoring a emergency preparedness program titled “Ready New York” to be held at the Church of the Good Shepherd from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Designed to teach individuals and families how to design family disaster plans, create and maintain supply kits as well as tips on how to stay informed during times of disaster.

As per the poster for more information contact Gabriela Garcia, of the Red Cross, at 212-875-2424 or via email at gargiag@nyredcross.org

Assemblymember Kellner Announces Roosevelt Island Offices Hours

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At RIOC’s last movie night, Saturday 8/25th, both I and the Roosevelt Islander were greeted by New York State Assemblymember Micah Z. Kellner (D) who stopped by to announce to his Roosevelt Island constituents that starting Thursday September 13th he will begin offering weekly office hours here on Roosevelt Island. The hours will run between 3pm and 7pm weekly at RIOC’s offices at 591 Main Street. In addition to discussing his new hours we took the opportunity to also discuss the possibility of Roosevelt Island qualifying for one of the twenty DOT stand alone public restrooms that are planned to be built across New York City.

The above video was shot off the cuff and I offer my apologies to the Assemblyman for the lousy lighting and sound not to mention his last words being slightly clipped in the editing of this video.