Architect Charles Gwathmey Dies....

Updated 8/5 at 9:05 a.m.for last paragraph

The noted architect Charles Gwathmey of Gwathmey, Siegel & Associates, died on Monday.

According to the NY Times, among the buildings he is attached to is "the 1,000-unit Northgate apartment complex on Roosevelt Island".

At 1000 units I am assuming the NYT is referring to Eastwood now Roosevelt Landings. Although my understanding is that Eastwood was designed by Sert, Jackson & Associates which I confirmed with Judy Berdy, President of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society.

Update: Judy provided yesterday evening the added detail that according to resources she has access to, Gwathmey connection to the island stopped at providing plans for Manhattan Park, which were never used due initially to lack of funds, and when the building complex was built the plans were again not used.

Urban American Posts YouTube Video re Roosevelt Landings

Urban American has posted a video commercial for Roosevelt Landings on YouTube depicting beautifully furnished apartments and views on Roosevelt Island. No mention regarding the current submetering situation or the quality of the heating systems or the ability of the apartments to retain the heat generated by the electricaly based systems.

Eastwood Submetering Delayed due to PSC Motion to Stay

The State of New York Public Service Commission has issued an Order stayin g a previous order which granted Urban American permission to submeter and issue electric bills to the tenants of Roosevelt Landings (FKA Eastwood).

A large thank you should be sent to each of our elected representatives as well as their staffs, State Assembly Member Micah Kellner, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Member Jessica Lappin and State Senator Jose Serrano.

The full text of the stay can HOPEFULLY be read by double clicking the below images:

Submetering at Roosevelt Landings (FKA Eastwood)

The New York Times ran a story yesterday about the submetering situation at Roosevelt Island's Eastwood complex, now known as Roosevelt Landings, and referred to the emergency meeting held on Saturday as well as the efforts of State Assembly Member Micha Kellner on behalf of the tenants affected.

The comments posted on this blog and others about this situation are amazingly scary. The article in this past weekends Main Street WIRE is a must read.

The issue of whether the heating systems and buildings are energy efficient on Roosevelt Island applies to each of the original WIRE buildings and the possibility of insane sub meter bills could be a possibility in each building. I live in Rivercross and I fully expect that if the building goes private, coming out of Mitchell Lama protections, that my apartment which has old and inefficient electric heaters will also be bound for direct electric bills.

The issues and resolution of the Roosevelt Landings electric bills are of interest to everyone in the original buildings and shoudl be followed closely. It is simply insane to expect many of the seniors in Eastwood to simply turnm down their heat during the daytime when many cannot leave their apartments.

Roosevelt Landings?

Urban American is in the process of premiering a new "Roosevelt Landings" website and a new advertising campaign to attract new Roosevelt Island tenants based on the two very large banners put up this past week facing Main Street. If there are more I have not yet seen them. At first I thought they read "Riverwalk" but that made no sense.

Obviously taking their cue from Riverwalk where the bigger the sign the bigger the hopes of attracting new families, Urban American decided the time must be right with all the young families coming to the island these past two weekends for the very successful Hudson / Related (i.e. Riverwalk) sponsored Roosevelt Island KidFest events held to date (according to my young children) and scheduled for the remaining two October weekends.

The website the banners direct viewers to is not yet operational and I admit the design of half letters is lost on me. More to come as we all see it. Does this mean Eastwood will no longer be Eastwood? Will Dick Lutz have to change the name of the Main Street WIRE to the Main Street WIRRL?