Monday, January 3, 2011

It's Time to Say Goodbye to this Blog....



This day has been coming for a long time. It's been a long time since I have seriously been able to give this blog the time and energy it deserves. Things changed in my life and the blog unfortunately became another casualty.

I have had a lot of fun writing it. It may not have been the most newsworthy and certainly not always the most timely but I feel it added its presence for a time to the discussion and helped bring Roosevelt Island into the greater consciousness of the City.

I thank the folks over at the NY Times City Room and the NYT Blog Talk posting as well as the folks over the Village Voice Running Scared blog for noticing this blog from time to time and highlighting several stories. My favorites were the ones involving the FDR memorial, the red bus, our subway station, its escalators, the bike racks, the fire call boxes among several others. I loved writing about our playgrounds as I am a parent to young children and I always tried to write partially from the perspective of a parent/resident of the Island.

I enjoyed the rivalry I had in the beginning with Rick over the Roosevelt Islander when I had more time and it became fun to see which one of us got a story onto the blogs first. Rick usually had the more in depth story as he has been amazingly dedicated to bringing another daily news source to residents and nonresidents alike about this little island. I will miss that fun. I encourage everyone to follow the Roosevelt Islander as it's a great blog to keep up with what's going in between issues of the Main Street WIRE.

I also thank Matt Katz and Frank France for including me in all correspondence and meeting notices about RIRA issues that came up along the way. Also kudos to Steve Shane for always responding to my email inquiries even if at times he really thought my question was obvious. Judy Berdy gets a special thanks for sending pics and news stories my way and for being a good friend.

I started this blog to show friends and family members what life was like here via my 360 degree videos I used to shoot and then with the encouragement of the folks at Outside.In (a blog and news aggregator who told me to add text) I started writing in addition to shooting 60 second videos.

But now it feels right to officially wind the blog down. I don't intend to turn off the blog as I think there are some good pieces and videos still worth viewing but don't expect there to be any new posts. In a short time I also will be shutting off the ability to add any new comments so the ongoing discussion / gripe sessions regarding Eastwood and Ron Vass will need to find a new home.

Thanks for the fun to everyone and feel free to say hello as I am keeping the email address RooseveltIsland360@gmail.com for anyone that wants to write or kibitz.

Regards,

Eric S.




Monday, December 27, 2010

Blizzard Hits Roosevelt Island's Main Street

Mon. 12/27 7am



Sun 12/26 315pm


Sun 12/26 3:15pm

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Congrats to Legacy HS for Taking 2nd Place - Beating NYC Elite High Schools


Congratulations to the The Child School/Legacy High School for taking Second Place in the Foreign Policy Association"s 2010 Worldquest New York Competition. In doing so Legacy got bragging rights among NYC schools beating out Stuyvesant and Bronx Science.

Great Job !

Link to official site and NYDN article.


City Offers Goldwater Campus As Possible Site for Science / Engineering College


The prospect of the Goldwater Campus being put to use as other than a hospital campus has popped up once again. This time as a possible site for a future science or engineering college with a 99 year lease to the institution that comes to it with an option to renew it.


The idea of a top university space at the site would seem more appealing to Island residents than simply selling the site to residential developers but even this idea would drive rents and housing costs further up, due to increased demand for student housing, on the Island making it increasingly difficult for current residents to remain.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Vote for Roosevelt Island

Please support Roosevelt Island as the best NYC neighborhood in the current contest at Curbed. Vote for us in this first round against Park Slope.

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/12/13/curbed_cup_1st_round_1_park_slope_vs_16_roosevelt_island.php

Somehow I feel like the pairing of Roosevelt Island vs Park Slope and all its residents is slightly unfair and almost seen by folks as a "by" for Park Slope. So prove the folks at Curbed wrong and get out the vote.

Eric

Monday, December 6, 2010

Fw: Roosevelt Island Special Publication

----- Original Message -----
From: RIOC Advisories <advisories@rioc.com>
To: RIOC Advisories <Advisories@rioc.com>
Sent: Mon Dec 06 17:02:17 2010
Subject: Roosevelt Island Special Publication

Happy Holidays Everyone:

Roosevelt Island community and friends should be aware that a brand new Roosevelt Island publication has come off the presses. The publication details the accomplishments of various RIOC employees and Roosevelt Island residents and spotlights some new developments and projects on the Island. Your glossy new magazine is available at the RIOC offices at 591 Main Street. Come pick one up and read about all the wonderful things you love about Roosevelt Island, complete with spectacular pictures!


Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group

Please visit us on the web at
http://rioc.ny.gov

Join us on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/riocny

If you wish to no longer receive these messages from us
please email us at unsubscribe@rioc.com

Friday, December 3, 2010

Official Island Tree Lighting Tonight, Free Concert Tomorrow Night


If you are on Roosevelt Island tonight stop by Blackwell House at 7pm to take part in the island's annual Holiday Tree lighting. Then tomorrow stop by Good Shepherd Community Center for a free concert at 8:00 pm.