Art Boats Anchored in LIC Looking for a Tow

A request has been posted on the blog Antlered Girls for a small boat to tow those Art Boats from LIC, across from Roosevelt Island, up the East River about 10 miles. You may have read about the Art Boats in the NY Times.

Now if we were an actual island with river access maybe one of us could do the neighborly thing and help these poor antlered ladies out. But alas we are nothing but a landlocked rock sitting here in the middle of the river.

NYC Bike Sharing Outpost on Roosevelt Island ???

For a long time I have thought Roosevelt Island a great place for bicyclists to visit. I am wondering whether residents and / or NYC DOT would think Roosevelt Island a good place to establish a bulkhead for the NYC bike sharing program? I figured the bike racks could be set up near the Tram station (close to the walkway that wraps around the North end of the Racquet Club) under the Queensboro Bridge.

Tourists and visitors could take the tram or subway onto the island and then pick up a shared bike and then use the bike to ride around the island or into LIC to go to the Noguchi Museum or Socrates Park or wherever. They could then return the bikes at the end of their visit and exit off the island via the tram or subway. Residents could use the bikes to travel into Queens. Having the bikes on the island would increase tourism onto the island and into the section of LIC closest to Roosevelt Island. With the new bike paths along Vernon Boulevard it would make for a natural fit.

Costco Without a Car

Over the two years that we have lived on Roosevelt Island we have managed quite well without a car to patronize the Long Island City Costco location. Generally we walk to Costco and take a car service back with the trunk of the car service loaded down justifying the $6 to $10 fee charged for the short one way trip.

I keep thinking how can we do away with even this added cost? After all we only live across the East River. Walking presents challenges as there is only so much stuff you can stuff into a granny cart or shove into a backpack. Bicycling presents the same challenges along with weight distribution issues on a bicycle being walked back on the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

The answer was provided by Ikea of Copenhagen which apparently offers bicycles with trailers to their customers to carry their purchases home. The trick is now convincing my building to allow me to store a trailer such as those pictured in our bike room. Keeping the trailer in my apartment is not an option. In all seriousness I'd be willing to look into buying such a trailer and sharing the costs with other residents if we could solve the storage and access question.

Perhaps we can convince ZIP Car to get into the bike / trailer rental business opening up the option to all residents?

Keyspan Plant "Big Allis" Sold to Trans-Canada

According to an article published this past Monday by Newsday, National Grid has sold the "Big Allis" Ravenswood Keyspan Plant located just opoposite Roosevelt Island, in LIC, Queens, to Trans-Canada. The sale is subject to state and federal regulatory approvals, and clearance under U.S. anti-trust and foreign investment laws. National Grid said it expects to complete the deal by late summer.

The text of the Newsday article can be linked to HERE. Nobody in NYC really expected the plant to be sold and dismantled as it is one of the only remaining plants servicing all of NYC.

Pizza on 36th Ave...A Stone's Throw Over the Roosevelt Island Bridge

On Saturday, my son and I took a stroll over the Roosevelt Island Bridge and I recalled that directly across from the bridge, at 36th Ave and Vernon Blvd., was a relatively new pizza place.

I had first heard of the "36th Avenue" while reading a comment posted to this blog in response to a short link I posted regarding Ion's, the new Roumanian place directly across the street from the pizza place.

36th Avenue is small establishment serving more than just pizza, and whose menu, contains a pretty good variety of Italian dishes, although I can only comment that the pizza was pretty good and the service excellent. It is owned and operated by Antonio and Anita who informed me that they opened this past september and they are looking forward to the return of the warmer months when they hope increased foot traffic from across the Roosevelt island Bridge will bring more patrons to their door. The restuarant has only three boots, two which will sit 4 and the third for only a couple.

Definitely worth checking out.