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.

SkyFox Video re Tram Outage

Double click the image image to view the SkyFox video regarding the Roosevelt Island Tram outage.

Parts of the video are new from today but parts are stock footage from the April 2006 unscheduled Tram outage when riders were stranded over the East River. Note the old "The Tram" logo as opposed to today's RIOC logo.

The related FOX website story can be found HERE.

[Milestone: This is Post # 700 to this blog]

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.

NY Law Students Help Roosevelt I. Resident

The New York Daily News is reporting, Monday, February 18, 2008, on a story where New York Law students assisted investors who felt wronged by their stock brokers and investment advisors including Roosevelt Island resident, Arline Jacoby.

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.

Daily News Runs Article re RIOC Board Nominee Election

Today's New York Daily News, Sunday, February 10, 2008 includes an article on Roosevelt Island's recent RIOC Board Nominee Election.

It appears that the Daily News has run the article in its Queens edition. It does not appear to have run in the Manhattan edition. I am guessing Island residents who buy the paper on the Island today will see the article as I am guessing our deliveries of the paper come in via Queens.

I doubt the paper is under the belief the Island is part of Queens as it does state that elected nominee Jonathan Kalkin (pictured above) is also a Democratic county committeeman for the 65th Assembly District which does not extend beyond Manhattan.

Daily News: Roosevelt I. "A New Look"

The New York Daily News ran today a pretty standard real estate article, today, January 25, 2008, regarding Roosevelt Island hitting all of the basics: buildings, transit, retail, schools, history.

The article, as noted in the image above, is titled "Roosevelt Island: Is this the start of a new look?" This stems from their review of the newer developments of the Octagon and the Riverwalk complex in Southtown.

EveryBlock News Aggregator - Currently Linking Lenox Hill to Roosevelt Island

There is a new news aggregator on the block. It’s EveryBlock. Until this service debuted the big kid on the block was Outside.in. There is also BlogNetNews but they have not yet debuted a New York City page and only present a New York state-wide page.

What a news aggregator does is pull together content from various sources and present it in one location which can be manipulated based on the parameters set by the tags set up by the original content providers and any additional tags assigned by the aggregator.

Both Outside.in and EveryBlock provide links by zip code to 10044 (OI, EB) for Roosevelt Island. So far the Roosevelt Island neighborhood name is good only on Outside.In but EveryBlock is working on it (EB, OI).

The amusing grouping so far on EveryBlock is their linking Roosevelt Island to Lenox Hill. I have already emailed them to indicate that this grouping will only confuse readers and mix up content that does not go together. Daniel at EveryBlock agreed this needs to be corrected and is working on it.

What is interesting and new about EveryBlock is that they seem to focus, right now, on the news types noted in the above image including building violations, police reports, permits, licenses etc. Check it out as they add content about our Island and the City around us.

AP Runs Story re FDR Memorial – Roosevelt Island Gets Nationwide Attention

The Associated Press ran a story today regarding the status of the Louis Kahn FDR Memorial planned for Southpoint Park. Roosevelt Island has not received nationwide attention since the April 2006 Tram stoppage that lasted just under 5 months.

The AP story focuses on the funding issue and includes quotes from a FERI representative, City Council Member Jessica Lappin, and Dick Lutz, manging editor of the Main Street WIRE.

Associated Press; MSNBC; ABC News; Philly.com; Forbes.com; MLive.com (Michigan)

UPDATE: The Roosevelt Islander has a great post, linked HERE, regarding the current news coverage and his views regarding the Kahn - FDR Memorial.

In The Paper - The Main Street Wire - 2007 Nov 3 - Preview

Per an email from Dick Lutz, the Editor of The Main Street WIRE, the issue due out this Saturday will include :

> a lead story on Rivercross's plan to privatize without waiting for an extension of the building's ground lease

> a story on the unified political endorsement of the Louis Kahn design for an FDR Memorial at Southpoint Park

> stories on Island parking enforcement, the upcoming election for RIOC Board nominations, a new children's book by Island authors, help from Island Kids for parents trying to figure out the private school question, and a story on Blair Madison's efforts to break into show business through American Idol.

City Leaders Meet to Push FDR Memorial on Roosevelt Island

Both the NY Sun and Curbed are running stories this morning about a planned meeting of City leaders who want to jump start the building of the memorial to FDR.

As per the NY Sun:
The city leaders set to attend the event include Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; City Council Speaker Christine Quinn; City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin; New York State Assembly member Micah Kellner, and the president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer.

Curbed is having some fun with this suggesting that the tents from The Encampment shoudl have left up and renamed after FDR. Curbed does point out that this project to the public's eye has started and stopped and never has taken on the momentum of a project that appears headed for completion.

Update 1:
The Roosevelt Islander post on this topic this afternoon adds a lot of detail from prior news pieces in one place and his blog post title adds his own opinion whether the memorial is one for FDR or the architect Louis Kahn who designed the planned memorial.

Update 2:
The New York Times City Room page has a detailed article on the meeting and the history of the planned memorial. The comments are interesting to read and support the Roosevelt Islander's opinion that for many this is a memorial to Kahn not FDR.

In the Paper - Main Street Wire - 2007 Oct 20

The headlines of the current issue being delivered this afternoon, and available on-line currently, are as follows:

>RIOC Board Votes to Pursue Possibility of Dual Tram System
>Trouble Finding Parking? On a Small Crusade, Islander Says Too Many Get Illegitamate Free Ride
>Islanders Take to Blogs
>Children’s Book Has Island Setting
>Photos: fall for Arts
>The Encampment Visits Island Past

I am assuming this blog and the Roosevelt Islander are both mentioned in the above listed blog article but as my Adobe file is not working at the moment I will live in suspense until this evening.

Update:

The blog article, was written by Jami Bernard, and features a great profile of the Roosevelt Islander (the public learns his first name) and touches upon this blog and a few other Island related blogs including the RIRA blog, the My Space Roosevelt Island blog, as well as Island Cats and a couple of the building based sites which are each really simple website as opposed to blogs.

I was taken aback by Jami's characterization of my posting a promo poster "on a lamp post" (which is a RIOC no-no) when it was on one of the poster kiosks (the big fat round cement tack boards). Apparently "lamp post" was supposed to be substituted out at a later point but it fell through. It happens ...but I admit I felt like I was labelled a criminal. I got over it.

Hoboken Has Nothing to Worry About From Roosevelt Island

Yesterday the Roosevelt Islander published a post regarding a conversation he had at our local Starbucks with a couple of folks who were dissatisfied with living at the Octagon. The long commute, ease and proximity to Manhattan etc. Anyhow these individuals mentioned they want out and were considering Hoboken. The Roosevelt Islander suggested they look at Riverwalk before contemplating Hoboken as they may find living next to the Tram and the Subway may ease their transportation burden and change their outlook on living here.

Well apparently Craig over at NJ.com took this as if the Roosevelt Islander was dissing Hoboken and felt he needed to compare our Tram to an amusement park ride etc. I tried posting a comment there but it did not take. I had wanted to point out the focus was not on a comparison of this island to Hoboken. We are a little neighborhood bedroom community. We just got our first chain drug store. No comparison. The focus was on living on the North end of Roosesvelt Island compared to Southtown.

End of story. If NJ.com wants to continue and pick on a fellow Roosevelt Island blogger he 's got two of us to deal with.

Roosevelt Island Bridge Stuck Open - News Footage

Well I was off line for 24 hours due to Yom Kippur and I come back and after checking into the Roosevelt Islander blog I learned that the Roosevelt Island Bridge was stuck open last night. Pretty wild. Apparently the bridge was not returned to normal until 5am Saturday morning.

NY1 Video: Direct Link



WCBS New York Video: Direct Link

Owner of 510 Main Street Funded Partially by City / State Pension Funds

Today’s New York Observer reports on an analysis by the Urban Homesteading Association Board, which found that a city and state pension group, are investors in the City Investment Fund. The City Investment Fund along with Urban American purchased a series of old affordable housing complexes including 510 Main Street (per an earlier May 1st article). It was originally thought that the purchase of 510 Main Street and other Harlem properties was entirely private.

The article focuses on the concerns of individuals like Bill Thompson, the city comptroller, who is both an investment adviser and a trustee for the Employees Retirement System, whether the pension groups have invested in a real estate company that might drive rents up and force poor tenants out in formerly public housing units.

An interesting pair of articles to read. Moreso if you are a Roosevelt Island resident that lives at 510 Main Street.

Roosevelt Island’s Westview Complex Cited in State Report Regarding Corruption / Mismanagement at Subsidized Housing Complexes

According to today’s New York Times, Thursday, September 20, 2007, the report issued by State Inspector General Kristine Hamann, indicated that:

"The state housing agency’s “deep and systemic failure” to properly oversee the rapidly dwindling supply of subsidized middle-income housing has led to the deterioration of the buildings, an increase in rents and a waste of taxpayer money."

The report apparently also included references to Westview:

"At the highly desirable Westview complex on Roosevelt Island, investigators found a troubling proposal to convert the building to market-rate condominiums. The Division of Housing and Community Renewal granted a proposed buyer a waiver in 2004 to manage the complex. By August 2006, 31 apartments in the complex had been vacant for about a year, despite a waiting list of 1,000 and a policy that “there should be no vacancies in subsidized housing in New York.”

It appears that the operator was warehousing the vacant apartments in anticipation of a windfall from their sale as condominiums. Nevertheless, the report said, an agency inspector “termed the complex’s inflated vacancy rate ‘satisfactory.’ ” The sale fell through in March 2006."

Chase ATM Expected to Arrive 10/3 at Roosevelt Island Duane Reade

Again this falls into the category of I can’t believe this is news but here on Roosevelt Island it is. Until October 3, 2007 the New York National Bank and its two external ATMs will continue to be the only source for residents to access their money outside of cash back at the Gristedes. As of October 3rd, according to reps at our Duane Reade, they expect the Chase ATM to be installed and operational. On that date Chase bank customers hope to access their accounts free of any fees and on their own terms. Again another note of civilization.

In The Papers: The Wire - Sept. 8, 2007

The September 8, 2007 issue of the Main Street Wire is available on line for those looking to begin their weekend early. The top headlines include:

(1) RIRA Sets February “Plebiscite” To Propose Nominees for RIOC”
(2) Oklahoma City Survivors Will Join Islanders at Tuesday’s 9/11 Ceremony
(3) Six Merchants Get New Leases in “First Step”

Inside the Wire you will see a letter to the editor (page 3) from RIRA Communications Chair Frank Farance continuing his crusade to force the PSD to obey its own rules. A picture of that wheelchair bicycle I reported on Aug 3rd this summer is on page 8. Various articles recall 9/11 with pictures and memories including a picture of the Wire issue that first covered the tragedy. Orphans International advertises, on page 9, it’s 9/15 benefit Concert set for 7pm at the Manhattan Park Theatre. Page 16 offers a combination ad / announcement from Island Cats regarding their upcoming 9/15 adoption event.

As normal expect to see your free issue of the Main Street Wire delivered to your apartment door handle or mailbox this weekend.