Local blogger "retro info!' from Populuxebooks has reported that the Sabrina statue which sits on the Octagon property facing the Western Channel of the East River and Manhattan has been defaced literaly and figuratively. 
A number of residents who recall the movie "Cold Souls" being filmed here on Roosevelt Island can now read the reviews of the film on line at Variety, Cinema Blend, and other web sites.
As noted in NY Mag, buildings are now offering such amenities to help attract potential tenants. I will say as a parent with young kids that in the Winter and on a rainy day such spaces are godsends. Based on the pics on the Populuxe Books blog this is a great playroom.
Part 1 - Ferry Service
The ferry landing planned for the site by the Octagon and the Dayspring Church / Former Boathouse will not be ready any earlier than Fall 2009 and certainly not ready for the planned Tram rehab outage in March / April 2009. The NYC EDC representative, Michael Taylor, a Senior Project Manager for Maritime Transportation Policy, who attended when asked why that site basically stated that those decisions are made a pay grades exceeding his own. He made it clear that the City is only going to build the dock and at this time there are no plans to include a Roosevelt Island ferry stop in the proposed City subsidized pilot ferry program. This was confirmed by Josh Orzeck, Community Coordinator, of the NYC DOT Manhattan Borough Commissioner's Office.
It appears that while the City is building the landing that they will be simultaneously undertaking a study to determine the impact and how an Octagon Landing will fit into any larger ferry routes. Mr. Taylor did state that part of the concept was to build the landing at the North end of the island to create a separate transportation link despite the fact, brought up by those in attenance,, that the majority of possible riders are are closer to the existing mid/South transportation hub.
A lot of good points were brought up by committee members and the public. These included (1) the fact that when the UN is in session the West Channel is closed (2) any landing should be designed to handle larger craft for evacuation purposes (3) there exists a former landing on the East Channel underneath the QBBridge that perhaps coud be rehabilitated and it closer to the existing hub. Each was listened to and acknowledged politely. The reaction to the existing landing was that it would take as much money to rehab that one as the Octagon site and the decison has been made already.
It is clear that unless a ferry operator can be profitable they will not provide service. My feeling is at the Octagon location sufficient riders will not materialize to make it profitable and we will be left with a nice dock to look at. I do give Mr. Becker plenty of credit for moving the process along and working with our elected reps to secure funding. I just hope it works and that additional landings can follow but that is highly doubtful. The public officials will never give us money for a second shot at this for years.
For those unfamiliar with this playground it is essentially two fenced playgrounds sharing a common "demilitarized zone" which includes the only bench seating and sandbox at the playground. One half is geared to 2 to 5 year olds and the other half towards 5 to 8 year olds.
This playground set in a wooded area behind the Octagon apartment complex enjoys great views of the East River facing Manhattan and has plenty of shade. It is probably the most relaxed of the playgrounds due to the setting.
"Grandpa" Al Lewis Playground
Nothing new here to report. It is still the most open of the four main parks and probably the most used. It is the closest of any of the playgrounds to Main Street but is still far enough away that a watchful parent can catch a child before they get to close to traffic. It has two open entrances with no gates so with real little ones you need to pay attention. Older kids tend to get into games of tag here and need to reminded when little ones are around. But tobe truthful this playground is for the 5 - 10 set and not toddlers or younger.
At this playground you are at the center of the handball courts, basketball courts, and Capobianco Field as well as close to PS217 and the Farmer's Market on Saturdays.
Manhattan Park Playground
This park was a wholly different park about 2 1/2 years ago and the reconstruction using the GameTime structure made the park a lot more enjoyable and safe. The old roller slides were not suited to young children and were dangerous to kids trying to walk up the slides.
I like this park due to the fact that in theory in has only one entrance / exit. I say in theory as there are two areas where the gating allows kids to scoot under or through to the outside which I wish could be sealed up. As compared to many City playgrounds this issue is not as great a concern as the exterior of the park does not affront a road or high traffic area.
This park has the best water views of Manhattan and of the Queensboro Bridge to the South. This park has no shade but for the shade of the buildings in the morning hours. So bring sunscreen for the kids as well as water for everyone.
Riverwalk Toddler
This playground is like the Octagon playground the only other spot geared to toddlers and young children. The playground has the island's only swing set and includes two infant swings among the four provided. There are plenty of benches for parents and caregivers to sit on while the kids are playing. The only real drawback to the park is that when it gets hot the park has only a small section that enjoys any shade. If your kid likes digging the shady area is the section for it.
The Spray-Grounds
There are actually two separate areas that fall under this description. The first is the stand alone cement sprayiground which sits between the Riverwalk playground and the Blackwell House basketball courts. This is one of the most popular areas most kids come to when the heat starts. It has plenty of shade and when the drain is "stopped" up it turns into a wading pool. The grounds crew officially frowns on this practice but it doesn't stop the kids from creating the wading pool several times a day.
The second spray-grounds are those directly adjacent to the former Castle playground location. This area is built as a wading pool but as with the earlier site the composition is all cement and kids of all ages should be watched and take care not to get rowdy or else the damage if an errant fall takes place could be painful.
“I’m just curious and I may just be in the dark completely cause I don’t read the news- but what is about to be built by those trailers in the back by the church(south)- it looks like they are finally about to start building something.”
“at least six of the blue rectangles are large portable liquid tanks, and they are being bolted up to a set of big pipes and valves. in addition, it looks like they are grading the ground for the truck access road. so it would seem they are getting ready to store sodium hypochlorite over there- I have a call in to the DEP to confirm this, but haven't heard back.”
“i;m mainly curious if they still plan on installing large light towers along the fence, and how often and what times of day they plan on large trucks rumbling by the building. i'd also like to know what they are doing to contain any spills - besides let it run down our driveway into the playground!”
Update: 1:00 pm
Timing is everything. Apparently RIOC visited the DEP site this morning and they also saw this blog. According to RIOC President Stephen Shane:
"The project is to be able to pump excess water from the tunnel as it leaks in from groundwater sources, treat it for salinity and turbidity so that it is suitable to discharge into the river. It is not a superchlorination site."
Mr. Shane indicated that the DEP is sending RIOC a project description which once received will be made available.
Now I must admit I am confused as the WIRE articles, linked above, did refer to the site being used for chlorination purposes. This post was certainly not made to raise the alarm bells but merely to report what our neighbors up at the Octagon noted in their back yard.
>Continued Bridge Construction - Weekend advisory re alternating lane reversals due to road work.
> Transit Schedules: Q102 Queens Bus and F Subway Train
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