A Parkour View of Roosevelt Island

The above video is a Parkour practitioner's view and includes mashed up images of both Roosevelt Island and NYC's Central Park. For someone not used to quick camera work this video might be a bit strange to get used to but is quite interesting. I recognize shot outside Rivercross, behind Westview, along Island House among others. The last minute or so is a bit of out takes and just walking around.

As I have stated in past posts about Parkour, the actions taken would not be sanctioned by PSD and this video is not disagreeing that many of the moves seen could be dangerous.

Direct YouTube Link by Shadowgodny

Court Upholds DHCR 30% Max Maint. Surcharge Against Rivercross

In an Article 78 proceeding brought by Roosevelt Island's Rivercross Tenants Corporation against the Department of Housing and Community Renewal the trial court ruled that the DHCR order to increase the maximum maintenance surcharge from 20% to 30% be upheld.

In an internal memo, dated November 26, 2008, circulated among the tenant shareholders, the Rivercross Board announced it intends to appeal the decision to the Appellate Division. The memo indicated that it would be about 6 months before any decision could be expected in their appeal.

The Rivercross Board asserts as one component to their case that in 2001 the DHCR argued that Mitchell Lama Coops be allowed to set their own surcharge schedule and that now DHCR is claiming that the Coop Board now not be allowed that to do just that.

The Roosevelt Islander discussed this case with a good amount of background info this past August linked HERE.

Tree Splits Next To Rivercross

While Roosevelt Island has many trees it does not have that many that are as tall and old as those around Rivercross and the Church Plaza. Even the partial loss of one of these trees is a loss.

Roosevelt Island - A Water View - Bottom to Top

I had been wanting to film the island from one end to the other ever since seeing the Edison 1903 video filmed from the East Channel looking West. I have already filmed and posted the Island from that view but from Southpoint to Lighthouse where the Edison video starts at the North end and heads South.

I am now presenting the following video from the West Channel looking East at the Island starting at Southpoint and finishing at Lighthouse Park.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WIRE: Rivercross Surcharge & Maintenance Hike

According to an email report by the Main Street WIRE

:

"DHCR Plans Hike in Rivercross Surcharge

DHCR plans to order an increase in the Rivercross surcharge, levied on residents whose income exceeds the maximum allowed in a building, from 20% to 30%, according to an e-mail from DHCR Commissioner Deborah van Amerongen to Assemblymember Micah Kellner.

Van Amerongen said that DHCR staff called the building's managing agent today with the news. In addition, DHCR has approved an increase in maintenance charges which, if levied in one step, would be $7.45 per room (about 2.5%) per month (or $4.97/room/month if levied in two steps).

With regard to the surcharge increase, van Amerongen wrote, "...the [Rivercross] Board will be informed of our decision sometime today. If they decide to challenge this that is of course their right, we will argue the case in court.""

The Sentinels of Roosevelt Island

Each day I walk outside my building and walk up Main Street I pass the Sentinels. I know in truth these oversize pipes are simply air vents for the building they surround. But as the majority of the pipes stand so tall it is easy to imagine them guarding their ground and structure as they stand the line. Their colors match the respective wings of the three building structure but again it is easy to imagine that each color signifies another company of soldiers.

There are very few nautical accents on what is obviously an island so the funnel shaped air vents stand out due in part to their bright colors but also because very few of the buildings on Roosevelt Island have any accents that distinguish themselves from each other beyond their base architectural differences.

So just for the fun of it as I walk past the vents I will continue to look upon these structures as the Sentinels of Roosevelt Island.

Quick Updates: Rivercross Votes to Begin Privatization

According to one unofficial report the tenants of the Rivercross building have voted to initiate the privatization process and exit the NYS Mitchell-Lama program. Supposedly the voting results closely mirrored that of the Dec 2007 vote voided by DHCR. In that vote, according to the Dec 15, 2007 Main Street WIRE, approximately 84% of the voting tenants voted Yes to begin the privatization process. Yesterday's vote would authorize the Rivercross Board of Directors to file the appropriate paperwork with the DHCR of their intention to exit Mitchell-Lama.

It is unclear still what percentage of apartments voted in this process or how many apartments could not vote due to the fact that their owners were out of town and not allowed to vote due to the DHCR rule that “first” votes are not allowed to include votes by proxy. I am guessing the official results will be posted by tomorrow and slipped under each tenant’s door.

UPDATE from the Main Street WIRE:

From: Dick Lutz / The Main Street WIRE
To: wire-bulletin@nyc10044.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 9:41 PM
Subject: Rivercross Votes to Pursue Privatization

"Rivercross shareholders voted today to move ahead on privatization in the first of three required votes. With about 80% of the apartments in the building voting, there were 229 yes votes, and 58 no votes. This first vote in the series of three is a restart of the process, implemented after DHCR disqualified, as the first vote, a vote taken in 1996. The second vote is now expected within a couple of months -- probably in March, according to building Treasurer Steve Kaufman. "

Rivercross Tenants Re-Take First Vote Today Towards Privatization

Today from 7:00 am through 8:30 pm this evening, Rivercross Tenants are being asked to take the first step towards Privatization of their cooperative building and to leave the Mitchell-Lama program. This vote is now the official first vote in the process after DHCR cancelled the earlier December 2007 “second” vote claiming the 1996 “first” vote was stale . The Coop Board is actively behind this vote and all signage distributed to tenants strongly urges a positive vote authorizing the Board to notify the DHCR that the building is taking the first steps towards investigating “privatization”.

There are tenants on both sides of the issue whether privatization is the right course for the building at this time. I will admit, as a Rivercross resident shareholder, I can see arguments on both sides and I will also admit but for the Mitchell-Lama status of the building I could not afford to buy into the building at FMV prices.



If the vote is positive the Board will begin the process to put together a business plan (the "black book") with all financial data as to how the conversion would be effected and how the building would be supported once it leaves Mitchell-Lama. A second vote is then required on this plan and this is what the Board states is the "real vote" as that vote would be to officially privatize or not. Tenants are fully aware that this process of even getting to the second vote is not a cheap one and the Board will incur substantial fees before such vote takes place. These costs are another issue of contention between the resident factions in the building.

Major issues to be addressed by the "Black Book" include coverage of the FMV tax equivalency bills which would now be imposed fully by the ESDC as well as the negotiation to extend the ground lease on the building which currently only extends out only 20 years.

Assembly Member Kellner Confirms ESDC FMV Real Estate Tax Bills Rescinded

In a press release issued today Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner (65th AD) confirms that ESDC Chairman Patrick Foye has rescinded the FMV real estate tax equivalency bills issued to Island House, Rivercross and Westview.

ESDC's decision puts a greater burden now on the Rivercross Privatization Committee as that buildings anti-privatization tenants will claim that the state no longer has a loaded gun to their heads and other avenues might be worthy of exploration regarding securing financing for capital projects and other issues. Pro-privatization tenants will still argue that the building has a right to leave the Mitchell-Lama program and that they expect that their plan is worthy of exploration which is all the upcoming vote is really for next week. But even such exploration has a price and it is expected to cost a few hundred thousand dollars to go through such a process.

A few excerpts of the Assembly Member's press release are as follows:

"ESDC has decided to rescind the tax bills sent last September to Westview, Island House, and Rivercross and to continue to allow the buildings to receive their tax exemptions as long as they remain in the Mitchell-Lama program. I’m glad to see, after six months of playing keystones cops, that the administration has finally come to its senses and rescinded this unfair tax bill."

“I could never understand how the administration could argue that threatening to raise taxes was an appropriate tactic to bullying struggling tenants and shareholders into remaining in the Mitchell-Lama program. This was a dangerous game of chicken that could have gone horribly wrong, costing thousands of families their homes."

“Let’s not kid ourselves, this issue is far from settled and the devil is always in the details. As we go forward I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the ground lease amendments are negotiated in such a way such that retroactive, unfair taxes are never again a possibility that looms over the heads of Islanders.”

Rivercross Schedules 2nd Attempt at Privatization Vote

The Rivercross Tenants' Corporation has scheduled a new Privatization Vote for January 30, 2008 after its December 12, 2007 vote was cancelled by the DHCR. The rescheduled vote was announced to the Rivercross residents through a January 15, 2008 internal building memo.

DHCR claimed the Dec. 12th vote, which included votes by proxy, to be invalid. The Rivercross Board of Directors claimed that the proxy vote was valid as this was the second vote in a series that began in October 1996. DHCR invalidated the 2007 vote as reliance on the 1996 initial vote was stale.

The Privatization Committee has indicated that this vote is not the final vote but only one to authorize the committee to begin the paperwork to move forward towards privatization which does as part of the process notify DHCR of the building's intent. Once a "black book" is created which would be the final "plan" the residents would then post an actual vote on that plan. A percentage of Rivercross residents don't want to even begin this process based on their belief that all avenues have not been exhausted to solve the buildings financial needs without going the privatization route. The Main Street WIRE has covered the issues much more in depth than I can here and I encourage any reader to go the WIRE website to read the indepth coverage provided.

What I find interesting is the timing of the vote in light of DHCR Commissioner Van Amerongen's January 17th promise to get back to the Board within the week with information regarding the FMV ESDC tax bill which is in part pushing the Rivercross privatization process along. If the DHCR wants to be taken seriously the Commissioner better get back to Rivercross before the January 30th vote if the news is to have any impact on this rescheduled initial vote.

ESDC Update: DHCR’s VanAmerongen Promises Response Within Week

As previously reported the New York State Empire State Development Corporation issued FMV tax equivalency bills to the Westview, Island House and Rivercross buildings during the closing months of 2007.

On January 17, 2008 NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen met with members of the Rivercross Board of Directors. Subsequent to that meeting, the Rivercross Board issued an update memo (under its resident apartment doors) to its shareholders stating that “the DHCR Commissioner has been “charged with resolving” the ESDC tax bill program”.

As per the Rivercross Board memo,VanAmerongen stated she would be in contact with the ESDC and was committed to getting Rivercross a response by next week. Presumably her efforts would also impact the bills issued also to Westview and Island House.

Roosevelt Island Residents: Spitzer Administration Screws Mitchell Lama Residents

Updated to remove photograph.

Printed in time for the Rivercross Tenants Association 30th Anniversary Party the Main Street WIRE published a one page special previewing this coming week’s issue (Saturday November 17, 2007) regarding the issuance of full value real estate tax equivalency bills to three of the four original Roosevelt Island Mitchell-Lama buildings. The poster was not an official editorial as the situation is fluid and the WIRE's official editorial will not be set until it is is formally published. See my previous two posts for more background.

The below image is of the poster taken late Sunday night as it dominates the internal Rivercross message board.



Most residents expect the politicians to work this out as the issuance of these bills does seem to run counter to the stated goals of ensuring affordable housing but it certainly does seem that the Spitzer administration does not have control of the state agencies charged with ensuring this goal is kept by sending out FMV tax bills. Not exactly a friendly way to gather support for buildings to stay in the Mitchell-Lama program. Expect this issue to dominate island news for a few weeks at a minimum.

Roosevelt Island Mitchell-Lama Buildings Receive FMV Tax Equivalency Bills from State Despite City Resolution Extending Exemptions

This week just prior to its 30th anniversary the Rivercross Building on Roosevelt Island received a tax equivalency bill from the Empire State Development Corporation which could potentially increase monthly costs to each tenant by 45%. In addition to the Rivercross building both the Island House and the Westview buildings received similar tax equivalency bills. Such increases would destroy the affordability of these buildings to many of their tenants especially those on fixed incomes.

According to a flyer posted in its lobby, the Rivercross Board of Directors announced that if the tax bill stands it could force maintenance charges to increase by approximately 45% to cover this added cost to their building. Of the four original Mitchell-Lama buildings Rivercross is the only co-op building.

The ground lease issued to the Rivercross building provided that payments in lieu of real estate taxes would extend through 2007 the thirtieth anniversary of the issuance of the building’s certificate of occupancy. The ESDC is the successor in interest to the NYS Urban Development Corporation.

The tax bill received by Rivercross this week stated that the 30 year period had ended and that effective September 15, 2007, the buildings tax equivalency payments were increased to approximately $3.6 million per year.

The New York City Council in 2005 had passed Resolution 388-A granting real property tax exemptions for an additional 50 year period to private housing companies, including Mitchell-Lama buildings. According to the Rivercross flyer the list of applicable housing companies attached to the resolution included Rivercross. The resolution linked to here does not include that list. There had been some concern whether the City resolution applied to the Roosevelt Island buildings but in each building’s case local politician assured the buildings that as long as they stayed in the Mitchell-Lama program the resolution would be applicable to them and protect their tax status.

As reported in the most recent issue of the Main Street Wire, the Rivercross building announced its intent to formally notify the DHCR that it intended to leave the Mitchell-Lama program but no such filings have been made to date. As of today Rivercross still exists as a Mitchell-Lama property.

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.

Good Shepherd Plaza - 360 Degree View

Direct YouTube Link

This 360 degree video starts by facing East, revolves counter clockwise and provides views of Main Street, Eastwood, the Church of the Good Shepherd, Island House and Rivercross.

Main Street Triangle - 360 Degree View

Direct YouTube Link

Brooklyn Tech Media '06 Music Video - Paul van Dyk

This high school music video appears to have been fully shot on RI, includes scenes outside Rivercross, within the Rivercross pool, at the Toddler Park along the East Channel and at the basketball courts at Blackwell Park.

You Tube Direct Link for video posted by hsep88