Brooklyn Bridge Park Open to Sit on Roosevelt Island Granite

Apparently Brooklyn Bridge Park opened a segment of the park finally to the public and that part includes the much talked about granite steps featuring granite taken from the Roosevelt Island Bridge. So if you feel homesick while visiting Brooklyn Heights stop over at the park and set your keyster down for a bit on some "local" granite.

Link to full article at Gothamist.

Bridge Closed Late Nights July 7 - 10

According to the above NYC Department of Transportaion notice the Roosevelt Island Bridge will be closed during the overnight hours of 12:30am to 5:30am Tuesday July 7th through Friday July 10th.

According to the notice (double click to enlarge) the Tram will operate on a half hour schedule during the bridge closure. No word yet whether extra emergency personnel will be stationed on the island during the affected hours as was put into place during the last closure.

May 3 - Expect Five Boro Bike Tour Related Delays at Roosevelt Island Bridge

As it does every year the Five Boro Bike Tour course includes Vernon Blvd so as the bikes ride across 36th Avenue we should expect delays for drivers and buses looking to cross onto and off the Roosevelt Island Bridge. As in the past I am sure the NYPD will have cruisers nearby to ensure residents and visitors get to occasionally cross Vernon Blvd but remember they are there primarily to protect the cyclists and ensure the Tour continues without incident.

Bridge Update: First Night Closed Without Incident

From Steve Shane (RIOC President): "The bridge was closed to traffic as scheduled at 12:30AM April 16 and reopened to traffic at 4:40 AM. Note that Pedestrians were allowed to cross the bridge at 3:45 AM. Emergency services (NYPD, NYFD and EMS) units were all on station and the Tram and Red Bus ran throughout the night during the closure. There were no reported incidents.

The next bridge closure is scheduled for April 17 from 12:30 AM to 5:30 AM, weather permitting. "

Was the Bridge Open or Closed Last Night ?

Confirmation:
Due to rain last night's scheduled closure was put off. We should expect the scheduled closure to be in effect unless notified otherwise. [via Denise Lynch of RIOC].

Original Posting:
I sent an inquiry regarding last night's planned bridge closure to Roosevelt Island PSD Director Keith Guerra to learn if the preparations all worked out as planned but have not heard back from his office yet.

According to a post on NYC Fire.net the closure may have been delayed a day. RIOC's Steve Shane had indicated in prior emails that the rain may cause delays hence all the extra days of scheduling.

RI Bridge Closure 4/15-17 & 4/21-22: Emergency Preparedness

Double Click Image to Enlarge.

Times affected 12:30 am to 5:30 am

------Original Message------

From: Steve Shane

To: Roosevelt Island 360
To: Roosevelt Islander
To: Dick Lutz / The Main Street WIRE
Cc: Fernando Martinez
Cc: Keith Guerra
Cc: Tom Turcic

Sent: Apr 7, 2009 5:26 PM

Subject: Bridge Closure

You have all received a copy of the DOT Notice of Bridge Closure.

1. It is absolutely necessary.

2. The Fire Department will station an engine (pumper) and a ladder truck on the Island during the outage to respond to any emergencies. In addition, there will be a fireboat available to deliver additional personnel if a big emergency occurs. An engine company (with 5 firemen) will be at the Vernon Ave. end of the Bridge to provide additional bodies as needed.

3. The Fire Dept. (EMS) will station an ambulance on the Island and an ambulance at the Vernon Ave end of the bridge. In the event of a medical emergency, the victim will be treated and taken to the RI end of the bridge and conveyed on a gurney to the other side where the other ambulance will be waiting to transport. In addition to the 4 EMS persons, there will be the 5 firemen there to assist. If the bridge is completely impassable (one of the procedures will require it to be 6'-8' above the connecting streets), then transport will have to be by Tram to a waiting ambulance on Manhattan side.

4. RIOC will run the Tram all night on 1/2 hour intervals (except in emergency) with the Red bus to match up. The Subway (F Train) should be available.

5.Only 2 nights are needed, and if the weather permits, the later nights will not be required. Steelworkers union contract and OSHA rules do not permit workers on exposed iron surfaces at heights when it is raining.

6. NYPD is also likely to station a squad car on the Island to assist.

We have coordinated all of this with NYPD, NYFD, EMS, DOT, HHC, etc. A necessary evil, but we should get through it. Please try to quell the hysterics.

Stephen H. Shane
President & CEO
Roosevelt Island Operating Corp.

Has Brooklyn Paid Roosevelt Island for our Granite?

Stop. Thief! Has Brooklyn Heights paid for the Roosevelt Island granite it plans to use in the construction of a new staircase for its East River Promenade park? We actualy want our granite back. Supposedly an FDR memorial is to be built on our island and we want to help reduce their costs by using our own granite.

So Brooklyn give us back our granite or pony up the bucks!

The mystery is when did Brooklyn grab our granite? And what is the article talking about where it refers to a rescue of the granite from the old Roosevelt Island Bridge? That bridge is still standing? Did someone steel the brick from its foundations? Are we in danger just to help some folks go down a stair. These are important questions.

I first brought up this travesty of justice back in October yet no response from Brooklyn has been received?

Hey Brooklyn ! We Want Our Granite Back ! Keep Roosevelt Island Granite on Roosevelt Island !

According to the linked article about the future Brooklyn Bridge Park they plan on using granite salvaged from the Roosevelt Island Bridge for their park.

While I am not happy about the design of the future FDR Four Freedoms / Louis Kahn Memorial Park shouldn't the granite from Roosevelt Island be first provided to a local park project on Roosevelt Island?

Crains: RI Bridge Construction Equal to New Yankee Stadium

Like many New Yorkers, Roosevelt Island residents would love to think of ourselves as the center of the universe but we know different.

However in a Crain's New York Business.com article, posted this afternoon on-line, regarding the appointment of Skanska as MSG's rehabilitation construction manager Skanska's work on the Roosevelt Island Bridge was labelled a "major" New York project right there along the building of new Yankee Stadium.

Amusing. Who are we to argue?

Simply One Perturbed Bridge

The Roosevelt Island Bridge has never gotten any real respect from New York City. Sure it's very construction in the 1950's was a landmark event resulting in trolley cars being displaced off the larger Queensboro Bridge and an upside down elevator building was made obsolete.

But since those halcyon days it had to deal with comments in recent years that it was simply the "Pink Bridge" by many of Roosevelt Island's children so I guess when it finally was given a canvas it was bound to show its true feelings, and even though it is finally undergoing a new paint job and will be given new decking among other upgrades, it simply was one perturbed bridge.

A Shaky Ride over the Roosevelt Island Bridge

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

At best this was a shaky ride over the Roosevelt Island Bridge. At worst I could have lost the vegetables I had tied in a milk crate on the back of the bike. Luckily that did not happen.

Pardon my choice of a song but it was late and the selection was not that great. OK, it's not the great "Taxi" theme song car ride across the bridge but few videos will attain that status and this is not one of them.

Roosevelt Island Bridge, Subway & Tram Serice Normal for Holiday Weekend

According to all reports and notices Roosevelt Island residents will enjoy a weekend without any service disruptions to the Roosevelt Island Bridge, F Train subway service, or the Tram.

Transportation Alerts : May 17-19 : Subway Disruption, Bridge Construction

As reported earlier this week subway service will be disrupted this weekend May 17 - 19 resulting in NO QUEENS BOUND service at the Roosevelt Island subway station. In addition starting this weekend throughout the Summer the NYC DOT will be working on the Roosevelt Island Bridge every weekend resulting in lane reversals and possible delays. A copy of the full DOT notice is below.

Unconfirmed Report: Jumper from 36th Ave / Vernon Blvd

I received this morning a report that an individual MAY HAVE either (1) jumped into the East River from the Roosevelt Island Bridge or (2) jumped from a building at the intersection of Vernon Blvd and 36th Ave in Long Island City. The source of the inquiry was the above Gothamist Newsmap posted on line this morning.

Keith Guerra, Director of Roosevelt Island's Public Safety Division, indicated he received no reports this morning of a jumper from the bridge. [as of 10:48 am]. A call into ION's Cafe (at the intersection named) was met with surprise and a reply that they knew of no such incident.

Five Boro Bike Tour Cuts Off Vehicular Access to Roosevelt Island

Access this morning to Roosevelt Island by car, truck, or bus will be a challenge to say the least. The reasons for this is simply that the Five Boro Bike Tour is running along both 21st Street all the way into Astoria (from the 59th Street Bridge) where they turn around and are coming back via Vernon Boulevard.

I had rented a car in Manhattan this morning and upon exiting onto 21St Street found myself blocked off from heading North. After gett9ing onto 36th Avenue we waited for a god 15 mibutes before being allowed across 21st St only to be blocked again at Vernon. NYPD was not even sure if they were let any cars across the RI Bridge but eventualy allowed us over. We actually have a family event off island today so it will be interesting to see if we can get off the island by car and for how long we will sit on the RI bridge.

Dedicated Bike Path for Roosevelt Island Bridge?

I am not sure I am reading this map correctly but does the legend indicate that the Roosevelt Island Bridge when completed will have a dedicated bike path? The legend (see image below) indicates that “green intermittent squares” represent a planned or proposed bike path. So it appears that a dedicated path could happen. The map images are taken from the official 2008 City Bike Map. May 2008 is Bike Month in New York City.

Currently bike riders must either dismount their bikes and walk across the bridge’s pedestrian walkway or risk shredding a tire when riding across the metal grate surface of the bridge.

Who do we contact to push for this to become a reality?

Micro Congestion Pricing: Tolling the Roosevelt Island Bridge

Would they ever dare to put a toll onto the Roosevelt Island Bridge? Never. Some other bridges we thought would be free forever may not be able to say the same thing.

Over the last few days I have seen a number of posts by transit bloggers, including Second Avenue Sagas, referring to the belief that the DOT will eventually convert the currently free East River Bridges to toll bridges using the revenue generated to fund capital construction. We have all heard these calls before but perhaps this time they will really do it as congestion pricing was supposed to help cover transit and infrastructure related needs which as of now will be short the funding.

Getting back to the Roosevelt Island Bridge I don't ever expect someone would even think to suggest adding a toll but you never know. For those residents old enough to recall at one time cars were not allowed on Main Street (except for hospital workers etc). The effect on congestion would be staggering. Just imagine cars backed up on either Main Street or 36th Avenue waiting to pay.

Although, on a long term basis, it might cut down on traffic on Main Street. Hmm maybe congestion pricing on a micro-level would not be a bad thing? And then we can use the funds to build a free standing building to allow us access to the Queensboro Bridge...... Nah, Sheldon Silver would not even allow the Assembly to vote on it.

Wind Rips Construction Canopy Off Roosevelt Island Bridge

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The winds, yesterday, Sunday, February 10, 2008 were so striong that the force partially ripped the construction canopy off of the Roosevelt Island Bridge. Traffic was not effected but the sound was amazing as the canopy ripped in the strong winds. No word as to how long Skanska will need to repair the canopy or its effect on the ongoing construction project.

Local Blogs: Over the Bridge and Through the Hood ...

I can not take credit for the blog post title as it was first posted by a member of the Chen Family who apparently live here on Roosevelt Island. More local bloggers, cool. You can read the full blog that accompanied this picture (and see the pic at full size) at the Chen Family Adventures blog.

The above picture provides a look at the current state of the Roosevelt Island Bridge and specifically the pedestrian walkway facing East towards Long Island City.

I am not sure Vernon Boulevard counts as the "hood" but it is a catchy little title and I am sure it has been used before but it certainly works here.

Update: Roosevelt Island Bridge – Pedestrian Walkway

I had not checked in a few weeks regarding the status of the pedestrian walkway at the Roosevelt Island Bridge to LIC but the above cropped picture confirms that the temporary walkway is now open and in use by both wheeled and pedestrian traffic. The permanent walkway is now closed due to the construction.

The full uncropped photo was taken by Schneider31 on 2008Jan16 and can be found on Flickr HERE.