Town Hall Meeting Tonight Re FDR Memorial Park

The folks from FERI will be making a presentation tonight at the Good Shephered Community Center regarding the proposed Louis Kahn design FDR Four Freedoms Memorial for Southpoint Park.

The meeting is scheduled for 7:00 pm and will also include a presentation on behlf of the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association who are against the current design including its lack of inclusion of any element not recognizing FDR's disability

Town Hall Mtg Tonight re Transportation Issues….Columbia to Begin Focused Study

At 7:00pm tonight within the Good Shepherd Community Center, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation is holding a Town Hall meeting to discuss transportation issues affecting the island. The meeting will also mark the commencement of a new urban planning study of the island with a defined focus on transportation.

Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture’s Urban Planning program, under the direction of Dr. Floyd Lapp, a former Director of City Planning in the MTA’s Transportation Division from 1991-2000, will be examining the transportation alternatives and infrastructure.

The Columbia study will be the second study currently underway of the island by an academic institution. Hunter College's Urban Planning program is conducting a separate studio, termed AccessRI, with a broader focus on access to many issues including transportation, health services, shopping among others. That study is being sponsored by State Senator Jose Serrano.

Dr. Lapp has indicated that for any study to be worthwhile and effective it requires the participation of the public in the gathering of information and feedback. The Main Street WIRE in its last issue, dated Saturday, January 17, 2009, included a front page article about the study and included comments from Dr. Lapp.

Transportation Forum Tonight at Good Shepherd

At 7:00 pm tonight, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is hosting a Roosevelt Island transportation forum that is billed to include several elected officials as well as representatives from several NYC and MTA agencies that will update us to the current state of our transportation alternatives and also be available for questions and problem solving.

FDR Memorial Town Hall Meeting Tonight 3/25 at 7pm

Come down tonight at 7:00 pm to the Church of the Good Shephered to a Town Hall meeting to hear a presentation from the folks at the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (FERI) regarding the Four Freedoms FDR Memorial.

The folks at RIRA are I believe sponsoring this Town Hall meeting and I hope to bring down a portable DVD player or that one will be available (thanks to Frank Farance) to play the YouTube videos showing the current 360 degree views I have downloaded.

Many of us see this memorial as more to its architect Louis Kahn and FERI has come to change that notion and to demonstrate that the memorial will enhance the space rather than some (myself included) destroy the inherent beauty of the park as it stands now.

Link HERE to to the Roosevelt Islander blog to read his most recent comments regarding the Kahn - FDR Memorial specifically that the memorial was designed to block the current 360 degree views so as to focus on the views available at the "Memorial Room" which will sit at the Southern most point of the memorial.