No Parking Spots? Blame Zip Car Event

This morning while walking on my way to the Tram I noticed that Zip Car had taken up three to four spots on Main Street down by Southtown. I am assuming this is just for temporary promotion purposes. For RIOC and PSD to agree to give up these spots when parking is already tight on this island would make no sense.

According to Keith Guerra, Director of Public Safety, the spots used by Zip Car have not been permanently assigned to them. So for now SouthTowners excited about the possibility of vehicles being available nearby will continue to need to go up to the Octagon to rent these vehicles.

Are Roosevelt Island Zip Cars Less Zippy ?

It appears that at least one resident on Roosevelt Island is complaining that fellow island residents are not returning their Zipcars in a timely basis resulting in a less than satisfying service model. Having access to a local and efficient rental car service is something any resident can appreciate. Do you belong to Zipcar and what has been your estimate of how it works here on Roosevelt Island?

Costco Without a Car

Over the two years that we have lived on Roosevelt Island we have managed quite well without a car to patronize the Long Island City Costco location. Generally we walk to Costco and take a car service back with the trunk of the car service loaded down justifying the $6 to $10 fee charged for the short one way trip.

I keep thinking how can we do away with even this added cost? After all we only live across the East River. Walking presents challenges as there is only so much stuff you can stuff into a granny cart or shove into a backpack. Bicycling presents the same challenges along with weight distribution issues on a bicycle being walked back on the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

The answer was provided by Ikea of Copenhagen which apparently offers bicycles with trailers to their customers to carry their purchases home. The trick is now convincing my building to allow me to store a trailer such as those pictured in our bike room. Keeping the trailer in my apartment is not an option. In all seriousness I'd be willing to look into buying such a trailer and sharing the costs with other residents if we could solve the storage and access question.

Perhaps we can convince ZIP Car to get into the bike / trailer rental business opening up the option to all residents?