Roosevelt Island 2019 holiday decorating got a kick start on Tuesday. Santa’s sleigh arrived in Good Shepherd Plaza. New ornaments hung from trees in Riverwalk Commons, and Manhattan Park’s best in town trimmings wound around their front yard.
By David Stone
Decorating from the Tram Plaza north staggered to an end at Westview. Hudson’s responsible, but RIOC kicks in $75,000 per year with an equal amount expected from the real estate company.
In 2018, things got better, but after 2017’s dreary effort, how could they not?
But Roosevelt Island 2019 holiday decorating again tilts south…
To get the tree lighting event started, Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance will sing a couple of songs from their musical, A Christmas Carol. But first, they’ll welcome our neighbors home with caroling at the subway.
In 2017 and 2018, we criticized Hudson/RIOC for abandoning most of Main Street in favor of Southtown. Gristedes, once called an “anchor store” got nothing, and neither did anyplace else north of Westview.
Given that RIOC pays half the bill, shouldn’t Manhattan Park and The Octagon get equal attention? Their residents celebrate too, and their rents feather RIOC’s nest?
That concern fell on deaf ears, but will it again in the last year of RIOC’s deal with Hudson?
Giving Hudson a free hand is, as we know, not a guarantee of fairness for the Island as a whole.
