RIOC’s special gift for Roosevelt Island, amateurish and klutzy, comes wrapped in duct tape. And its message is indecipherable. But the one thing it does is keep the patroon’s special parking privileges safe from violation by anyone who lives here.

By David Stone

Roosevelt Island Daily News

RIOC’s special “gift” start with something taken away.

Tuesday morning, the patroon was absent again, but the minion gave up one parking spot out of four to an unidentified favorite.

“Sheldon is off the island and this vehicle is parked…must be really important!” one resident noted, sending along his own photo.

But more intriguing are the traffic cones someone carefully placed inside the empty spaces, making clear that no one, other than the elites, was allowed to use them.

Note: The patroon’s special place is empty and without cones. He shouldn’t have to trouble himself to move one, should he decide to come to work on some whim.

But the highlight of RIOC’s special gift today must be seen up close for full appreciation…

Someone took the trouble to decorate the cones and their unreadable messages.

Incompetent… Unprofessional… Slipshod… We don’t really have a word for how ugly this is or how it insults those of us who call this Island home.

Is this what we’re paying upwards of $25 million a year for?

RIOC: the gift that keeps on giving.

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Featured

What the Promenade Remembers

A morning walk, a small act, and the quiet difference between what we notice and what we leave behind.

Eleanor Rivers Jun 12, 2026

The light on the East River in the early morning is different from the light anywhere else on the Island. It comes in low and sideways, catching the water in long, uneven flashes. On certain days it makes the promenade feel less like a walkway and more like a corridor someone once meant to finish but never quite did. When I was younger I found the suggestion to stop and look at it faintly ridiculous.

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