On a perfect weather day, this week, RIDA opened the 2021 spring/summer season of outdoor events with its Health and Resource Fair. We wandered over for a peak, and here’s what we saw.

RIDA, the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association, is one the most active social groups on the Island. As the pandemic swelled, they organized food deliveries as well as an active free pantry. And that’s in addition to their regular work of advocacy on behalf of challenged residents.

But it’s spring now, and a year of sacrifice helped us through. Restrictions are lifting, and people were eager to get out and mingle.

Tables like this one, staffed by assembly member Rebecca Seawright, placed disinfectant hand wash front and center. A sign of the times.

Activist Ellen Polivy was on hand, collecting petition signatures for the New York Health Act, a bid for universal healthcare.

Few local events are ever complete without Roosevelt Island’s firmest community activists at the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. Better knowing about our roots makes a better community.

RIDA’s irrepressible leadership — Mary Coleman, second from left; Wendy Hersh, second from right; and, far right, Nancy Brown — gather to thank state senator José Serrano for his support.

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The Steam Tunnel Repair That Disappeared

RIOC studied it, designed a repair, called it a public-safety problem and repeatedly placed millions of dollars into its capital plans. Then the construction money went to zero.

Theo Gobblevelt Oct 23, 2026

Capital projects change. Costs rise, engineering evolves, funding moves and questions of ownership can complicate even urgent work. But the Roosevelt Island Steam Tunnel was not a speculative improvement that simply slipped down a priority list. RIOC’s own records describe an infrastructure problem known for decades.

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