Pictures tell the story of June 2021 on Roosevelt Island as coronavirus restrictions mostly pulled away. But in many ways, it was like other Junes, a mix of good and bad, joy and disappointment. Let’s take a look.
By David Stone
June 2021 on Roosevelt Island, In No Special Order

New York City election season brought ranked choice voting, resulting in many more candidates. Each seemed to have at least one poster somewhere on Roosevelt Island.

Few stories were brighter, post pandemic, than find living legend Roy Eaton well and back into performances.

Concerns rose over homeless people living at various levels inside and outside the subway station. But solutions are few, and RIOC apparently has no outreach plan.

The state plans spending millions on an ill-advised bike lane along the East Promenade, yet they’re unable to clean up a bench in the area, covered with years of bird droppings.
RIOC’s patroon-like management ignored notifications about this ugly, unhealthful situation. Okay with them as long as bicycles are on the other side.

Shops On Main invited kids to decorate picnic tables in use in Good Shepherd Plaza for Roosevelt Island Day.

After the last natural habitat on Roosevelt Island was destroyed in favor of a Brooklyn Bridge Park North conversion, the Canadian Goose population raised goslings in the WFF sanctuary, the last refuge left.

Without any homeless outreach plan at all, RIOC looked the other way as the victims sought safe spaces on Roosevelt Island in June 2021.

Residents were promised no disruptions during dark fiber work along the East Promenade, but were shocked awake early one morning.
Bright Signs…

One of the brightest spots for Roosevelt Island, Island OM near opening, promises new foot traffic on Main Street.

Unusually powerful hot spells hit Roosevelt Island in June 2021. Here visitors scrunched under limited shade on the Cornell Tech campus.

In June 2021, Roosevelt Island welcomed its first ever hotel. And the Graduate Hotel set a sweet tone with a violin duo while guests arrived.

Ready to go for months, the long promised FDR Hope Memorial waited for a green light from RIOC allowing removal of this construction box shielding sculptures.

Mid-month, June 2021, Roosevelt Island hosted a van offering free COVID vaccines for anyone, staying for a week at 460 Main Street.

Restrictions lifted, and we were prepared for throwing away all those face masks, but not quite.

Rebecca Seawright worked at getting an early voting site for Roosevelt Island, and Judy Berdy rounded up volunteers. But for some reason, probably the location, few used the facility.

And finally, in June 2021 on Roosevelt Island, we got a good idea about why RIOC failed to keep a bank on Main Street or attract a new one.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily
- Shuffling Schedules, RIOC Creates a Greater Gap with the CommunityA greater gap between RIOC and Roosevelt Islanders is not what elected officials expected when they grilled board chair RuthAnne Visnauskas earlier this year. Visnauskas assured Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright that she’d increase community engagement. But the opposite happened and, as of this week, has accelerated. by David Stone The Roosevelt
- Now Is Your Chance for a Great Deal on Art, Thanks to Gallery RIVAAStarting Thursday, December 7th, you can take home some great art from our local artists at Gallery RIVAA, 527 Main Street. Affordable Art lasts just four days but brings a chance to win art as well as loosen up your purse strings for it. The Roosevelt Island Daily News Affordable Art is, for art lovers,
- Can we talk… with RIOC? CB8 invites Roosevelt Island engagementCommunity Board 8 (CB8) Roosevelt Island committee chair, Paul Krikler, opens a window next week where the community can connect. That’s not just with RIOC, but it’s also with each other and a shot at powering up. by David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News “”This is a community forum, and the whole point is
- New York City Health & Hospital’s Community Mural Project Graces Coler“Healing in Community,” a part of NYC Health & Hospitals’s mural project, went live on December 1st at Roosevelt Islands’s Coler Rehabilitation Center. It’s one of nine additions to the wide-ranging effort this year. by David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News The Community Mural Project is believed to be the country’s largest public hospital
- The “Eviction Machine” Now Slams Into Roosevelt IslandAs a community, we always thought we were immune from these things, but the “eviction machine” described in a New York Times article, is building up momentum, attacking Roosevelt Island’s most vulnerable residents. by David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News What happened…shows how New York City’s housing court system, created in part to shelter
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