With few adults still in the house at RIOC, the beleaguered state agency’s summer movies series rolled out a line up of mostly R-Rated films kids shouldn’t see.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

RIOC’s 2021 Summer Movies Kids Should Not See

In years past, RIOC enhanced community relations, welcoming families to Southpoint Park with movie watching fun for all ages.

But Southpoint’s been sacrificed in a Brooklyn Bridge Park North remodeling that may never end. And the films are now violent and profane, 4 out of 7 R-Rated. There’s plentiful nudity and a man executed by a shot through the back of his head…

Here’s what Common Sense Media says about one, Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop:

“Violence is not pervasive, but when it appears, it’s rendered realistically — fistfights leave marks and gunshots produce blood and/or death. A man is shot and killed in the back of the head at close range. There’s a strip club scene featuring female nudity.”

Ready to bring out the gang for family entertainment?

In 2019, When Grownups Still Managed RIOC

For the record, here’s the poster from 2019 before the pandemic interrupted the series.

This year, RIOC’s overstaffed Communications Team posted a bulleted list, numbingly unaware that packing it with Rs cut off much of the community.

• Saturday, July 10th: Mad Max: Fury Road (Rated R)
• Friday, July 23rd: Black Stallion
• Saturday, July 24th: Beverly Hills Cop (Rated R)
• Friday, June 30th: Minari
• Friday, August 13th: Bridesmaids (Rated R)
• Friday, August 20th: Rocketman (Rated R)
• Saturday, August 21st: The Mighty Ducks

Conclusion

RIOC’s loss of internal control or, more accurately, turning authority over to unqualified amateurs, is serious.

From the brutal mishandling of scarce 4th of July Fireworks tickets to taking over Blackwell House for office space, the state agency, almost daily, confirms itself as the worst group ever overseeing Roosevelt Island.

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Featured

The Line That Didn’t Land

We’ll listen to you right after we’re done not listening to you.

Eleanor Rivers May 1, 2026

I stood in the back of Good Shepherd Chapel on the evening of April 15, 2026, at the Steam Plant Demolition Town Hall, watching people adjust scarves and jackets before the meeting began. Benjamin Jones, President and CEO of RIOC, thanked us for attending and, without a pause, said he was “pleased to host tonight’s town hall on the city’s demolition of its steam plant.” The demolition, in other words, was not up for discussion.

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