A concerned resident, yesterday, reported yet another maskless Red Bus rider ignored by RIOC’s driver. Locally, the beat goes on as Delta virus threats rise.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

Two days later, more maskless passengers put their neighbors at risk while ultra passive RIOC refuses getting involved.

There are growing questions over what it will take for RIOC to care enough to deal with bus drivers unwilling to act. And an expensive Public Safety Department unwilling to get involved with, well, the biggest threat to public safety in a generation.

As if emphasizing the growing threat, Major League Baseball, on Friday, cancelled a big draw game between the Yankees and Red Sox.

The cause? A COVID-19 outbreak on a team already more than 85% vaccinated.

But it didn’t wake up RIOC.

But RIOC still refuses to take the disease seriously. In spite of claims to the contrary, drivers ignore maskless Red Bus riders, endangering other passengers.

Our readers previously stressed the threat for children, many of them not yet vaccinated and those under 12 not yet qualified. But appeals fell on deaf ears with the state agency.

The beat goes on. Who’s next?

Also from the Roosevelt Island Daily News

• 
  Fall Prevention for Seniors: Make Your Apartment Safer, Nov. 20
  Fall prevention for seniors: Sen. Krueger’s Nov. 20 virtual roundtable tours a typical NYC apartment, with tips on landlord changes and balance. RSVP on Zoom.
• 
  Thursday’s PSD blotter: two hospital runs, a trespass summons at 888 Main
  RIOC’s Nov. 12 PSD blotter lists 15 incidents: six medical calls, two alarms at 546 Main Street, and a late-night trespass at 888 Main Street that ended with a summons.
• 
  Queens Home Prices and Rents Rise in October 2026 as Long Island City Condos Draw Buyers
  Queens home prices and rents rose in October 2026. See StreetEasy’s housing figures and Long Island City condo contract activity at Radiant and Vesta.
• 
  Medicare Open Enrollment Ends Dec. 7: Get Answers on 2027 Changes
  Medicare open enrollment ends Dec. 7. Sen. Krueger’s Nov. 16 virtual town hall covers 2027 premium, deductible and Part D changes, with a HIICAP expert’s Q&A.
• 
  Wednesday’s PSD blotter: two medical calls, a water leak, a custody report
  RIOC’s Nov. 11 PSD blotter lists 10 incidents, all on Main Street, including two medical calls at 555 Main Street, a water leak at 560 Main and a custody or visitation report.

At the Risk of Being Premature

Two women asked RIOC to consider the consequences before it was too late. The board listened, answered and kept moving.

Eleanor Rivers Oct 30, 2026

On September 10, 2026, Roosevelt Island resident Melissa Bray stood before the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Board of Directors and asked them to think fifty years ahead. She had come because RIOC President B.J. Jones invited residents into the conversation about redesigning Blackwell Park. Bray wanted its mature trees protected, including a northern red oak dedicated to the wife of my friend David Kraut, a former board director.

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