About the parking craziness, one resident said, “I had never seen that plaza’s surface completely covered by parked cars.” She was talking about a small plaza tucked between buildings at Manhattan Park. Over the years, Roosevelt Island went from discouraging cars to fertilizing them.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily

RIOC, seldom an agency known for setting good examples, sometimes does worse. A few days later, they jammed the No Parking area at 591 Main Street with prohibited vehicles and an unauthorized dumpster.

“On a hot day I cannot use those benches to enjoy the shady breeze that normally flows up there,” our reader added. “And I am furious about it.”

The area features broad steps down to the promenade and the East River. Almost no one sits there anymore, and fewer children play on the Z-bricks below.

Parking Craziness, Roosevelt Island

Emerging as New York’s “City of Tomorrow,” Roosevelt Island was born resolutely anti-car. Set apart from city congestion, brick streets and restricted parking discouraged four-wheelers rumbling across the bridge from Queens.

But cars are an American Disease, displayed at its worst in New York City. An insidious strain eventually infected the narrow strip of rock in the East River.

With parking at a premium, the otherwise invisible Public Safety Department claims three prime spaces. One is reserved for the Chief’s personal car.

It may not seem like much, at first glance, but it contributes to the overall parking craziness.

Odd choice for parking when the New York State Shelton J. Haynes Parking Area, across the street, is normally half-full.

Is it fair for RIOC, a consistent violator, to ticket other offenders? In April alone, the state agency handed out 754 parking violations for other than their own cars and trucks.

How do you spell “elites?”

Roosevelt Island committed to car culture with lots of free parking, starting in the ’90s. Main Street deteriorates without plans for saving unique Z-bricks while the state converts Southpoint into Brooklyn Bridge Park North.

Because it’s now meant for tourists over residents, more cars will stream onto already overcrowded streets. But where will they park?

Related…

But the most recent contribution to parking craziness on Roosevelt Island takes the grand prize.

RIOC shoved locals aside, demanding four prime parking spots for Haynes and his “guests.” The maneuver kept the president/CEO from walking more than 100 feet in public while a second spot is set aside for him along the East Promenade.

As you can see here, the prime parking spaces are usually no more than half-full while mere residents scramble for spots wherever they can find them.

Haynes predecessors usually used mass transit or parked in Motorgate, but the president prefers his own giant gas guzzler.

Climate change increases the risk of devastating weather for Roosevelt Island, but the Island’s supposed leader fails to set a conscientious example. He chooses instead an elaborate salute to local car parking craziness.

Again.

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Susan Rosenthal, a Sacrificial Lamb?*

The woman Albany condemned, the room she failed to read and the friends who survived by leaving her behind.

Eleanor Rivers Oct 2, 2026

After Susan Rosenthal was fired, David Kraut would talk about almost anything except Susan. This was unusual because David could discuss a subject long after everyone else had exhausted both the subject and the available oxygen. When her name entered the conversation, however, he became careful. At first I mistook that restraint for discretion; later, I began to recognize guilt.

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