Says the Space Cadet: “…and the Sheldon J. Haynes Parking Area remains empty while righteous residents drive around looking for spaces.”
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
“Please be advised, as New York City prepares for the remnants of tropical storm Ida, which has been downgraded to a depression, RIOC will be monitoring its progress and providing the community with any pertinent updates regarding transportation services and facility closures on the island.”
That’s the breathless run-on sentence RIOC pitched on Tuesday afternoon, but follow through was weak and incomplete. Tasks are immeasurably hard to complete when nobody’s around to do them.
It served as a reminder of the summer afternoon when Haynes’s predecessor, Leslie Torres, hightailed it for a vacation as a hurricane bore down on Roosevelt Island.
Anyway, the only update from RIOC thereafter was a note, late in the evening after hours of heavy rain and powerful winds, that the F Train was shut down. But even that was not followed up by any notice that it returned to service before 5:00 a.m.
So, Islanders on either side of the East River were left to assume that the Tram continued operating as 60 mile per hour winds raked the city and lightning bolts cut jagged lines under the clouds… And that MTA buses were on schedule.
They were not.
And completing the portrait of negligence, RIOC never relayed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s citywide State of Emergency declaration restricting vehicle travel to emergencies only.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily
- NYC Health + Hospitals Data Breach Lawsuit: What Roosevelt Island Readers Should KnowA proposed class action says millions of NYC Health + Hospitals patients, staff and family members may have had deeply sensitive information exposed. Here is what Roosevelt Island readers should know.
- Queens Community News and Events: How Local Stories Echo on Roosevelt IslandQueens community news and events shape daily life on Roosevelt Island and beyond. From park reopening and fundraisers to public safety and local transit, catch up on the stories echoing across both neighborhoods.
- How Roosevelt Island Connects with Queens This Week: Community, Safety, and Neighborhood CelebrationsHow Roosevelt Island connects with Queens is clear in this week’s stories of community, public safety, celebrations, and neighborhood life in both boroughs.
- Connecting Roosevelt Island Community Life with Local Transit, Safety, and Business InitiativesConnecting Roosevelt Island community life with local transit, safety, and business initiatives, this week’s Beat explores how citywide stories shape our days and routines.
- Everyday News Around Roosevelt Island and Queens: Community, Transit, and ChangeA warm look at everyday news around Roosevelt Island and Queens: transit updates, community programs, politics, and neighborly stories shaping city life.
“I Can Ask”
Chair Fay Christian opened the Operations Advisory Committee on February 12th, reading out member names from a prepared sheet that omitted Melissa Wade. It didn’t feel intentional, but it struck me as odd precisely because it came from something prepared. Lydia Tang gently corrected her, noting that Wade was, in fact, a member of the committee. Wade met the moment with grace, or perhaps she simply wasn’t bothered by it.
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