Hey, RIOC! Who’s Minding the Store? #303

Hey, RIOC! Who’s Minding the Store? #303

Who’s Minding the Store? is a series begun in 2016, shortly after The Daily set up shop. Discovering screwups has a certainty ratio identical to that of cats instantly falling in love with new boxes. #303 sets a stellar example.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

Who’s Minding the Store? #303

Under this subject line, “PSD Community Workshop Series | Preparedness,” the state agency that never gets it wrong offered this information:

This is an important message from the RIOC Advisories alert system:

Please click here to acknowledge receipt of this message

In this two hour panel presented by the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department (PSD) in partnership with New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM), the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), you will learn best practices when it comes to planning for disasters and how to be resilient in emergency situations that could include power outages, flooding, and evacuations.

In addition, you’ll learn why preparedness plans and kits are not one-size-fits-all, understand community and government response, and go over common insurance questions.

What you learn in this workshop could save your life and the lives of those around you. Sign up today!  (rioc.ny.gov/590)

RIOC Advisories, September 16th, 2021

So, what’s wrong with that? Why is The Daily picking on RIOC? Again.

What’s wrong? Nearly everything. The basic requirements for activity announcements include: What? When? And Where?

“What” is easy because it’s right there in the title. They nailed it. PSD is hosting a community workshop on preparedness. And RIOC’s vaunted Communications Team thoughtfully elaborates in the content.

RIOC’s Communications and Community Relations Team, less one member, engaging with… uhm, just themselves at the 9/11 Tribute.

But sadly that’s it. When? Where? We don’t know, not from this. Sure, if you click on the concluding link, you’ll get a date for this workshop, but not a time or a location.

RIOC’s Communications and Community Relations Team, which controls roughly 50% of the agency’s activities with scant oversight, consists of four well-paid, full time employees.

Who’s Minding the Store? Conclusion

Good sports, we here at The Daily volunteered immediately to help out…

“Wouldn’t it be oh so helpful if you included the date and time of this class in your announcement?” we emailed.

We hadn’t noticed the missing location yet. But just to be sure, we sent the message to President/CEO Shelton J. Haynes and his power sharing partner Erica Spencer-EL. Spencer-EL directs the Team responsible for the announcement. We included PSD Chief Kevin Brown as well as his assistant Anthony Amaroso.

We were confident they would appreciate our thoughtful message, but even we were surprised when the super secret state did nothing.

The lack of response was no surprise because RIOC’s nurtured a media blackout for over a year, targeting The Daily especially. What surprised was their failure to correct with a follow up email blast. But that seemed beyond their reach.

And then, of course, they’d have raised the standard for accountability and community respect. Who wants that? Next thing you know, people would expect it from them all the time.

Also from the Roosevelt Island Daily

  • 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 Island
    As 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
  • Who Just Made the Big Fat Silence You Didn’t Hear?
    It was RIOC, and that big fat silence billowed out in every direction as it had for months. Starting with brutal accusations in a lawsuit condemning a wide swath of Roosevelt Islanders as racists, the vacuum spread through escalating lawsuits into… nothing. by David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News Another Big Fat Silence When
  • FDNY Canceled a Dozen Inspections, Including at a Brooklyn Public School, to Fast Track City Hall VIP
      Fire chiefs raised concerns about favoritism in the earliest months of the Adams administration, internal emails obtained by THE CITY show, as well-connected developers like The Related Companies lobbied to cut the fire inspection line. By Greg B. Smith Dec 3 12:00pm EST The pressure from Mayor Eric Adams’ team to fast-track an FDNY
  • The Pentagon Just Can’t Pass An Audit
    Conservative lawmakers calling for cuts should start with the agency that can’t account for $1.9 trillion — not the programs Americans rely on. By Lindsay Koshgarian | November 29, 2023 The Pentagon just failed its audit — again. For the sixth time in a row, the agency that accounts for half the money Congress approves each year

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