Some unexpected RIOC financial revelations spilled out of a recent Audit Committee meeting covering next year’s budget. OMNY and the Tram were top of the list.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

RIOC Financial Revelations, OMNY and the Tram

As reported, last week, frustrations over the absence of OMNY at Roosevelt Island Tram turnstiles are growing. With all MTA turnstiles and buses having OMNY touch pads for payment by the end of last year, the Tram’s a MetroCard only orphan.

The reasons, now exposed, make it worse than you think

OMNY expands payment options for riders on mass transit and eases transfers. But although a contract with the MTA is in place, the Tram got left out of the mix. RIOC financial revelations expose how internal malfunction helped create the problem for riders, but they also reveal a significant and ongoing loss of revenue.

As RIOC CFO John O’Reilly explained it, RIOC’s stuck on an agreement signed a decade ago that brought MetroCard to the Tram. A triumph at the time, it made transfers with subways and buses simple and added shared revenues benefiting RIOC.

But there’s a problem former president/CEO Susan Rosenthal discussed at a board meeting in the past. That is, the contract includes no automatic escalation clause. And because fares rose several times since, RIOC’s gotten shorted, receiving only the original amount.

In fact, the MTA gets $2.75 every time anyone swipes a MetroCard to get on the Tram, but RIOC still gets only the original $2.00. It’s sister state agency keeps the rest.

Malfunction Beyond Belief

Although the shortfall was known by RIOC management since the first fare increase, nothing got done about it, but recent mistakes reach even deeper. While blaming the lack of OMNY for a budget shortfall, O’Reilly said that RIOC has not been in contact with the MTA since before the pandemic.

That’s right. While sacrificing $.75 every Tram ride, RIOC failed to act for over a year and a half as OMNY reached everywhere else in the system.

Earlier this month, however, RIOC president/CEO Shelton J. Haynes told a resident, “Roosevelt Island is on the list to get OMNY. Unfortunately, we are going to get those upgrades until next year.”

While Haynes mistakenly omitted a “not,” his claim is clear but apparently untrue. Out of touch hardly explains it.

As of this date, OMNY status is as up in the air as a Tram cabin, and thanks to a hopelessly un-inquisitive board, no discussion of how the screw up happened or who was at fault ensued… as RIOC held steadfast in its role as the state agency that has never made a mistake.

Also from the Roosevelt Island Daily

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  Queens Public Library Ransomware Attack: Digital Services Still DisruptedNovember 11, 2026
  The Queens Public Library ransomware attack continues to disrupt public computers, digital books and online services, with no confirmed restoration date.
• 
  A new RIOC appeals officer denied records on how its general counsel was hiredNovember 10, 2026
  A different RIOC appeals officer denied records on how RIOC hired general counsel Lance Polivy. RIOC’s internal deliberations on the hire stay withheld.
• 
  Monday’s PSD blotter: two hospital transports, two disputesNovember 10, 2026
  RIOC’s Nov. 9 PSD blotter lists 14 incidents, including four aided calls with two hospital transports and a verbal dispute at 750 Main Street that drew FDNY.
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  Flushing Spa Murder: Man Charged After Woman Found Stabbed to DeathNovember 10, 2026
  Flushing spa murder investigation leads to a murder charge against a 54-year-old man after a woman was found fatally stabbed in a Queens storefront.
• 
  Sunday’s blotter: four medical calls, three non-criminal investigationsNovember 9, 2026
  RIOC’s Nov. 8 PSD blotter lists 19 incidents, including four aided calls (two hospital transports) and three Investigation Non-Criminal entries at 465, 580 and 546 Main Street.

Unequal Bargains

The Screen We Could Not See

Eleanor Rivers Jul 17, 2026

On June 18, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Real Estate Development Advisory Committee gathered to discuss ground leases, the master retail lease, and the ten additional years being offered under the Island’s master lease. Howard L. Polivy, the committee’s chair, opened the meeting as a longtime host shows guests through a familiar house, pointing out the furniture as if it had never moved an inch.

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