According to flyers handed out yesterday on Main Street, PSD bans all motor vehicles from both Roosevelt Island promenades, “effective immediately.” This follows outrage over a dog killed by a car, last week.
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Motor Vehicles Banned
Although a rollout of signs and patrols awaits the initial ban, it includes all motor vehicles, including cars and trucks. “There have been some accidents,” one officer explained.
The most obvious was the killing of a dog out for a walk, just one week ago, on the West Promenade. In the aftermath, the dog’s owners, Giovanni and Laura Battistini, sent a scathing email to RIOC president/CEO Shelton J. Haynes. The letter detailed their frustration with PSD’s follow up and witnessing no change.
“Wait. I thought they were already banned, weren’t they?”
That was Giovanni Battistini’s initial response on hearing about the motor vehicles banned. That’s always been a gray area because any enforcement was, at best, spotty. Two and four wheel vehicles have sparked complaints over reckless driving for years, without any reaction by PSD.
But who can blame the riders? Except for a single, widely ignored and unclear sign at a single entry point, there are no notices along either promenade. And no law justifying the motor vehicle van is cited anywhere.
Yesterday morning, Battistini sent a follow up complaint to Haynes:
“I just reported to PSD that an e-bike almost ran over me near Rivercross on the West Promenade. The same delivery person from the Fuji restaurant who passes by so many times every hour (as also reported yesterday). He did not slow down as my wife and I were walking North and – in order to avoid a few other pedestrians walking near us – he missed me by an inch. I did not see any officers today on the West promenade, but I found 6 of them on Main Street, where I stopped to report what I had just reported at the station.”
Haynes has not responded to the email messages, but by yesterday afternoon, a temporary barrier was set up near the Meditation Steps.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily News
- Medicare Open Enrollment Ends Dec. 7: Get Answers on 2027 ChangesMedicare 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 reportRIOC’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.
- Six-Unit Apartment Building Planned for 10th Street in AstoriaPlans for a six-unit apartment building in Astoria call for four stories at 35-25 10th St. See proposed dimensions, apartment sizes and permit status.
- Tuesday’s PSD blotter: noise calls, a harassment reportRIOC’s Nov. 10 PSD blotter lists 15 incidents, all on Main Street, including four noise complaints, a harassment report and one hospital transport.
- Queens Public Library Ransomware Attack: Digital Services Still DisruptedThe Queens Public Library ransomware attack continues to disrupt public computers, digital books and online services, with no confirmed restoration date.
At the Risk of Being Premature
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.
