Is the AVAC down for good? The question can’t be avoided now that almost half a year has passed since the system functioned consistently from Rivercross south. The absence of sane answers from RIOC suggests that the state is lost.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

With the AVAC Down…

Once an exceptional feature of life on Roosevelt Island, the AVAC is a relatively simple pneumatic tube system sucking garbage into compactors before pickup by Sanitation. Remarkably flawless until this year, RIOC extended the system in both directions as new housing complexes came on line. Those extensions may have overtaxed a once sturdy system.

At least in part because RIOC is so secretive and frequently dishonest, answers are hard to come by.

Initially, the state agency that never makes a mistake simply clammed up. Until reporting in The Daily flushed them out, it was as if collections were swinging along as they always have.

But, of course, they weren’t. Southtown hallways filled with stink as building access tubes backed up with raw garbage.

RIOC Tries, Fails To Explain

Forced out of its cave of silence, RIOC said the jam up was caused by a bed frame carelessly chucked down a chute. The were, however, working diligently with the Dept. of Sanitation at getting it out.

But that explanation registered as not quite right when you figured it had already gone on for two months, at least. Plus, how would anyone get anything as large as a bed frame in, in the first place?

By now, in October, it looks like an outright lie because they said they finally got it out, weeks ago, although the claim went suspiciously with any evidence. No photo of that horrible bed frame.

RIOC even took time to pat itself and its “team” on the back. But that was premature; the AVAC remains down. Consistent service has not returned to Southtown or Rivercross.

If Not a Bed Frame, What?

Here’s where it gets tricky. An AVAC down without explanation implies some level of incompetence. Abandoning the bed frame or any other reason, RIOC’s most recent community alert simply reported that the City Department of Sanitation was working on it.

Gone was the proud RIOC team congratulated earlier, but that’s more scary when you think about it. Although RIOC, increasingly under president/CEO Shelton J. Haynes, is brilliant at palming off blame on someone – anyone — else, the AVAC, south of the compacting station near 40 River Road, is RIOC’s alone.

Sanitation has no responsibility for the tube system itself. What the state agency that never gets it wrong is telling us is that they are essentially clueless, praying for a rescue, laying off blame.

AVAC Down… Forever

With five months passed without consistent operations and no end in sight, it’s possible, even likely, that the pneumatic tubes are out for good. If RIOC can’t fix or even explain it after this long, the writing may be on the wall.

With its masterful, alleged Communications Team silent, RIOC might just be trapped in its extended scheme of dodging accountability by saying nothing at all. Can’t be accused of lying or misleading if you don’t say anything.

But that’s the optimistic explanation because, maybe, there’s a secret repair being set up. And again, RIOC can crow about their team’s amazing success. But we don’t think so.

The question begging an answer may meet permanent silence and, eventually, locked AVAC chutes and Manhattan-style piles of smelling garbage lining the street, over and over.

Also from the Roosevelt Island Daily

• 
  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.
• 
  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.

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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