RI DAILY

Manhattan's little, quieter island and beyond

Reporting Roosevelt Island since sunrise.

RI DAILY

Manhattan's little, quieter island and beyond

Reporting Roosevelt Island since sunrise.

Credit Where Credit Is Due: Getting It Right on Blackwell Sidewalks

RIOC’s finally got the Blackwell Sidewalks right, months after work started on them and Blackwell Plaza. It took a while. By David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily NewsRoosevelt Island is small. Its stories aren’t. Step inside The Lighthouse for the...

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RIOC’s finally got the Blackwell Sidewalks right, months after work started on them and Blackwell Plaza. It took a while.

By David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

Over a period of weeks, late this summer, a RIOC contractor sent pedestrians, wheelchairs and baby strollers into Main Street, forcing them away from construction. What made it worse was its location directly in front of RIOC president Shelton J. Haynes office and across the street from his dedicated four-spot parking areas.

But now, after repeated complaints, the state agency that never makes a mistake seems to have gotten the message.

Heading south from the Main Street Canyon, all users get safe and secure, properly signed access. ©David Stone/The Roosevelt Island Daily
And from the south…? Perfect.

Credit where credit is due, especially as it regards public safety. Here’s one of the previous dilemmas in the same ares.

Maybe they learned something, and residents as well as visitors will be safer.

This article is dedicated to David Kraut who says that Roosevelt Island media never gives RIOC credit when they get it right.

More from the Roosevelt Island Daily

The Steam Tunnel Repair That Disappeared

The Steam Tunnel Repair That Disappeared

RIOC studied it, designed a repair, called it a public-safety problem and repeatedly placed millions of dollars into its capital plans. Then the construction money went to zero.

Capital projects change. Costs rise, engineering evolves, funding moves and questions of ownership can complicate even urgent work. But the Roosevelt Island Steam Tunnel was not a speculative improvement that simply slipped down a priority list. RIOC’s own records describe an infrastructure problem known for decades.

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