A steam tunnel serving as Roosevelt Island’s east seawall is in danger of a catastrophic collapse. RIOC’s known about it since 2014, but Albany blocked repairs. Finally, they could no longer ignore the risks.
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
A Steam Tunnel Rescue
As we reported in July, a steam tunnel in serious disrepair and long ignored has been at serious risk of collapse. Serving double duty as Roosevelt Island’s eastern seawall ups the hazards. A collapse would inevitably endanger housing complexes immediately adjacent. Most at risk is Roosevelt Landings along with the two newest Southtown buildings, but the Motorgate parking garage also leans on the seawall.

Goldwater Hospital, now replaced by Cornell Tech, built a steam generating plant, which still stands in 1939. In 1952, they buried pipes along the east waterfront, allowing the plant’s sharing resources with newly built Coler Hospital.
The mile long pipe served well until ten years ago. Demolishing Goldwater, making way for the graduate campus, the city left it to the elements. As we discovered from a lawsuit filed by former president/CEO Susan Rosenthal, accusing RIOC of racial bias, a battle ensued over responsibility for maintaining the seawall/tunnel.
Rosenthal says that her persistent attempts at getting RIOC’s Albany handlers on board with emergency repairs contributed to her dismissal. Her immediate handler, Simonida Subotic, resisted appeals, but Rosenthal, sensing grave risks to the community, persisted.
RIOC Gets Wise
Subsequent to Rosenthal’s lawsuit and our reporting, what RIOC charmingly calls “other state government stakeholders” finally acted. In a memo dated October 21, 2021, general council Gretchen Robinson seeks board approval of a half-million dollar contract with Langan Engineering for repairs.
“Over the past several months, RIOC has been in negotiations with the City to determine how the repairs will be made, and also by which entity,” she writes.
“And, although RIOC is confident that an agreement will be reached with the City, the management team, in consultation with other state government stakeholders, did not wish to wait for such a deal to be struck as the project is a matter of health and public safety.”
While the delay was probably the result of hostility between Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio, the memo does not explain or justify the seven year delay.
The request for contract approval was on the agenda for RIOC’s October board meeting.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily
- Smart Planning Means a Happy, Peaceful 4th of JulyThe 4th of July, 2022, on Roosevelt Island was as peaceful — pre-fireworks — as it was sunny and warm. Advance planning paid off with previous years’ problems never developing. by David Stone The Roosevelt
- Main Street, Roosevelt Island, What Most Visitors Never SeeAbout the long-neglected tree beds on Main Street, a resident wrote, “They are first and foremost eyesores, and then safety hazards. It’s impossible to believe — No, wait – not impossible — the neglect going
- After a Lost Election, A Better Idea for Roosevelt Island“Neither Marc nor I won,” Joyce Short answered our inquiry. She meant the contest for two seats on the Democratic State Committee. She and fellow Roosevelt Islander Marc Block ran in partnership. Entering late with
- OMNY for the Tram: Frustrations Prompt a Petition DriveAn OMNY for the Roosevelt Island Tram petition states it simply: “We are asking the MTA and RIOC between them to remedy this.” The solution is simple. Install OMNY Card readers in two Tram locations, but
- Interesting Fact #9 – The First Product Sold Online Was a Sting albumThe first product ever sold online was a Sting album. On August 11, 1994, the album was sold on Netscape’s website for $12.48. This was significant because it marked the beginning of eCommerce and showed
One thought on “RIOC tries repairing a mile long steam tunnel now in danger of collapse”