RIOC’s vaunted Communications Team forgot to tell you; so, we will. Amanda Matthews’s The Girl Puzzle has its opening date.
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Opening the Nellie Bly Monument: The Girl Puzzle
Why should they tell you when their primary goal is keeping their passive board passive and showing off their alleged achievements for Albany overseers?
Wrapping up an extended board meeting, last week, Haynes pushed the above image through in PowerPoint. Seven days later, his alleged Communications Team still hasn’t shared the news with residents.
You can pick up a lot more about The Girl Monument, its creator and its story in a Philadelphia Tribune article. The current rendition of RIOC does not appear in the article, but the endlessly quotable historian Judith Berdy does.
“This is Roosevelt Island. Nobody does anything without an audience around here,” she says.
In the telling, reporter Shannon Eblen gets it right, sharing a story present day RIOC refuses acknowledging. Among other things, she credits unfairly deposed RIOC president Susan Rosenthal with the idea and the execution.
And she quotes former assistant vice president Jonna Carmona-Graf, who was also “removed” during RIOC’s coup month of June, 2020.
“It took my breath away,” Carmona-Graf said. “I’m really proud of this one. It’s just really going to be a unique public space for all of New Yorkers and the world to enjoy.”
It’s possible RIOC’s acclaimed (by them) Communications Team will someday share what its board and Albany overseers already know. Maybe they’ll share a time, and one thing for sure, they’ll shine a light on elected officials, although not on Rosenthal or Carmona-Graf.
Outgoing city council member Ben Kallos directed $70,000 in city funds to the Nellie Bly Monument, working closely with Rosenthal. Let’s hope he turns the spotlight on the contributors without whom The Girl Puzzle would never have found a home on Roosevelt Island.
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Ten Years, or Another Temporary Fix?
Roosevelt Island was built through public investment, then expected to support itself through development. The ten-year lease extension gives RIOC a rare chance to replace short-term deals with a financial system designed to outlast the people approving them.
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