When it comes to holiday decorating, nobody does it like RIOC. That’s because no one else would have the cheek. $75K, half as much as the state squeezes out for all the nonprofits depending on them, for this? Really?
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Holiday Decorating on the Cheap
For the fourth consecutive year, RIOC’s pouring $75,000 into contracting with The Neave Group. But for the first time, bidding was competitive, and because, apparently, nobody was looking, Neave made severe cuts for the win. At exactly the same price as every other year.
Although the holiday decorating looked slim every year, this year sets a record in cheesy. Joining the Reindeer and Sled in Good Shepherd Plaza, this year, is not a plastic snowman. For 2021, we’re treated to a third, smaller reindeer weirdly encaged.
- See also: Get Happy! It’s Dyngus Day!
There’s long been a sense that Roosevelt Island gets decorations nobody else wants or retreads. But this year, it’s worse. Take a closer look at the unhappy reindeer’s antlers.
Cutbacks
Keeping in mind that, officially anyway, RIOC’s paying the same $75K it’s paid since 2017, big cutbacks ring strange. The biggest loss is in Riverwalk Commons, a community gathering space in Southtown where mass transit and residents from across the Island intersect.
This year’s holiday decorating in the commons comes to… wait… calculating… uhm… Nothing.
And they reduced the number of grazing reindeer in the Tram Plaza if anyone ever gets to see them with construction work going on through the holidays. Plus, most of the lighting and wreaths through the WIRE Canyon have been brought down to what you’d expect from your local pharmacy.
When she came up with the idea of investing in festive holiday decorating, former RIOC President/CEO Susan Rosenthal had grander hopes. There was talk of photo ops and a tourist destination, but she’s gone now, and so is the spirit.
Take heart though, the ornaments are back in the Firefighter’s Field traffic circle where most residents will never see them. And the tree and faux gift packages chased Fall for Arts out of the Rivercross Lawn.
What child doesn’t dream all year of a Christmas tree with the falling leaves of autumn for a backdrop?
All Is Not Lost
In spite of RIOC’s expensive, but lukewarm holiday decorating, locals can look forward to well-designed displays in many building lobbies. And for community spirit, the best public space every year is a gift from Brian Weissberg and the team at Manhattan Park. The entire space is ringed with lights and, at the center, a big and thoughtfully decorated tree.
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What the Promenade Remembers
The light on the East River in the early morning is different from the light anywhere else on the Island. It comes in low and sideways, catching the water in long, uneven flashes. On certain days it makes the promenade feel less like a walkway and more like a corridor someone once meant to finish but never quite did. When I was younger I found the suggestion to stop and look at it faintly ridiculous.
