On Roosevelt Island, you get used to Public Safety weirdness. The overstaffed, expensive RIOC department, unable to control even bicycles and crosswalks, serves more than anything else as a 21st Century Meter Maid Service. But this is weird, even for them.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
RIOC Public Safety Weirdness
Let’s start with a picture.
We first noticed this in June, last year. Like most of you, we thought it must keep cars and trucks away from some hidden danger. A sinkhole? Some object under the striped drum in the middle?
Turns out, all of us were wrong, and in fact, it marks a news high in lows for Public Safety weirdness. Over six months later PSD Chief Kevin Brown told the Residents Association Common Council that the barricade blocked cars and trucks from parking in front of the hydrant.
That’s like, “You can’t violate safety standards because we got there first.”
A head-scratcher…
That’s right. The already clueless RIOC department, where EADD abounds, can’t get out of its own way. But they see the logic in blocking off space in front of a fire hydrant, so drivers can’t do it. Doesn’t it just make you want to shout, “Hey, Kevin, that’s what the red paint on the curb is for!”
But even thickheadedness has limits. After public exposure in the Roosevelt Islander blog, the barricade vanished.
But suspending Public Safety weirdness is a tenuous thing.
“The Barriers are back up by Bread & Butter Deli!!!” a perplexed and confounded reader wrote. “Well, I guess RIOC & PSD couldn’t help themselves,” she added.
It’s weird. That’s all, but don’t expect it getting better. RIOC is rudderless, and EADD rules.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily
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Before the Door Closed
The May 14 RIOC board meeting began with public concern over the steam plant and ended with two votes that revealed more than any report could. Some meetings announce themselves by what is said. This one announced itself by what the room permitted to move and what it stopped before it could breathe.
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