Less than 30 residents out of 11,780 – that’s 0.0025466893% – showed up, but PRESIDENT & CEO SHELTON J. HAYNES called the first PSD Community Meet-up “a success” and threatened more.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
“The success of this first PSD engagement meeting shows the appetite within the community for more,” purred RIOC President/CEO Shelton J. Haynes. He apparently failed to take a headcount because 30 out of nearly 12,000 isn’t a success by any measure.
It signals an effort to take credit for something that didn’t happen.
Why the PSD Community Meet-Up Failed
“PRESIDENT & CEO SHELTON J. HAYNES BRINGS PSD AND NYPD TOGETHER FOR ROOSEVELT ISLAND’S FIRST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING,” the press release screamed.
(Note to Akeem Jamal, rookie AVP of Communications: ALL CAPS implies screaming at readers on the internet. It further suggests touting a falsehood as fact by shouting, much like in a domestic dispute. You’re welcome.)
But this “COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT” was bound to fail because, after alienating the community since he took office, Haynes has failed at building any healing. His consistent downgrading of treasured community events – Fall for Arts, Roosevelt Island Day, the Halloween Parade – won’t simply be forgotten.
Moreover, his daily practice of avoiding public contact looms large against the friendly interactions residents enjoyed with his predecessors.
Both Charlene Indelicato, who hired Haynes, and Susan Rosenthal, who mentored him, walked the Island regularly, checked things out and chatted with residents.
Although The Daily sharply and frequently criticized Rosenthal, Main Street encounters were always friendly. Rosenthal understood the press’s role in community life, and The Daily respected hers.
Finally…
It’s in no one’s best interest, not even Haynes’s, to stonewall media inquiries. But even worse, the now years long media blackout prevents RIOC from getting its side of any story out. It’s just juvenile and misdirected hostility.
Open up the practice followed by virtually every other state or city agency and see how quickly it increases community engagement. It always has in the past.
(Second note to Akeem Jamal: It’s really bad form quoting and promoting yourself in a press release you sign at the bottom. You’ll learn that with a little more experience. You’re welcome.)
Unequal Bargains
On June 18, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Real Estate Development Advisory Committee gathered to discuss ground leases, the master retail lease, and the ten additional years being offered under the Island’s master lease. Howard L. Polivy, the committee’s chair, opened the meeting as a longtime host shows guests through a familiar house, pointing out the furniture as if it had never moved an inch.
