Nothing says, “RIOC’s back” better than the return to illiteracy and junk mail commitments in the agency’s bumbling “advisories.” Today, it reached a nostalgic level of ineptitude straight out of the gate.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
It’s chronic. RIOC sends out an advisory as a blast to its email list. Sometimes, they’re somewhat useful, but they often become equally annoying… because they’re sent, again and again, to the same email addresses. As if we don’t all have enough email and we need a flood of duplicates with nothing to add.
But this weekend’s deluge of “Update MTA F Train Service” struck a new low. Not only was it sent out a gazillion times since last week, it was repeated again this morning, hours after the the event ended.
Sadly, that was not the worst of it.
RIOC’s Back with Bad Information and the Unmistakable Scent of Illiteracy
While there might’ve been a blip on the radar somewhere, RIOC’s notice that “Due to technical issues the MTA F train is out of service at the Roosevelt Island station,” was inaccurate. That came at 8:19 a.m., but here’s a photo timestamped at 8:16:
It documents the switchover in the F Train Track Fixation Project. Riders are now sent to the Queens-bound side when they catch the shuttles.
Although I didn’t know how the mistake was made, I didn’t care. Within ten minutes, I dropped RIOC, including Communications manager Bryant Daniels and President/CEO Shelton J. Haynes, a quick note.
“This is not accurate. Please correct ASAP.”
A full half-hour later, someone in RIOC’s domain managed to email blast this: “Due to previous delays F train is back in service.”
“Due to previous delays…?” Really?
Does anyone even look at what they’re sending out? Does anyone in that bunkered brain trust even care?
The Line That Didn’t Land
I stood in the back of Good Shepherd Chapel on the evening of April 15, 2026, at the Steam Plant Demolition Town Hall, watching people adjust scarves and jackets before the meeting began. Benjamin Jones, President and CEO of RIOC, thanked us for attending and, without a pause, said he was “pleased to host tonight’s town hall on the city’s demolition of its steam plant.” The demolition, in other words, was not up for discussion.
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