Set against history, RIOC’s March 2024 Ops Meeting marked a giant step in the agency’s improvements. The Operations Committee, led by Fay Christian, was open, warm, welcoming and full of useful information.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Changes at RIOC, enabled by new interim managers Dhruvika Patel Amin and Gerrald Ellis, accelerated on Wednesday evening when the Ops Committee met in the Good Shepherd Community Center. It was nearly surreal.
Committee chair Fay Christian was warm and open, welcoming questions from any and all. And Acting COO Mary Cunneen did so well at demonstrating action items and responding to questions, you had to wonder where they’d been hiding her for so long.
March 2024 Ops Highlights
Update on Tram Swinging and Report on Safety Features
Cunneen wiped away a trail of silence and misinformation, putting up a photo of dampers installed on each Tram cabin. Put in place to reduce the violence of sudden swinging incidents occurring since September, they’re making rides safer.
The new safety feature, among others, came after State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright brought in the Department of Labor. Tram operators, Leitner-POMA, had been unable to manage or explain the frightening incidents.
The operator seems no closer to identifying the cause of the swinging incidents than it was in September.
Leitner-POMA’s abilities remain in question, of course, and cabin operators still refuse to announce, “Please hold on while the cabin’s in motion,” as they did for years or to secure seating for passengers with special needs.
It’s a simple safety feature, especially for first time riders, and the resistance if baffling.
Update on Main Street Road Repair/Sidewalks
Cunneen, again, came prepared with photos illustrating her points on how RIOC’s team goes about the near-daily needs of repairing and replacing sidewalk Z-Bricks.
The mess of Z-Brick failures on Main Street remains unsettled. There’s work ahead but kinks that need working out.
In a relatively minor blip, Cunneen repeatedly referred to the promenades as “esplanades.” It’s not a matter of dictionary definitions, East and West Promenades are their actual historic names. Missing that makes you look like an uninformed outsider.
Residents should continue registering concerns in TIKKIT as the system has a high success rate.
AVAC Projected Repair and Needs; AVAC Proper Usage Reminder
Deputy Chief Counsel Ellis disclosed repairs needed to the AVAC’s infrastructure caused by age and use. RIOC is seeking funding through the Manhattan Borough President’s Office offsetting some of the costs.
With loads increasing, more improvements and updates will be necessary to prevent or at least reduce the volume of shutdowns.
Here, Christian made a serious unforced error, identifying resident’s misuse as a cause for AVAC failures.
“It’s not RIOC. It’s us,” she said.
Then came the canard about a bed frame sent down a chute causing one failure. Even if that were true – and there is no evidence that it is – a lack of planning and upkeep has been the greatest cause.
One of my first assignments for the old print newspaper involved Island infrastructure, and misuse of the AVAC became a center point. We even added a sidebar for the article, highlighting does and don’ts.
But clearly, residents intentionally abusing AVAC chutes is as much of a problem now than it ever was because confusion reigns. If RIOC ever created a simple uniform sign to be placed at every chute, 90% of that problem goes away.
How about: “Bagged Trash Only“…?
Even so, the greatest threat is system aging and a longtime failure in maintenance and upkeep. With Ellis’s presentation, it appears that RIOC is now aware and ready to tackle those issues.
End of the March 2024 Ops Meeting
Transportation/Fleet Management Plan
Transportation Director Cy Opperman repeated his State of the Red Buses presentation. Openness was the key as he again went over the challenging state of aging out buses and the balancing act he puts in play to meet resident needs.
New this go around was a discussion, raised by Ellis, is a state direction toward electric vehicles. This includes the cars and service vehicles also under Opperman’s control. The evolution with take years with buses last because no reliably state-of-the-art vehicles are even on the horizon.
Although two new buses have been ordered, their many months away delivery expectation exposes the absence of any contingency plan that might avoid drastically reduced Red Bus services.
No doubt, though, a solution is being researched because the risk is just too high without one.
Closing Up
Every operation has weak points that must be addressed. Prior management failures leave RIOC today with a load of them, but the new team has accepted the task with impressive successes already.
Cross your fingers that we can keep them at the helm as they welcome the community into creating and implementing solutions. It’s a new day at RIOC. Let’s keep it that way.
A Vote in the Shadows: When the Public Record Disagrees with Fay Christian
There are two truths in public governance. Timelines do not lie. And silence is often the loudest answer.
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