RIOC junior board member Ben Fhala’s questioning of Motorgate Rates unsettled assumptions and got managers thinking again. It’s been a rare occurrence, at least publicly, in recent years. The combination of new open-minded managers and community-oriented board members increases transparency and frees up fresh ideas.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
“The new team (at RIOC),” Fhala said, “has opened the books and that usually follows more accountability if people see the issues between the lines.”
True enough. Last week, RIOC Acting Chief Operating Officer Mary Cunneen offered a presentation with the kind of details few, if any, Roosevelt Islanders have seen in the past.
Among a total of 1,437 total parking spots, for example, the category “Residents” claims 806 of them. The current waiting list for monthly permits stands at 435.
An obvious conflict escaped attention though as Cunneen’s presentation claims that the Motorgate Facility Managers calls “30 to 50 residents each month” based on cancelations. At worst, that means the waiting list should be wiped out in 15 months, but instead, the waiting list goes back almost two years.
A good number of Roosevelt Island residents would have moved on by two years as well.
That might be a minor, explainable glitch, but it wasn’t made clear.
Motorgate Rates and Complications
As Deputy Counsel and interim RIOC manager Gerrald Ellis has noted, the greatest part of Motorgate’s $2.7 million annual revenue comes from standard resident fees. Other categories, like Non-Resident and and various Island employee groups, have limited impact.
Currently, Motorgate operations turn a healthy $200,000 annual profit, the bulk of which goes toward supporting Red Buses.
Competitiveness
For comparisons, Cunneen brought out rates paid at two Upper East Side parking garages as well as one in Astoria. It’s not scientific, of course, especially assuming Roosevelt Island is comparable in any way to a UES neighborhood.
So, the comparison becomes relatively meaningless, making Motorgate rates seem unrealistically generous relatively. While for residents as well as non-residents monthly charges are far less in Motorgate than the UES garages, Roosevelt Islanders pay only about 60% of what others pay in Astoria.
Not only does this result in less than acceptable revenue, but it also has the unintended consequence of encouraging more cars. That’s not in the best interests of any urban area, America’s romance with cars notwithstanding.
Roosevelt Island has 12,000 residents, but only a small minority drive cars. They should pay more, not be subsidized by automobile non-owners.
While Fhala argues, “Adjust the standard fee for non-resident reservations to reflect the market rate,” The Daily firmly believes that goes for residents as well. Why is RIOC rewarding residents for driving by offering steep discounts? Especially for a community designed to operate with very limited traffic.
Residents already pay a penalty for the broken down Main Street Z-brick surfaces forced to carry traffic loads for which they were never designed. It’s not just costly, but it also dulls the pedestrian esthetic the founders embraced.
Special Categories
For reasons that surpass understanding, RIOC is allowed to grant employees unlimited free parking. This bizarre circumstance comes from the prevailing misconception that RIOC does something other than shepherd Roosevelt Island resources.
As a result, almost $24,000 in revenue per month disappears. That’s irregular. While RIOC is free to offer whatever employee benefit it wants, however foolish, the state agency should level up the hopper by paying up for this benefit.
Finally…
While encouraging RIOC management to think differently in several areas, Fhala is somewhat disappointed in the results to date.
“While I appreciate the team’s effort in providing public transparency, I am somewhat disappointed that most of the items I’ve highlighted privately and then publicly in the last REDAC meeting have not been addressed,” he told The Daily.
“I hope the team will provide meaningful updates regarding my requests to help make the parking lot more equitable and focus on providing discounts to users who need them most.”
AVAC: Where the Pipe Curves
This is the final installment in my notes from the December 2nd, Operations Advisory Committee meeting, following “An Emergency, Apparently” and “Rust Is Funny Until It Isn’t”.
3 COMMENTS
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While I agree that non-residents should pay a rate closer to other neighborhoods (like Astoria), I disagree that Motorgate rates for residents should be similarly raised. Note that residents (especially families) rely on Motorgate parking for many trips outside of the island, and in many cases, the families don’t actually drive on the island itself – these cars are not contributing to the extra traffic load on Main St. It’s primarily the heavy amount of delivery drivers (and more recently, contractors for both Building 9 and the subway repairs) that’s adding the extra load.
In addition, unlike parking garages in Astoria or Upper East Side that are directly attached to/underneath the buildings whose residents they primarily serve, most Roosevelt Island residents who park in Motorgate, with the exception of Manhattan Park residents, have to walk 5-15 minutes to even get to the parking garage.
Thanks for your thoughts, Lester.