Any one of the three pier railing collapses along the West Promenade could have ended up much worse. In none of the incidents were there injuries, but that’s no guarantee of such good luck if there’s a next time.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
At Eleanor’s Pier, a Railing Collapses
“An individual was holding onto one of the railings on Eleanor’s Pier when it collapsed back onto the pier,” RIOC spokesperson Bryant Daniels told The Daily. “Thankfully, that person was ok and did not require medical attention. No other individuals were involved in the incident, and nothing went into the water.”
Luckily too – the individual was not leaning against the railing, which would probably have sent him or her into the cold East River.
Short and sweet, but there’s more to the story, as Daniels and RIOC know because the March 30th, 2024 collapse was not the first. And after dark on a Saturday night, the dangers were immediate and serious.
RIOC’s handling of the earlier collapses and its response to this one also raise questions over safety and accountability.
Start with this…
After the more than half-dozen emergency vehicles drove off and an NYPD boat found no one in the water, the scene was left hopelessly insecure. A double strand of plastic adhesive tape was all they left between the pier and the chilly river water.
There is no sign of RIOC’s Public Safety Department, and even on the following day, not a single advisory warned anyone away from the scene.
We have asked RIOC about who was responsible but have not received an answer so far. We will ask again.
Some neglect from a year earlier may have played a role.
The 2023 Incident
Almost exactly a year ago, a rail immediately adjacent fell.
“At the time (March 2023), it was unclear how the railing came down,” Daniels said in an email. “There was speculation that it might have been a boat hitting railing with enough force, but there was no video footage or witness accounts of it falling, so we just didn’t know.
“We also checked the other railings to see if they were in a bad way, but nothing indicated that they were in critical condition or presented an imminent danger to the public. So, we fixed the immediate need, which took a couple of weeks working with an outside welding vendor..”
Clearly, someone decided that work more extensive than simply restoring the fallen railing was necessary. Planks were pulled up and some welding occurred. But this was Haynes Administration work, and nothing was apparently documented.
“Who inspected for safety, if anyone, after the 2023 collapse?” we asked. “Who approved it for reopening?”
Because of heavy RIOC turnover and mysterious management, the executives currently running RIOC were not involved, but Daniels offered what he knew.
“The inspection was done by our Maintenance team which has some engineering expertise. Final decisions about what course of action to take and when to re-open would have been made at the time by Mr. Haynes (RIOC President/CEO Shelton).
Repeating Mistakes?
Railings fell at Eleanor’s Pier three times now, and residents know little about causes and repairs. We know nothing about any discovered causes for a collapse along the north side in 2014. We don’t know who repaired what or how.
For 2023, we know a little more, but it appears that leaving it to RIOC’s team with “some engineering expertise” was a mistake. As far as Haynes’s approving the pier’s reopening, we don’t know why or if any inspection took place before.
Looking forward now, Daniels told The Daily, “RIOC has cordoned off the entire area for public safety purposes and begun investigating why the railing collapsed, and whether the rest of the railings will require any remediation work to ensure their structural integrity.
“We don’t yet have a timeline for the repair work but will be sure to keep the community up to date when we know more. In the meantime, for those visiting the pier, we are asking everyone to please adhere to our temporary boundary and not cross into the cordoned off area.”
It sounds like more care will be taken this time around. At least, we will have more information, and it will be documented.
“I Can Ask”
Chair Fay Christian opened the Operations Advisory Committee on February 12th, reading out member names from a prepared sheet that omitted Melissa Wade. It didn’t feel intentional, but it struck me as odd precisely because it came from something prepared. Lydia Tang gently corrected her, noting that Wade was, in fact, a member of the committee. Wade met the moment with grace, or perhaps she simply wasn’t bothered by it.
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