Earlier this week, we reported on a troubling Lost & Found incident one Roosevelt Islander had with PSD. That led to some strange disclosures. It’s a sort of “only with RIOC” story unlikely anywhere else.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Lost & Found: Unfamiliar with the Concept
Lost & Found is a simple concept. You lose or find something. You assume the local authorities have a system where reports are recorded, items are held for pick up and returned when possible. But this is RIOC, and after decades of inept management, few things are as simple as they should be.
Stir PSD into the mix, and you’ve got yet another “Oh, brother!” situation.
A New Incident and a Curtain Pulled Back
Last week, a longtime Roosevelt Islander shared her story of going in circles with PSD after she left her backpack and valuables on a Red Bus. In the end, she reported being screamed at by a public safety officer after going to PSD’s office and asking for a report about her belongings.
Here at The Daily, we asked RIOC management about the incident and how the officers involved would be handled. We got nothing on that, not even a reassurance that they’d look into it. But board member Ben Fhala stepped in, asking a series of questions intending to reveal how RIOC’s Lost & Found functions – or doesn’t.
You may not believe some of this, but it’s straight from the horse’s… er, mouth.
Ben Fhala Asked. RIOC Answered Truthfully
You know it’s the truth because it’s too strange for fiction.
Essentially, what Fhala asked was simple. How does it all work?
Fhala: What is our current internal policy regarding lost items on the tram or bus systems?
RIOC: PSD documents all lost property cases when a person reports their property lost, and everyone (staff, residents, visitors) are directed to turn in lost items to PSD. When PSD comes into possession of lost property, they attempt to locate the owner, and if no owner can be located, then they inventory and store the property, sometimes for years.
Sounds easy, right? Well, it would be if RIOC or its public safety department really did that.
Reality: Not a single word anywhere on RIOC’s website mentions any of this. And, you guessed it. It just isn’t that simple.
The Rest of the Story
Not unpredictably, the problems come in when anyone tries dealing with PSD… like getting a copy of the document created when you reported your lost items. Sadly, it verifies, but does not justify, the screaming incident our resident told us about.
“The issue with obtaining the report of lost property has always been that the person making the report must complete a FOIL request to get a copy of their incident report,” a RIOC spokesperson told The Daily.
They even have a justification…
“Legal and PSD routinely receive and process such FOIL requests, and while the process may seem cumbersome, the reasoning is that the FOIL request serves as a sort of ‘receipt’ that the report was provided to the person making the request. This is sometimes necessary or helpful in insurance claims and litigations.”
But here’s the thing. Again, nowhere on RIOC’s website nor anywhere else exists any such instruction or detail. In fact, it gets worse.
What Should I Do…?
If you get an intuition, brainstorm or PSO screaming at you that you need to FOIL for your own report, you find that Lost & Found is not on RIOC’s published FOIL Subject Matter List.
“PSD,” the response continues, “advises people to file FOILs online using our website. Under the FOIL law, requests must be made in writing. This is explained on our website: https://rioc.ny.gov/196/Freedom-of-Information-Law-FOIL-Requests.”
All well and good, but what if you don’t have internet access or are not adept with computers? So many are in such situations that the Carter Burden Network routinely hosts training sessions at the Senior Center.
What if you’re not English-speaking or struggle with the language as many New Yorkers do?
But from RIOC, you get nothing, nada. Oh, sure, you may get screamed at and never get an apology, but does that even count?
More Lost & Found Nonsense
Want to gauge the veracity of what RIOC is telling us? Let’s look at one more question from Fhala.
Fhala: If a bus has a lost item at the end of a route, does the driver conduct a search of the cabin(?), and if so, what is the official procedure?
RIOC: Yes, drivers are all instructed to do a visual inspection of the cabin (?) at the end of a route, when they reach Octagon.
Maybe you have, but after literally hundreds of arrivals and departures at the Octagon, I have never once seen a driver do an “inspection of the cabin(?) at the end of the route.”
This just doesn’t happen, buses are not cabins, and I’m willing to bet five bucks that the Red Bus drivers don’t know one thing about this alleged requirement.
Finally…
There is no excuse for Lost & Found being anything but simple and easy to navigate. Anyone, resident or visitor, should find it accessible and reliable. Instead, RIOC forces an unnecessarily awkward, malfunctioning, opaque process that confounds anyone wishing to use it.
And that says nothing about the discourtesies and abuses dished out to at least one resident trying to find answers about a valued lost item.
Come on, RIOC, you can and damn well should do better than that.
On naming, neglect, and the quiet work that keeps things standing
About twenty years ago, there was Harbor Police activity near the water, just south of the subway entrance. At the time, no one really thought of it as a pier, though technically there was a small boardwalk there. Of course it wasn’t a pier. A pier implies intention.
