Young as it is, Roosevelt Island looks like it’s getting a facelift as a rising tide in morale brings freshly groomed features into view.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Rising Tide: Seeing Is Believing
RIOC’s landscaping crews are “…doing their seasonal plantings this week and next,” Acting Chief Operating Officer Mary Cunneen told The Daily.
True. But it’s more than that, more than a routine. You can see it in multiple places around Roosevelt Island.
Areas, like Riverwalk Commons, where residents voiced frustrations over groundskeeping and a lack of cooperation from RIOC, now benefit from thoughtful, expert grooming.
Tthere is more, though, and we see the rising tide of morale at RIOC yielding results in other places – increasing attention at Motorgate, Eleanor’s Pier and improving transparency as well as community responsiveness.
Sticking to the Greening of Roosevelt Island for Now
As demonstrated in our cover photo, RIOC’s Grounds Department is finally making the best of the stripped down extremes previous administrations left in Southpoint Park. Where litter and untamed, invasive plants scarred the landscape, we find something much better.
What caught our eye yesterday, though was how RIOC’s landscapers seized the moment now that all the tunnel and track work is over. A clean space welcomed decoration and got it.
It may not look like much yet, but consider what was there before.
Joining forces with the MTA, RIOC turned out an artfully clean view greeting arrivals from the busiy subway station.
Is the rising tide spreading from Grounds through the rest of RIOC? Let’s watch.
As the Dust Settles
The way the wind cuts across the river this time of year. The way older buildings hold heat but never quite hold air. I told myself that was why my chest felt tight again on certain mornings. Age, perhaps.
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