Billed as a visioning session where residents’ views would influence future construction, the Coler Berm meeting was something else. Controlled with a limited time frame on Zoom, it was more about window dressing than the wall itself. No alternative was considered, and worst of all, the reps from Health & Hospitals claim they already have RIOC’s tacit approval.
Are Roosevelt Islanders being sidelined again?
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
“I don’t think you’re answering questions about alternatives,” Frank Farance posted in the Q&A sidebar.
An anonymous poster added, “This chat is horse manure. Nothing we ask or say is going to have any effect. You guys are spewing P.R. I’m switching to Jeopardy. Bye!”
“You are cherry-picking questions to answer, bypassing ones you choose to ignore,” Steve Silverstein accused.
And Amanda Matthews, the sculptor who created The Girl Puzzle in Lighthouse Park, rephrased her question multiple times. The latest: “A quarter of a million people from all over the world have purposefully made their way to the north end of the island to see The Girl Puzzle Monument based on our analytics. Will access to Lighthouse Park and the monument be accessible during the construction???”
All were ignored.
The Coler Berm: Inevitable?
Although moderator Laura Atlas presented the visioning session as a pathway for incorporating resident concerns into planning, it was something much less. Atlas was steering a bulldozer into the northern tip of Roosevelt Island.
The Berm, while never represented in terms this clear, is a done deal, according to Health & Hospitals. But this session was nothing more than stress release, misleading residents about options while opening up for nothing more than window-dressing.
The best the Health & Hospitals team could offer in terms of the full picture was a seven-year-old rendering by a no longer involved company. But it was painful enough.
Look closely. You see the Coler Berm crushing every tree along east and west shorelines before wiping out virtually all vegetation now thriving in the forested section in Lighthouse Park’s south end. Yet, the presenters downplayed the impact on trees.
This was government-speak at its worst, presenting a false narrative aimed at lessening complaints.
The rendering is so old that it never contemplates the world-class Girl Puzzle installation. By inference, it jams it into a barely accessible triangle with the lighthouse. This wipes out the entire accent RIOC invested millions in creating in Lighthouse Park, eliminating even the sense of a park.
And what about RIOC…?
RIOC was conspicuously absent, although Health & Hospitals claimed they have its at least tacit approval over the project. It involves using RIOC-controlled property.
But that’s not what the state agency governing Roosevelt Island has told residents so far. Rather, RIOC management has portrayed itself as a kind of wallflower at the big dance.
With big issues pending over the continuing deterioration of the Goldwater Power Plant and the potentially disastrous steam tunnel, RIOC seemed to be sitting on the sidelines. But if that’s true, it’s been looking the other way as the Coler Berm prepares for plowing away Lighthouse Park as we know it.
All That’s Wrong with This Plan
With apologies to others who may have more to add, here’s what’s wrong with the basics. Please add any additional thoughts in the Comments.
- A 500-year flood plan, which Health & Hospitals says is mandatory, is preposterous. Who honestly believes that, even 100 years from now, Coler will be right there in its current form? That is, as it celebrates its 170th birthday. If FEMA demands it, as H&H insists, then FEMA – in the words of Charles Dickens – is “an ass, a idiot.”
- Half of Coler is empty and, absent another COVID-like disaster, always will be. So, why does this construction protect the vacant space? Tear it down and cut the berm in half.
- The Coler Berm is so massively intrusive it renders Lighthouse Park no longer a park.
- Meaningful resident participation in planning was never anticipated or invited. All that’s left at this point are flowers, shrubs and benches atop an at least ten-foot mound of dirt.
- The impact on Coler’s population is devastating as they will be isolated behind high walls from the Octagon to The Girl Puzzle.
- RIOC is again anointing an intrusive plan with little to no regard for Roosevelt Islanders and their values.
- With climate change looming large over the future, contributing heavily to flood threats, Health & Hospitals takes an axe to trees.
Conclusion
Roosevelt Island has been hurt in recent years by RIOC’s attacks on trees generally and specifically in turning natural growth into rocky fields in Southpoint. But it never needed to be that way, and it doesn’t now.
Because the Coler Berm requires using RIOC-controlled land, RIOC can stop it. The likelihood of their doing so is increased by the volume and tenor of resident voices. Based on last evening’s Q&A, effectiveness has a shot at motivating the state agency into doing the right thing.
The Emergency Was Always Underground
The steam plant and the steam tunnel were never two problems. They were one system. They were only separated later, when separating them made development easier and responsibility harder to pin down.
Residents, patients and staff at Coler unfailingly cite the beautiful campus and waterfront as the prime reason their quality of life is high compared to most other facilities.
This massive project is going to cause extreme disruption in their ability to access the parkland and waterfront. Most of the majestic ancient trees around the facility will be lost. Many portions of the waterfront will be rendered inaccessible for years. A massive berm or levee will permanently create an inordinate amount of difficulty accessing the waterfront. For those with mobility issues this difficulty could be insurmountable. The planned wall cannot help but be an eyesore and along with the berm completely blocks folks’ view of river not to mention making us feel like we’re in prison. Anticipating the usual overruns and unrealistic projections work on this project will probably go on for the better part of the decade. Many of the elderly who it claims to benefit will have their lives disrupted and, unfortunately, some won’t be around when it is finished.
1) Since no structural damage to the Coler facility occurred during Sandy why is this project really necessary?
2) When does access to the FEMA funds expire?
3) Are there other ways the funds can be allocated?
4) Isn’t this just a case of a mad rush to spend the funds before “use it or lose it?”
5) How thoroughly have less disruptive alternatives been vetted?
6) Couldn’t the building itself be made flood resistant?
Thank you, Roger for your insightful comment, taking the residents’ perspective.