Here at The Daily, we jumped into support for the interim leadership team that filled in after RIOC CEO Shelton Haynes’s suspension. It was like fresh air in a polluted city, but that effect slowed. Now, a lack of real change along with recent events suggests our enthusiasm was premature.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Events Tipped the Scales
On Saturday morning, I received this message from a longtime resident…
“The asshole red bus driver just blew me off. I was coming out our back door and there was no red bus at the stop across the street so I started to cross and one came around the corner and, since no one was at the bus stop, just rolled through it as I’m yelling “Wait,” he went around the traffic circle, and I’m standing in the street trying to flag him down and he blows right past me. I ran to catch up to him at the stop sign and he took off. I hope he could read my lips in the rearview mirror.”
I immediately relayed this statement to RIOC’s interim leadership team, Deputy General Counsel Gerrald Ellis and Chief Financial Officer Dhruvika Patel Amin, as well as Communications Director Bryant Daniels.
Keep in mind that the driver ran three consecutive stop signs on his sweep around the Tram Plaza area.
There was only one reasonable response…
“We’re sorry this happened…” or “This should never happen…”
Instead, wt got this: “…………..” from the twin executives.
Daniels did respond, promising to “look into this,” then said it would be “helpful” for the resident to email RIOC “so we can speak with them.” But that’s not our job.
The Daily has encouraged the use of both TIKKIT and Consultant Services. When people don’t use those services, RIOC should figure out why.
Then, Later That Day…
Dear Roosevelt Island Community:
The Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) will be hosting a special Juneteenth event in collaboration with RIOC this evening from 5PM to 9PM in Good Shepherd Plaza. The event, which will include light refreshments, music and performances, is free and all are welcome to attend!
This email landed at 2:00 p.m., just three hours before the scheduled start. There was no prior notice, except on social media on Saturday. It was not posted on RIOC’s public Calendar page nor on its News & Events section.
The late, limited notice – without explanation – virtually ruled out many Roosevelt Islanders’ celebrating this holiday with their neighbors.
And why now, four days before the holiday itself?
When I checked out the location at around 6:00, I didn’t see any RIOC presence at all. But there were plenty of double-parkers blocking views of the crosswalks – without a PSO in sight, and two-wheelers cruising through while a man with a cane navigated from one side of Main Street to the other.
This isn’t “interim leadership” or any other kind of leadership; it’s the same old, same old dereliction of duty we’ve witnessed for years.
Interim Leadership Light – Perspectives
By far the biggest failing of RIOC’s interim leadership team is a failure to lead or even try. Both Ellis and Amin are competent professionals in their fields, but being an ace in one area doesn’t automatically translate to general leadership qualities.
Crawling out of the bunker Haynes built is not enough without coupling with engagement and action. When no one pulled together a town hall to bring the community up to speed after the suspension of Haynes and Chief Counsel Gretchen Robinson, RIOC missed a major opportunity.
You could let that go or blame it on RIOC’s notoriously disconnected board because it was early and sudden. RIOC’s board has long snubbed the community with resident members clearly answering to Albany not residents.
Stalling on the Tram, Overcrowding, Swinging and Swaying
As resident Margie Smith said bluntly in the public session before a board meeting, not calling a town hall when Tram crowding emerged as a community crisis was a bald failure. Getting everyone together would have given the interim leadership an opportunity to explain their unwillingness to act – or to adjust after listening to residents.
Exacerbating that, numerous frightening incidents of Tram cabins swing and swaying out of control – most recently this weekend – were blown off by RIOC, which failed to hold partner Leitner-POMA responsible.
The Master Lease Giving the State Control Over Roosevelt Island
Finding out, after the fact, that RIOC and City Council Member Julie Menim commenced negotiations for extending the lease giving the state control over Roosevelt Island was a blow, but more so was RIOC’s sole concern being how it might affect real estate.
At a committee meeting early this year, Ellis casually mentioned that initial conversations were underway over extending the Roosevelt Island Master Lease. Residents were left out by both RIOC and City Council Member Julie Menin.
Worse yet, the single motivation given for action now on a lease expiring in 20268 is that the remaining term hampers real estate transactions. No consideration for the hot button issue of increasing local democracy or making RIOC more responsible and transparent was evident.
That’s not leadership – not on RIOC’s part, not on Menin’s. Leadership is inclusive. This wasn’t.
Bleeding Red Ink Without Triage
Although it’s not a secret that RIOC is bleeding red ink in running the Tram, Sportspark and Red Buses, no evidence of stanching the flow appears anywhere.
While the flawed contract with Leitner-POMA has numerous additional negative impacts, Sportspark may be the worst example. Under Shelton Haynes, millions were invested in an extensive and necessary do-over, but current fees don’t come close to covering the costs of running the facility.
After more than a month of trying, The Daily has been unable to get reliable figures from RIOC regarding the extent of the losses – or how much fees must increase in making it financially viable.
Red Buses depend on Motorgate revenues for expenses, but parking rates remain far below average for similar garages nearby. And there’s another point: the buses mainly serve residents north of Good Shepherd Plaza. The Octagon uses them as a selling point. But parkers from the entire Island pay for it. Unfairness is built in.
None of these issues have been cleanly reported by RIOC, and the case can be made that its budget masks details about the shortfall.
The Interim Leadership’s Failure with PSD
It’s something we’ve seen too many times.
Sunday morning, a motorized scooter races down Main Street, straight through the crosswalk at Good Shepherd Plaza – while a Public Safety Officer stands there with both thumbs tucked tightly inside his waistband.
That’s a common event that has been reported to RIOC repeatedly without generating any change in PSD policy.
Additionally, there’s the incomprehensible fire hydrant blockade filling up parking in front of Bread & Butter Market.
Not only has RIOC’s interim leadership failed at moving this threat to public safety, they’ve argued that PSD Chief Brown says that FDNY “signed off on it.” There’s no evidence of that, and the location is not in FDNY’s domain anyway. That nonsense is followed by smarmy, unsubstantiated gossip about “what’s going on inside the store” being a greater threat.
Here’s what it really is: disgusting, unprofessional, a threat to public safety and a profound lack of leadership.
Finally…
There’s more as our readers will see in report later today showing that RIOC’s Freedom of Information Law practices now rival those of Chief Counsel Gretchen Robinson’s. But the above is sufficient for demonstrating the lack of leadership swirling the mess at RIOC.
We don’t think it will change without an extensive revamping of RIOC’s staff and cleaning up its board, neither of which is likely under Governor Kathy Hochul. But that’s no reason to let it go unchallenged.
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