“Some adults are holding their children’s hands to cross, others are not; Some kids on scooters, bikes… And lots of trucks, busses, cars, bikes, etc.,” an Island observer wrote. “But the absence of any PSD officers in this one dangerous crosswalk is negligence of a high order.”
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
“NO PSD presence anywhere — NO ONE NOWHERE”
“Some adults are holding their children’s hands to cross, others are not; Some kids on scooters, bikes, AND lots of trucks, busses, cars, bikes, etc. Lots of near-miss collisions between humans and machines…”
These were conditions reported yesterday morning between 8:45 and 9:10 a.m. by an observer who has repeatedly voiced similar concerns. But, as we have learned, RIOC’s Public Safety Department is impervious to criticism. You can’t shame them nor has any executive or board member made a dent in the many times reported negligence.
None of this is new, but although The Daily has confirmed the failures numerous times before, we captured a midday video yesterday. It took less than two minutes.
A reader previewing the video asked whether “a Public Safety Officer was standing nearby on their phone?”
Of course, there was. About fifty feet away, having ventured a short distance outside PSD’s air-conditioned headquarters.
The Negligence Is Widespread
Look closely. RIOC crumbles before your eyes. Yes, the skeleton exists. Employees clock in, collect bloated paychecks and check out. PSD alone shells out for 47 employees, 4 of whom earn six figure salaries. For doing what, exactly?
Public Safety pulls over $4 million – over 10% – out of RIOC’s annual budget. Every man, woman and child living on Roosevelt Island plunks down over $300 per year for its budget. Is it money well-spent? PSD’s own reports show that they are overwhelmingly involved in ticketing illegal parkers, “escorting” EMS vehicles (no kidding) and running a lost and found (badly.)
It’s all been said before, but although the department is RIOC’s most visible, it’s merely a symbol of overall mismanagement and waste.
The rest of the story…
- Most alarming, the state agency bleeds red ink. It’s cash position currently falls by roughly $5 million every year. Current management inherited the mess but has not stopped it. An assumed guardrail, New York’s Budget Director has always sat on RIOC’s board yet has said nothing in response.
- Prime sources of financial distress, Sportspark and The Tram, continue without any plan for stemming the losses. Each losses money every day it operates with low Sportspark membership rates leading the way. Red Buses, of course, are money losers too.
- Interim Leadership has been thrust on several managers who already had full time work on their hands, and that got worse when Deputy General Counsel, a core leader, resigned in June. Leadership skills were never RIOC’s long suit, and they are especially lacking now.
- Clouds hang motionless over Blackwell House as the suspensions of CEO Shelton Haynes and Chief Counsel Gretchen Robinson enter the seventh month. Lawsuits involving the pair as both defendants and accusers cost Roosevelt Islanders hundreds of thousands every year without a hint of resolution. (Note: RIOC denied a FOIL request for specifics on the costs for outside legal services.)
- Staff shortages abound, and it shows in the lack of services. Badly underperforming PSD, ironically, is one of those struggling with insufficient staff. RIOC’s legal department has lost its top two lawyers with Robinson’s suspension and Ellis’s departure, for example. Communications has one person doing the work previously assigned to three. It goes on across other departments. Needless to say, the absence of a working CEO is disastrous for any organization.
- RIOC’s board is major factor in its failures. Charged with overseeing the agency as fiduciaries – something they’ve never really done – they’ve been tangled in conflicts as a hard right core led by Hochul surrogate RuthAnne Visnauskas bats down reform efforts by newer board members and elected officials.
The rest of the rest of the story…
Despite all this, many RIOC staffers make an effort every day and succeed. The Red Bus Drivers and the less visible repair crew have kept buses running that would work comfortably in a Smithsonian exhibit. 2024’s landscaping beautification project exceeds any previous year.
And those forced into doubling up in their jobs – Ellis, CFO Dhruvika Patel Amin, Transportation Director Eddie Perez, Communications Director Bryant Daniels – have put their noses to the grindstone with never a word of complaint.
There’s a good core here, but along with the rest, it’s crumbling.
No end to this in sight.
When Representation Was the Promise
There was a time when representation felt like the answer.
