Stuck with a bumbling board and years of executive failures, RIOC’s interim leadership struggles with inherited messes all around. Right now, the shortage of healthy Red Buses is in the forefront.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
What Interim Management Inherited
We’ve devoted enough time to describing RIOC mismanagement and Governor Hochul’s effete board of directors, but the inherited results may not be as clear.
After a flood of lawsuits and employee complaints hobbled RIOC operations, its board of directors finally stumbled into an asinine solution: Put its two topic executives on paid suspensions that may last forever while evading the root causes. That would be them, and they still show no signs of figuring it out.
The Red Bus Problem
Among many other predicaments, from money-bleeding Sportspark to unaddressed infrastructure messes, for most residents, the immediate frustration is over Red Buses. Since the community started, Red Buses ferried Roosevelt Islanders along Main Street. Without them, refreshing developments like Manhattan Park and The Octagon would’ve been impossible. In fact, both residential complexes pay extra for bus services.
Despite that, RIOC’s board and in-house management bombed on maintenance and replacement needs. The result is a diminished fleet – that barely meets that description – that would be more at home in a Smithsonian exhibit than on Main Street.
Cy Opperman, now retired, kept the transportation operation running with duct tape and baling wire while the executives around him frolicked in immense pay raises authorized by a sleepy board.
In an appeal lead by interim management earlier this year, Opperman along with Acting COO Mary Cunneen persuaded the board to allocate funds for two new buses. But while that will take until early 2025 for delivery, it will not bring the fleet up to its full requirements. Opperman made clear that five buses are needed during peak hours. This will give them two new vehicles and three in imminent danger of falling off into The Twilight Zone.
From the General to the Specific
“Please be advised there will be only one Red Bus running on Main Street this Tuesday (7/30) and Wednesday (7/31) between the hours of 10:30AM and 12:45PM. Normal service will resume after 12:45PM.” RIOC Advisory.
Frustrations were immediate.
“Guess they will NEVER be able to just tell us WHY,” complained one frustrated resident, but the answer is not complicated
We checked around and, not surprisingly, found the now known inherited Red Bus mess at fault.
During those hours, only two buses are available for operations, and the much needed Shoppers Bus takes away one of them. There aren’t enough vehicles to fit the needs of Roosevelt Islanders.
It’s just that simple and just as aggravating. But RIOC could relieve some of that stress by simply telling people what the hell’s going on. Current management inherited these issues, but they still should speak up clearly about them.
Finally: Inherited But Unfixed
RIOC’s interim leadership, down one now after Deputy Chief Counsel Gerrald Ellis resigned, faces impossible expectations for smooth operations. They’ve actually exceeded what could reasonably be expected, if all the facts are known.
- A money crunch exits after RIOC’s cash balance fell by about $5 million for two straight years, leaving infrastructure funding restricted.
- After millions spent on updates, Sportspark bleeds cash with no end or solution in sight – and, believe it or not, the roof leaks.
- Budget concerns hinder the possibility of leasing temporary buses to fill in the void, leaving riders stranded.
- Instead of facing issues head-on, RIOC’s board is nearly paralyzed with internal bickering.
These are not fruitful conditions for interim leadership’s ability to address the volume of inherited messes. Reducing routine bus services for a couple of hours is the tip of the iceberg. It will get worse because Governor Hochul’s extreme board mismanagement has left it inept and disabled.
Emergency Without Urgency
When government invokes the word “emergency,” normal process changes. Timelines accelerate. Environmental review can narrow. Procurement pathways can shift.
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