Shelton Haynes’s suspension plunged Roosevelt Island into chaos. While critiques of his leadership surfaced, Haynes achieved significant progress. Now, dysfunction reigns under interim management, plagued by poor communication and unresolved issues. Residents deserve better; instead, they’re left grappling with a board’s incompetence and dysfunction.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
A year ago, RIOC’s board sidelined President/CEO Shelton Haynes, many thought the answer obvious. Maybe it was just relief with change after years of stress, including the Coronavirus. Today, the comparison is far from clear.
RIOC Under Shelton Haynes
Much of Haynes’s tenure as CEO at RIOC took place in a background of tension and trouble not of his making. COVID gained momentum with a force few predicted. With state government rocked with Andrew Cuomo’s scandals, powers shifted. Promised changes soon fizzled as Republicans gained strength.
A RIOC view of the world.
Criticisms of Haynes’s management were plentiful, but not all were justified. While some were, successes went unrecognized, mostly for the lack of sound public relations.
- To the relief of residents isolated during COVID, Haynes opened a testing center in the middle of town.
- He finished off The Girl Puzzle with an impressive international flourish.
- The Roosevelt Island Lighthouse restoration project earned several preservation awards.
- A fully renovated Sportspark finally opened.
- An innovative Constituent Services Department gave an ear to residents’ concerns.
- And let’s not forget the popular pickleball courts, an answer to public appeals.
Each had – and have – their critics, but no RIOC CEO in any era got that much done.
Comparisons
RIOC today is a tangled mess incapable of getting much of anything done. Howard Polivy’s and the board’s strange strategy of suspending Shelton Haynes improved little. It goes without saying that, if the board had serious issues with him, firing him would have been easy. Like Susan Rosenthal, who they fired without debate, Haynes is an “at will” employee. No need exists for any justification in firing him.
They did not, and the reason seems that they had no good reason. Instead, the board opted for an open-ended suspension in which outside lawyers collect thousand every month. If they had anything, it would be over by now.
It should be noted that the board simultaneously suspended Chief Council Gretchen Robinson. With no clear offenses attributed to her, her main crime seems to be friendship with Shelton Haynes. Figure that one out. That is, a Chief Counsel works well with her corporate boss, and… What?
Troubles Brew
During a brief period under what the board dubbed “interim leadership,” some optimism bloomed. The seesaw of battling with Haynes clouded over everything, and now, the skies cleared. But only briefly.
Under Deputy General Counsel Gerrald Ellis’s leadership, RIOC welcomed the community back into the discussions. Although there was encouraging progress in engagement, Ellis left in June. All of that went with him.
How Things Stand Now Without Shelton Haynes
On Friday, last week, I joined a crowd growing on the Roosevelt Island station platform. Although it was before 10:00 a.m., still rush hour, only one cabin in operation. Those of us hoping to be on time for appointments and work got no notice from RIOC about the outage… until 3:25 that afternoon. That was followed four minutes later by a notice that it was in service.
Quoting Debra Barone: “Idiots.”
I sent this to RIOC’s interim leadership team at 10:06: “Only a single cabin running before 10:00 a.m. No station manager, no PSD. Can’t you even keep up this leisurely schedule? Some of us have serious appointments. Will we make them?”
There was no answer.
More Tram Trouble
When RIOC reneged on its agreement for priority boarding for some residents, it suggested that, if in need, you should contact either a PSD officer or a Tram employee. Over multiple Tram rides during the rest of the weekend, I never saw a single PSD officer on either side. But once – and only once – I saw an available Tram employee aiding passengers.
How is the new management better when it continues snubbing residents as if Roosevelt Islanders are obstacles, not constituents?
Alienating Longtime Residents
The behavior is so manifestly clueless. The interim leadership’s continuing harassment of the Wildlife Freedom Foundation boggles the mind.
After getting snubbed in Public Purpose Funds, WFF founder Rossana Ceruzzi reached an agreement with Shelton Haynes and Gretchen Robinson. Recognizing WFF’s contributions in training and teaching, they signed off on a nominal $15,000 per year.
Although both Haynes and Robinson remain employed at RIOC, the alleged interim leadership will not honor the agreement. Bizarrely, CFO Dhruvika Patel Amin and staff counsel Lada Stasko can’t figure out the difference between a services and a commodities contract.
The service deliverables are clear in the contract, but today, after a year of endless hassle, Amin demands copies of invoices as if WFF provides grass feed or bus parts.
The rest of the world celebrates Ceruzzi and WFF and the accomplishments. But RIOC apparently hates her for no special reason. Personal conflicts with RIOC managers, though, have lingered for years.
More
- As reported in detail, RIOC’s proposed budget for this year is a shambles pasted together with smoke and mirrors.
- The long list of Tram issues has been swept into the corner with no solutions being pursued.
- Solved for the moment, Red Bus issues accumulated throughout the year.
- Secrecy and lack of accountability prevails. The illegal gift of public resources to the PTA continues amid unresolved and unreported conflicts of interest.
- Ben Fhala was a board gadfly. He tried to uproot sources of poor purchasing performance. However, dinosaurs and Albany kiss-ups beat him up.
Finally, Without Shelton Haynes
Regardless of hard feelings or discontent over Haynes during his term, no rational argument exists that RIOC and Roosevelt Island are better without him. Despite any hard feelings over Haynes, no one can argue rationally that RIOC and Roosevelt Island are improved without him. On the contrary, the hopeless mess that’s scrambled in his absence is inexcusable.
We can’t guess where this all is headed, but certainly over the past year, it’s in the wrong direction.
A Different Kind of Bet
For years, Roosevelt Island did not behave like a system constrained by limits. Internally, the budget was often treated less as a boundary and more as a reservoir to be used.
