Better informed residents can help save the AVAC system. By ensuring proper use and community cooperation, we can address challenges and sustain this unique resource for everyone on Roosevelt Island.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Can anything save the AVAC? Three prolonged breakdowns just since Thanksgiving signal trouble ahead. Some buildings have not felt the full impact. That’s part of the problem.
History exposed
Better informed residents can help save the AVAC. This array of signage, provided by RIOC, aides residents across the community. Few other building managers do as much.
Described by RIOC as “an old system under a lot of stress,” the AVAC system started up in the mid-1970s. Vacuum tubes suck trash into a central collection center north of Motorgate.
The AVAC is a “residents only” operation. Cornell Tech doesn’t add anything to the load. Similarly, PS/IS 217 and Main Street business aren’t in the mix either.
But a serious imbalance system-wide may be a present and future danger.
Branches
Originally built to serve the WIRE buildings, the farthest collection point was Rivercross. There was nothing north of the AVAC facility, not even Manhattan Park. Paired tubes ran south on either side of Main Street. Eastwood, now The Landings, was the biggest building feeding the system.
That served well until future development skewed the loads.
Manhattan Park successfully plugged into the west side pipes. The Octagon added additional load without serious problems. But starting in the 1990s, all new construction hooked into the east side. That’s eight new buildings in Southtown. It’s no surprise that most of the system breakdowns happen on the Eastwood/Southtown branch. And the newest and largest building, 440 Main Street, isn’t even online yet.
In fairness, RIOC and its partner, the NYC Department of Sanitation, blame other sources for the frequent clogs. They blame the most recent on “…a piece of table/wood that was stuck near the Blackwell area,” for example. But take it with a grain of salt because no evidence has ever been provided.
And there was the semi-hysterical claim a few years back that a lightning strike downed the system. On a Sunday when there were no storms in the area and, according the National Weather Service, not a single lightning strike within a hundred miles. DSNY never retracted. So, you can’t ever be sure.
How to Save the AVAC
It seems as obvious as spring following winter. But RIOC does not openly agree that the AVAC system is underpowered. They say they might do a study in a year or two. Increasing breakdowns as loads increase may change that. The problem was so obvious to former CFO John O’Reilly that he had upgrade plans on his desk when he left RIOC in 2022.
That aside, though, The Daily asked RIOC’s Communications Director to share the corporations views.
Bryant Daniels weighs in
“The AVAC system is really a unique marvel and perhaps isn’t given the credit its due on the island,” wrote in an email.
“We take for granted that we don’t have to put out garbage for regular collection, that we don’t have the same degree of pest and rodent issues the rest of the city must deal with. But with that comes the responsibility of making sure we keep the system running in good order.
“It’s a responsibility shared equally by every island resident, and the biggest challenge we continually face is people putting prohibited items into the AVAC chutes that then clog-up the system.
“We’ve found mattresses, pizza stones, huge area rugs, electronics, baseball bats, hangers, guitars, even entire pieces of furniture lodged in the system, and each time it has created serious issues, including clogs that can lead to multi-day outages, sometimes across the entire island.
“Finding where the obstruction is located is only the first problem; removing it presents an entirely different set of challenges that can take days for DSNY, RIOC, and building management to remedy.
“So, the best defense against outages, and the best way to preserve an aging system, is to make sure we’re only putting the correct items—household trash specifically—into the AVAC chutes.”
Finally, How to save the AVAC
There’s truth in that, if not the whole truth. Regardless of anything else, though, it’s a step in the right direction. Residents can contribute.
Unmentioned is the frequent resident turnover that undermines community commitment. New people join us and start fresh without clear instructions on how to best use the AVAC system. That’s where building managers fail all the time. Clear guidance is lacking. If we all pull together, collecting rents and blaming residents doesn’t work in a rapidly changing community.
And as it regards RIOC, neither does pretending that immediate issues are somewhere off in the future.
Emergency Without Urgency
When government invokes the word “emergency,” normal process changes. Timelines accelerate. Environmental review can narrow. Procurement pathways can shift.
