David Stone
Founder & Euro Editor
Navigating Apps with Changes in Memory: Join Our Study
December 2, 2025
Weill Cornell Medicine seeks older adults with mild memory loss for a study on improving navigation apps. Participation is valuable,...
What’s Really Going On With the AVAC System on Roosevelt Island?
If you’ve lived on Roosevelt Island for even a few weeks, you’ve probably heard whispers about it: the AVAC system — the island’s underground pneumatic trash tubes that suck garbage from residential buildings through a vacuum network to a central…
Save the AVAC: Community-driven Solutions for Roosevelt Island
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.
End of the AVAC Now? Have Years of Negligence Exposed the Ruins?
Roosevelt Island’s AVAC system is aging and neglected, teetering on collapse, while RIOC remains silent and unaccountable. Local intervention is desperately needed to avert disaster.
Roosevelt Island AVAC Shutdown: Effects and RIOC Advisory
Roosevelt Island’s AVAC system is undergoing a crucial shutdown due to deteriorating pipes, with a potential duration of two weeks. The shutdown could start earlier than scheduled, so residents should plan accordingly. In the meanwhile, trash collection changes are in place, leading to potential impacts on building services. The situation remains uncertain, so be prepared for any changes.
UPDATE: The Entire AVAC System Is Down Again. But Now It’s Back
Reporting the AVAC system down became common over the last few years The only difference, this time, is that RIOC notified the public instead of sitting silent in Blackwell House. While we applaud that openness, they’ve been far from fully…
The AVAC Is Down Now In Southtown, But RIOC Again Has No Answer
By now, it’s like a recording stuck on repeat: The AVAC is down in Southtown. Hallways are rich with smells of ripening trash while the usual suspect hunkers down in silence. It’s been like this for 2 1/2 years now,…
What’s the Latest on the Secret AVAC Failures?
“The west side of the AVAC line is obstructed impacting garbage collection via vacuum along the duct work servicing building complex at Westview and BLG 531 (Rivercross),” a RIOC Advisory said. It foreshadowed worse to come, the secret AVAC failures….
AVAC Crisis: How We Got There – And Now, Can We Fix It?
For those of us who’ve lived on Roosevelt Island for decades, an AVAC crisis is something we never thought we’d see. But now, after over two years of repeated breakdowns, we’re deep in one, while RIOC bunkers in denial. They…
AVAC Story – Disney World Success While Roosevelt Island Rolls Downhill
Earlier this year, The Daily along with historian Judith Berdy worked with Business Insider on an AVAC story. It begins with a history, but ends with a hopeful future. Roosevelt Island is pretty much stranded in the middle. The AVAC…
The AVAC Stink Now Expands Into Southtown After RIOC Broke Its Promise. Again.
Nearly two years passed since the AVAC stink first swelled down the corridors in Southtown. After more than a dozen breakdowns of varying lengths since, the system is out again. Despite alleged Communications Team staffing costing close to half-a-million dollars…
David Stone
Founder & Euro Editor