Letters to the Editor
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‘Time To Shut the Tram?’
If anything, most of the tramway’s users, who are taxpayers and voters, are pretty frustrated by the lack of financial support and the large amount of inattention paid by the governor and his appointees to the tramway, which, as public transportation, is a lot safer than some of the buses and trains taking folks around the city [“Time To Shut the Tram to Roosevelt Island,” Davidson Goldin, ” Page 1, April 21, 2006].
Considering its age — nearly 30 years old — and over 1 million trips — I’d say the tram is worth the support in every way possible. But we should not overlook the state of New York’s and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s responsibility to provide us with the best and safest possible tramway service.
NINA LUBLIN
Roosevelt Island
Manhattan
‘The Island New York Forgot’
Roosevelt Island as a “a beached whale”? “The hospital houses numerous inmates, and many more outpatients populate the rest of the Island.” Inmates? There haven’t been any inmates on Roosevelt Island for sometime, since the insane asylum (The Octagon) and the jail were shut down many long years ago [“The Island New York Forgot,” James Gardner, Arts & Letters, April 6, 2006].
We have a large population of folks in wheelchairs of varying kinds, not inmates or outpatients. They live in apartments in our housing just like the rest of us. They’re our friends and our neighbors. The hospitals are chronic care facilities.
James Gardner seems disappointed that Philip Johnson’s dream may not have been fulfilled, but that’s because the people who came here to live created their own community. Architects don’t make communities, people do.
We’re glad Mr. Gardner enjoyed the ride back to Manhattan on the tram. We enjoy it in both directions.
Roosevelt Island is a planned community run by a quasi-governmental agency, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, a public benefit corporation made up of patronage appointments of the governor. In a recent hearing held on Roosevelt Island, investigating our specific situation, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, with this inquiry as part of his investigation of Public Authorities, stated that the management of Roosevelt Island is “undemocratic.” Public Authorities were meant to manage “things” (such as the MTA) and not people.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation board and the management it is meant to oversee are not elected by the community, thus they are not responsible to the community. The RIOC does the governor’s bidding and the community suffers. We’ve watched, sadly, the gradual disintegration and utter mismanagement of our community due to this system.
SHERIE HELSTIEN
Secretary
Roosevelt Island Residents Association
Manhattan
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