Attendees:

Andrew Winters,CornellTech

JaneSwanson,CornellTechJovana Rizzo, Berlin Rosen

Sara Morell, Berlin Rosen

BerlinRosen

TaskForce Members

ChristinaDelfico Matthew Katz

JudyBuck

CaliMadia Jesus Perez

SushantHariteEllenPolivy

Shelby Garner

MembersofthePublic

Rick O’Conor

JudyBerdy

MargieSmith

VickiFeinmel

Erin Olavesen

BrianaWarsing

Howard Polivy

Maggie Messer

Sally Minard

Lynne Shinozaki

Presentations

Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) made a presentation on their organization

  • NEW prepares, trains and places women in construction careers (carpentry, plumbing, electricity, etc.), training over 400 women a year
  • 80% of the women they work with are low income; many are single mothers;
  • Cornell Tech has signed on as a signature project and committed to 15% of jobs going to tradeswomen;
  • During the discussion, task force members decided that an outreach event on the island would be beneficial. Cornell Tech and the task force will work with NEW to plan a 2 hour meet and greet for Roosevelt Island women to learn about the program, ask questions, and fill out an application. An RSVP invitation will be publicized/sent to gauge the approximate number of participants.
  • The public can learn more on NEW’s website: Meeting Dates:

Milestones

  • All buildings in Phase 1 are under construction and will open in the summer 2017;
  • Cornell Tech is widening the roads around its campus by 15 feet and replacing the utility infrastructure that sits beneath the street;this work is finished on the North Loop Road and the road has reopened;
  • The Bloomberg Center topped off in November;
  • Framing is at the 20th floor for the residential building;
  • Construction is currently in the most intense traffic period because of concrete trucks; it will start to dip down after February;
  • Made an agreement to bring drywall panels by barge;(already had an agreement w/2 of the 3 buildings to bring facades by barge);all steel is coming by barge;
  • The Central Utility Plant (CUP) has been enclosed; working on putting in the electrical service; have 4 transformers in this building; ConEd will electrify the site by March;
  • Another RFP has been issued for the hotel building and Cornell Tech is getting responses; will keep the community updated
  • Snohetta has been chosen as the architect for the Verizon Executive Education Center – in very early concept design; not sure if it will be just EEC or also the hotel; the design will go through a public review process, including community board review;

Discussion/Questions:

  • Will road work will be finished in time for the cherry blossoms? Answer: Not this year;
  • When will red bus service come back near the site? Answer: Don’t know; will work with RIOC; the bus is going along the north road now; fall of 2016 may be able to have bus service on the south loop road;
  • Can we see through the colocation building to Queens? Answer: Yes, can’t now because of a crane that is blocking the view;
  • A comment was made that one of the yellow concrete trucks is speeding down Main Street; Answer: if residents have concerns about specific trucks, they should contact Jane Swanson with the time, date, description of truck and license plate #;
  • What is the design and size of the EEC and hotel? Answer: the hotel could have as many as 215 rooms; nothing decided in terms of the design at this time;
  • A point was made that there are so many hotels in LIC and elsewhere; Response: this is a unique opportunity on Roosevelt Island and adjacency to the EEC – could be a real draw for people;
  • Will there be reduced rates for the hotel? Answer: yes, that is being discussed;
  • Will Cornell Tech be planting cheery trees on the east esplanade? Answer: at the moment he answer is no; Cornell Tech would like to put trees on the east side; however, it is not our property and trees don’t thrive on that side of the river; we don’t know why; we would be interested in exploring with experts on the island which trees survive on the east side and which ones do not;
  • Are we going to advertise, make public, our job opportunities: Answer: our Director of Human Resources sends job postings to the island publications;
  • Why are you always bringing dirt to the island/site? Answer: it is fill for the roadways; we are not allowed to use dirt from the site on the roadways;
  • What were the results of the meeting that Cornell Tech attended in December on air quality? Both Andrew Winters and and Ellen Polivy, task force member, provided input into this answer: the meeting was held with Roosevelt Islanders Frank Farrance and Ellen Polity to hear from Dr. Holger Eisl from the Barry Commoner Center at Queens College. Jane Swanson and Andrew Winters from Cornell Tech attended the meeting, along with their environmental consultants, Roux Associates. Dr. Eisl provides air quality surveys for the city of New York and in the meeting explained his extensive air quality testing methods and the results of recent studies. Task Force member Ellen Polivy explained that in the meeting Dr. Eisl said that there is no way to distinguish between fumes from the bridge and trucks going down Main Street; so not asking Cornell Tech to do air monitoring; hard to pinpoint specifics; there are ongoing measurements that will give us good information as a whole in the city; Ms. Polivy pointed out however that for people who live near the bridge, air quality is still a concern. Andrew Winters of Cornell Tech added that Dr. Eisl pointed out that recent results showed significant improvements in air quality across the city over the past number of years. This is due to a number of factors, including the reduction in the use of #6 heating oil; it was suggested that Dr. Eisl be invited to make a presentation to the Roosevelt Island community on this issue.

CommunityInvolvement:

  • Community Liaison Jane Swanson described the upcoming “Discovery Roundtable” with the Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center that will take place on February 4th.This event will include Cornell Tech students and faculty along with Coler clinical staff, patients, and hospital leadership; Cornell Tech and Coler will share their missions, programs and operations and explore the nature of each other’s work, with a particular focus on how they each view the role of technology in improving the lives of the disabled. Finally, and most importantly, they will engage in a discussion as to how the lives of people with disabilities might be improved through the creation of new technologies
  • Town hall: task force members discussed holding a town hall in June, perhaps the third week of the month before school is out; it was suggested that a start date later than 6pm might bring more people; someone also suggested having refreshments; there was a consensus that the meeting should continue to be held at the Manhattan Park community room;
  • The next quarterly meeting will be Monday, April 25th from 6-8pm, Gallery RIVAA, 527 Main St.