NYS Threatens Huge Tax Hike For Island's Mitchell-Lamas

Vol. 28, No. 6 

Next issue 

in 2 weeks: 

December 1 

Grammy Nominee Roy Eaton, 

pictured here as he played last 

weekend at the Rivercross 30th 

anniversary party, has been 

nominated for his album, Keyboard 

Classics for Children. (The album 

can be previewed on line at 

cdbaby.com/cd/royeaton2.) He also 

recently received CCNY’s 

Townsend Harris Medal for 

outstanding postgraduate 

achievement, joining Ira Gershwin, 

Colin Powell, Ed Koch, and Zero 

Mostel as a recipient of that honor. 

Briefly... 

• The Chamber of Commerce is again collecting 

contributions for holiday lights along Main Street, 

at $275 per pole. Partial-pole contributions are accepted. 

For information, call Julie Palermo at 

212-759-2529. 

• Interested in a Poetry Workshop? Call 

917-597-4363 or contact madisonpoetry@yahoo.com. 

28th Year as Roosevelt Island’s Independent Community Newspaper 

Saturday, November 17, 2007 

Housing 

NYS Threatens Huge Tax Hike 

For Island’s Mitchell-Lamas 

DHCR Offers a Reassurance – But With Conditions; 

At Press Time, Agency Sets a Six-Month Moratorium 

News Analysis by Dick Lutz 

The Empire State Development 

Corporation (ESDC) sent a post- 

Halloween package to Roosevelt 

Island’s Mitchell-Lama buildings 

last week – a surprise notice that 

payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) 

will be increased many-fold. 

The downstate head of ESDC, 

Pat Foye, refused through a press 

aide to answer The Main Street 

WIRE’s questions on the matter. 

The Governor was also unavailable. 

However, as The WIRE was 

going to press, ESDC announced 

a six-month moratorium on the 

increase. It came in a letter from 

Foye to politicians representing 

Roosevelt Island. 

In the letter, Foye said, “Over 

the next six months, we will work 

with the building owners and 

DHCR (the State Division of 

Student, “Pushed Hard,” and Teacher 

Find Rapport in Chords on Steel Strings 

by Rachel Durfee 

When professional guitarist Joe Bell looks at 12year-old 

Asher Elbaz, he sees the next Steve Vai. Vai 

is his former student – now “one of the most famous 

rock and roll guitarists in the world” and, according 

to Joe, “Frank Zappa’s favorite guitarist.” 

The future star in question still has several inches 

to grow and a number of pounds to gain, but he’s on 

his way to looking the part. Asher 

has straight black hair with soft 

bangs that cut across his almondshaped 

brown eyes. Dressed in a 

black long-sleeve t-shirt with 

leather bracelets on his wrist, he 

looks like a mini rock star. He has 

the voice of a 12-year-old, but he 

speaks about music with confidence 

and maturity. And every sentence 

is punctuated with unbridled 

enthusiasm. 

Asher doesn’t hear Joe’s compliment, 

but it’s clear the two feel mutual 

respect. Asher has been a student 

of Joe’s since he was six. He 

repeatedly credits Joe for his 

progress over the past six years: 

“Joe was pushing me hard,” he 

says. 

“Joe!” exclaims Asher as soon as 

he sees his teacher. “I’m picking 

up this guitar tonight…” The two 

immediately get lost in an animated debate over 

whether the guitar will be “trash” (Joe) or it “may be 

good” (Asher). 

Deena Merlen, Joe’s wife, lets the two of them continue 

to talk shop. She once worked in concert promotion 

and has an eye on the music world, both personally 

and professionally. She’s watched Asher 

throughout the years and says she finds him “remarkable.” 

Deena is excited about Asher’s progress, and also 

about what it can mean for the Roosevelt Island Youth 

Program. She explains that Joe, in addition to teaching 

privately, teaches piano and guitar through the 

program, which provides free music lessons to 

Roosevelt Island students. 

“With a free music program, you can end up at 

Julliard!” she exclaims, hopeful that people will take 

advantage of the program and realize how much potential 

it holds. 

Joe has taught with the Youth Program for over 20 

years, working with students aged six to twelve. In 

private lessons, he takes on players as young as fourand-a-half 

and as old as 76. With the especially young 

ones, Joe says “they’re not really ready for anything 

serious. You’ve got to keep it fun and be patient.” 

Joe, dressed in a grey sweatshirt, baseball cap, and 

glasses, has an easygoing manner – and his own rockstar 

history. He started out as a trumpet player at age 

seven, taught by his grandfather. At 12, he picked up 

the guitar and easily switched instructors – his mother 

taught 54 students a week at home. At 14, he enjoyed 

his first professional gig playing in the Catskills 

but, says Deena laughing, the engagement was “cut 

short when he came down with the chicken pox and 

his mother had to come get him.” 

The summer after his senior year in high school, 

Joe’s band Pumpkin played with Eric Clapton’s group 

Cream the first time the rock and roll star played in 

the States. Joe went on to attend the Berklee College 

of Music in Boston, and got a deal with MCA Decca 

Records after a couple of years. By 1972, he was 

producing, recording guitar, trumpet, and bass, and 

touring nationally. 

He’s also written a book, Improvising Jazz Guitar, 

and though his area of focus is rock and blues, he 

See Guitars, page 12 

Housing and Community Renewal) 

on an equitable resolution 

– one that is fair to State taxpayers 

while achieving affordable 

housing goals.” 

The six-month reprieve leaves 

Islanders in Mitchell-Lama 

buildings holding the same explosive 

package, but with a 

longer fuse and some reassurances 

of a further opportunity to 

influence the situation. 

If implemented as originally invoiced, 

the ESDC action would essentially 

scrap any possibility of 

the apartments in those buildings 

remaining affordable. The head of 

DHCR, Deborah VanAmerongen, 

said Tuesday that ESDC sent out 

the invoices because “this was 

something they need to do to preserve 

their claim.” Her agency has 

said, along with the Roosevelt Island 

Operating Corporation 

(RIOC), that Roosevelt Island’s 

Mitchell-Lama housing must remain 

affordable. 

The “claim” of which Van- 

Amerongen spoke stems from a 

provision allowing 30 years of 

lowered taxes for Mitchell-Lama 

buildings. The 30-year period has 

ended, and ESDC may be legally 

entitled to collect the increased 

PILOT amounts. 

Six- or Seven-Fold 

In the case of Rivercross, for 

example, charges retroactive to 

September 15 would increase the 

tax substitute from $500,000 to 

$3.6 million. That would require 

a monthly maintenance increase of 

45%, according to a memo sent by 

the building’s Board of Directors 

to shareholders on Friday. For 

Westview, the rent increase would 

be 41% to cover taxes rising from 

$550,000 to $3.2 million per year. 

In addition, however, Westview 

faces a retroactive invoice of $4.7 

million (about $13,000 per apartment) 

going back to 2006, the 30th 

anniversary of the building’s certificate 

of occupancy (C/O). 

It’s even worse for Island House, 

which received its C/O a year earlier 

than Westview. One estimate 

puts the increase in monthly rent 

required for Island House at 100%. 

The co-chair of the Westview Task 

Force, Opher Pail, said on Tuesday 

that the managing partner of 

Westview, Charles Lucido, feels he 

“has no other choice but to file for 

a rent-determination process,” 

which is the means by which 

DHCR reviews and approves requests 

for rent increases. Lucido 

faxed the ESDC bills to Pail on 

Friday, November 2. 

The Chair of the Island House 

Tenants Association (IHTA), Dorothy 

Davis, said, “ESDC’s actions 

are reprehensible and incredibly 

ill-timed, given the progress being 

made by Island House in the cur- 

TM 

rent negotiation process [with 

DHCR, toward tenant ownership]. 

Instead of supporting affordable 

housing, they undermine it and 

make it almost impossible to 

achieve. Their actions were a surprise 

to [owner] Charles Lucido, to 

IHTA, and to ESDC’s sister government 

agencies, RIOC and 

DHCR, which have repeatedly assured 

us of their collective ability 

to work well with ESDC.” 

At least briefly – until the situation 

settles out – building owners 

are put in the position of weighing 

difficult options that are even more 

difficult for rent-paying tenants. If 

they ask for rent increases, that puts 

VanAmerongen’s agency in the 

position of having to grant them to 

cover building expenses, or find 

some way to get ESDC to back off. 

In fact, VanAmerongen said that 

those who run ESDC “don’t have 

an intention to pursue it aggressively, 

and they are open to negotiation 

on the amounts due and 

owing from the past, and the 

amounts to be collected in the future.” 

VanAmerongen was trying 

to speak reassuringly, but she issued 

no blanket statement indicating 

that ESDC will give up its 

claim. The mention of “negotiation” 

suggests that some increase 

could be levied even if ESDC 

backed off on the large hits. 

Last Sunday, at a 30 th anniversary 

party in Rivercross, the “what 

does it mean?” question was on 

many lips. To those working on 

the building’s privatization, the 

ESDC invoices amounting to over 

$300,000 per month were a reason 

to work more intensively on an exit 

from Mitchell-Lama regulation. 

One factor is that Rivercross has 

already switched its mortgage to a 

private lender who is likely to become 

very uneasy over holding financial 

paper on a building that is 

See ESDC, page 6 

79 DAYS 

to Island-wide 

balloting 

for residents’ RIOC Board nominees 

Details: nyc10044.com

2 • The Main Street WIRE, Sat., Nov. 17, 2007 

It is Time 

Published by The Main Street WIRE TM 

©2007 Unisource2000 Inc. 

531 Main St. #413, NYC10044 

The Editorial Page 

Many residents of Island House, Westview, and Rivercross 

came here, to a Roosevelt Island that New York State had made 

barely livable, to create a new community, on the strength of a 

New York State promise that they would, one day in a distant 

future, be the full-rights owners of their apartments. 

In the years since, they have succeeded in their part of the 

deal, creating a wonderful community on the strength of the 

minds and hearts they brought to the task. But also, in the 

years since, they have seen the State offer incredible sweetheart 

deals to deep-pockets developers who have grown wealthy 

on the State’s near giveaway of extraordinarily valuable land 

where apartments now rent and sell at embarrassingly high 

prices. They have given the State of New York pained forbearance 

while bunglers have come here to manage their community 

badly – given the task simply because they were someone’s 

buddy, political hanger-on, or partner in something slightly 

less than honorable. 

Now, that distant future has arrived, and under the law, 

those pioneer residents are entitled to treatment equal to that 

given to tenants and resident owners in other Mitchell-Lama 

buildings across the City and State. 

But the Spitzer administration is saying, “No, wait longer... 

the promise didn’t really count here. Wait into perpetuity for 

what you were promised.” 

It is time for that to stop. It’s time, now, for New York 

State to keep its promises to those who created community 

here. It is, quite simply, time for New York State to honor the 

deal it made so many years ago, and let Rivercross go private 

without restrictions, and let the tenants of Westview and Island 

House strike the best deal they can with the buildings’ 

owners, and collect their reward of full-rights homeownership. 

It’s called equal treatment under the law. 

And it is time. 

DL 

A comment on the news: 

If The WIRE were the Daily News... ...this would be our page 1 today. 

TM 

Saturday, November 17, 2007 

TM 

28th Year as Roosevelt Island’s Independent Community Newspaper 

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Judi Arond, Bubu Arya, Steve Bessenof, Marcie Brown-Suarez, Lynn Chambers, Carol Chen, 

Mark Chipman, Vivianne Codderrens, Malcolm Cohen, Julian Edelman, Arlise Ellis, Don Eremin, 

Willven Falcon, Angela Grant, Teresa Hasing, Steve Heller, Darrell Henry, Roberta Hershey, 

Ken Kaplan, Matthew Katz, Michael Kolba, Silvia Kramer, Imam Mandia, Iris Marcano, 

Clarissa McCraley, Clinton Narine, Sandra Narine, Essie Owens, Florence Paau, Joan Pape, 

Ronnie Rigas, Gwen Ryals, Ron Schuppert, Raye Schwartz, Beryl Seaforth, Margie Smith, Alan Ulick, 

Nina Wintringham; students of Legacy High School, Sean Suarez with fellow Scouts from Island Scout 

Troop 59, and members of the Island Girls Project. 

Letters deadline for December 1 issue: Tuesday, November 27 

After deadline, letters are considered on a space-available basis. 

Vol. 28, No. 6 

GO TO HELL 

Spitzer Spitzer Administration Sends a a 

Screw You to Pioneer Pioneer Residents 

EDIT EDIT EDITORIAL 

EDIT EDIT ORIAL 

It’s time for the Spitzer Administration ESDC – gets to pull the trigger. 

to start listening to the people of Roosevelt The immediate background of all this is 

Island. 

reported elsewhere in this issue The of Main 

Not only has the Division of HousingStreet 

WIRE. The further background is tha 

and Community Renewal (DHCR) beenthree 

organizations representing the reside 

dragging its feet on resident-developed plans of Westview, Island House, and Rivercros 

for the Mitchell-Lama buildings here, have presented fully workable plans for full 

imposing the impractical and impossible in arights 

resident ownership to DHCR, while 

Big Stall, but now the Empire State DHCR has responded only with vagu 

Development Corporation (ESDC) wants to suggestions that funds might be foun 

hit the Island’s “affordable” buildings with somewhere to make the repairs necessary 

full-scale property taxes. 

keep their apartments both liveable an 

If this Eliot Spitzer Administration’s affordable forever. 

“coordinated housing policy,” it’s a really bad Last week’s total screw-up by ESDC, a 

joke, tragically misguided. While one unitloose-cannon 

left hand apparently unawa 

of State government is calling for long-termof 

the policies of the loose-cannon right han 

affordability at the likely expense of long- DHCR, demonstrates conclusively that, onc 

term occupy-ability, another has set out to again, the people living in the housing hav 

destroy present-day affordability. “We havea 

much better idea of how to take it into th 

to destroy Roosevelt Island to save it,” they future than does any bureaucracy. 

seem to be saying, with the only remaining It’s time for the Spitzer Administration to 

question being which agency – DHCR or start listening to the people of Roosevelt Island 

The Spitzer Administration’s Great Tractor-Pull 

To the Editor: 

It’s a surprise to see so many 

politicians endorsing the Kahn proposal 

for our Island. No one I 

know who lives here supports it. 

And Monday, an endorsement on 

the editorial page of The New York 

Times. What’s going on!? 

I think President Franklin 

Delano Roosevelt was a great 

President. He’s already memorialized 

by the FDR Drive and the 

name of our Island. We haven’t forgotten 

him. 

The Kahn Memorial resembles 

the prow of a sunken battleship. 

It’s as lyrical as a cinder block. 

Times have changed. Islanders 

have voted for a natural setting, a 

garden of native plants, not a Soviet-style 

cementarium. 

We the people of Roosevelt Island 

have a right and a responsibility 

to shape development on our 

Island. This is being foisted on us 

for reasons we don’t know in opposition 

to our wishes. How about 

standing up and saying so? 

Bill Sinclair 

Letters 

Letters 


The idea of a second tram 

(Mogens Petersen letter, Nov. 3) 

from the northern part of the Island 

to the Upper East Side of Manhattan 

should be seriously considered. 

If there are too many obstacles 

(government, real estate, etc.), has 

anybody ever considered a second 

tram that moves people from 

Roosevelt Island to Queensboro 

Plaza, where you can catch the N/ 

W/7 trains, or Queens Plaza, where 

you can catch the E/G/R/V trains? 

Once there, subway connections 

can take you to any part of the City. 

A second tram to the Upper East 

Side would put passengers on the 

4/5/6 train or the future 2nd Avenue 

subway, somewhere uptown. 

Maybe we can even get a 2-for-1 

discount price on the new proposed 

Tram system. 

Even a rush-hour shuttle bus 

across the red bridge to the Broadway 

or 36th Avenue stations in 

Long Island City would relieve 

some of the pressure. 

Kurt Wittman 


We have been living with the current bus route and, while it’s good 

that the bus stops in front of the subway, there is still room for improvement 

at the Tram end of the ride. Our quick turnaround was taken away 

some time ago by the building construction, and I was thinking that our 

current route, around the block, was only temporary, but I was recently 

informed there are no plans to go back to the old turnaround, since the 

new building will be in the way. 

In the meantime, we get on the bus and go for a minute-long, joyless 

ride around the block, with the sole purpose of facing in the right direction. 

I would like to save myself and my fellow passenger that New 

York Minute. (It’s really a minute and a half). If you multiply that by 

the number of passengers, then we are wasting a lot of time. We are 

tired at the end of the day, we are all running late. We want to get home 

and have dinner. Fortunately, I have discovered a shortcut (see diagram 

below). I only wish I had thought of it sooner when they were redoing 

the lawn for the Roosevelt Island welcoming kiosk, but: Would it be 

possible to build a road that gently goes around the green in front of the 

Tram? People would board the bus in the same spot as they do now, and 

then it would circle the green and we would be on our way. That would 

save us all a lot of time. 

With the construction of all the new buildings, why not have one more 

piece of construction work, a new road? At least this construction will 

not be contributing to more congestion on the Island. 

Neal Weissman 

MAIN STREET 

CROSS-ISLAND ROAD 

TRAM 


The WIRE’s headline, Rivercross 

Plans Departure From Mitchell- 

Lama Without Extension of Its 

Ground Lease, is misleading. The 

article itself makes clear that this 

is simply a proposal of a committee 

of residents who have labored 

long and hard to come up with a 

plan, but the headline makes it 

seem that the proposal has been 

adopted by the governing bodies 

of the Rivercross coop. That is not 

the case. 

The Rivercross Board of Directors 

will need to study the proposal 

for its legality and financial feasibility, 

as well as determine, after 

due diligence and review, whether 

it serves the best interests of all 

shareholders. Any plan to leave 

Mitchell-Lama would then require 

a two-thirds vote of Rivercross’s 

360 tenant-shareholder units to 

begin a long process that starts with 

the filing of a “notice of intent” 

with the State. Thereafter, disclosure 

documents must be prepared 

outlining the plan and its risks, 

which must be accepted for filing 

by the Attorney General’s office. 

Public meetings of shareholders 

and officials must take place. Upon 

review by legal counsel, consents 

may have to be obtained from the 

State and Rivercross’s mortgage 

lender to proceed without violating 

its ground lease, mortgage, and 

other obligations. Thus, the 

committee’s proposal is just that: 

a proposal. Whether it will become 

the “Rivercross Plan” after study, 

deliberation, consents, votes, and 

other procedures are undertaken, 

remains to be determined. 

Robert Chira 

More Letters on page 10 

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– This Weekend – 

Merit Scholarship Examination for the Garden School, Sat., Nov. 

17, 9:00 a.m., 33-16 79th St., Jackson Heights. Advance application 

required; $40 fee. For information, call 718-335-6363 and/or see 

nyc10044.com/misc/GardenSchool.html. 

Art Instruction by the Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association, Sat., 

Nov. 17, 11:00-2:00, Sportspark Art Studio, sponsored by RIOC. Free. 

Paper and art supplies provided. (Final session.) 

Opening Reception for Cool Focus, a Gallery 

RIVAA exhibit, today (Sat., Nov. 17), 6-9 p.m., at 

the Gallery, 527 Main Street. Gallery hours: Sat.- 

Sun., 11:00-5:00; Wed. and Fri., 6:00-9:00. Í 

Reception to welcome Rabbi Leana Moritt to Roosevelt Island, Sat., 

Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. For information: 212-753-0237. 

– The Coming Week – 

Thanksgiving, Thur., Nov. 22. 

– Future Weeks – 

Poetry Reading Series: Mirela Roznoveanu, Romanian literary critic 

and political columnist (and current member of the NYU law faculty), 

Sun., Nov. 25, 4:30 p.m., Gallery RIVAA. Reception and open-mike to 

follow readings. 

Toastmasters meeting, Mon., Nov., 26, 8:00 p.m. Visitors welcome. 

For location and information: 917-691-8836. 

Kew Forest School Get-Acquainted event, Wed., Nov. 28, 7:00 p.m., 

at Island Kids. Information: 212-479-8422. 

Canceled: RIOC Board of Directors meeting, Thur., Nov. 29. (See 

RIOC Column, page 2.) 

Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony at Blackwell House, Thur., Nov. 

29, 7:00 p.m., with live performances, food, hot chocolate, cider. Sponsored 

by RIOC, the Roosevelt Island Chamber of Commerce, and building 

management companies. 

The Main Street WIRE – Next issue, Sat., Dec. 1. (To receive e-mail 

bulletins between issues, send an AddMe message to 

Bulletins@MainStreetWIRE.com.) Advertising Deadlines: Ads in the paper, 

Wed., Nov. 21; decision on circulars/inserts for The Bag, Mon., 

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events here. E-mail information to 

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leave information at the lobby desk 

at 531 Main Street, addressed to 

The WIRE. Please provide a phone 

number for possible follow-up. 

Nov. 26; they are due Thur., 

Nov. 29. Additional issues in 

2007: Dec. 15. Issues in 2008: 

Jan. 12, 26; Feb. 9, 23; Mar. 15, 29; 

Apr. 19; May 3, 17, 31; June 14, 

28; Aug. 2, 30; Sept. 13, 27; Oct. 

11, 25; Nov. 8, 22; Dec. 6, 20. 

News phone, 212-826-9055; ur- 

gent matters, 917-617-0449. Phone for display and classified advertising 

placement and information, 212-751-8214. 

Island Kids Flea Market Fundraiser, Sat., Dec. 1, 12:00-5:00. Donations 

accepted Thur.-Fri., Nov. 29-30, 6:00-8:00 p.m., 536 Main St. 

community room. Information: 212-758-8408. (See ad, page 16.) 

RISA Bazaar, Sat.-Sun., Dec. 1-2, 9:00-5:00, at the Senior Center, 

546 Main St. Santa Claus visit, Sat. only, 12:00-3:00. Vendors invited; 

for information, call 212-750-3952. (See ad, page 5.) 

Residents Association Common Council meeting, Wed., Dec. 5, 8:00 

p.m., Good Shepherd Community Center (lower level). Meetings are 

open and begin with a public access period for residents to present matters 

to the Council. 

Toastmasters meeting, Mon., Dec. 10, 8:00 p.m. Visitors welcome. 

For location & information: 347-615-7268. 

RIOC Board of Directors meeting, Thur., Dec. 20. 

Book Discussion – Kaatersill Falls by Allegra Goodman, Thur., 

Dec. 20, 6:30 p.m., New York Public Library Roosevelt Island branch. 

Books available at library. 

– 2008 – 

Residents Association Common Council meeting, Wed., Jan. 9, 8:00 

p.m., Good Shepherd Community Center (lower level); meetings are 

open to all, and begin with an opportunity for residents to address the 

Senior Center 

Monday 

9:30, Hawaiian Hula 

10:30, English as 2nd Language 

12:30, “Oldies” Movies 

5:45, Yoga Tuesday 

9:30, Get Stronger Bones 

10:30, Blood Pressure 

10:30, Shoppers’ Bus 

2:00, Bingo 

2:00, Paint & Sculpt 

7:30, Games (RISA) 

Wednesday 

9:30, Yoga 

10:30, Computers 

10:30, Shoppers’ Bus 

7:00, Pokeno (RISA) 

Thursday 

9:30, Get Stronger Bones 

10:30, Creative Arts 

11:00, Tai Chi 

12:30, Movie 

Friday 

9:30, Yoga 

9:45, 10:45, 12:30, Senior Swim 

bus picks up at Good Shepherd 

stop – transport to Sportspark. 

1:00, Bridge 

7:00, Games (RISA) 

Saturday 

7:30, Bingo (RISA) 

Special Events 

Annual Dinner, today (Sat., 

Nov. 17), 6:00 p.m. 

Green Acres Mall trip, Fri., Nov. 

23, 11:00 a.m. 

Aqueduct Race Track trip, Fri., 

Nov. 30, 11:00 a.m. 

Holiday Bazaar, Sat.-Sun., Dec. 

1-2, 9:00-5:00. 

Flu Shots, Mon., Dec. 3, 9:30- 

11:30 

Home-delivered meals 212-744-5022, ext. 1203 

Last weekend I took a stroll around the newly renovated 

Blackwell House. All the barriers and fences 

have been removed, and this iconic landmark now 

looks as it once did many years ago. It did my heart 

good. The porches are again whole, with the rotting 

and splintered wood removed. The roof and windows 

now keep out the elements. 

Along with 

many of you, I remember 

events held 

in this 18th Century 

farmhouse, and I hope 

the day isn’t too far off 

when the interiors can 

accommodate organizational 

events, private 

parties, and the 

The 

RIRA 

Column 

like. We are the repository of centuries of New York 

history and, as stewards of that history, RIOC and the 

community have worked together to preserve this 

trust. 

Critters and the Common Council 

During that same meander I found myself walking 

past 501 Main Street towards the West Channel Promenade. 

To my surprise I encountered a large, furry 

rodent-like animal that I took to be a large guinea pig 

or a small beaver. It scurried into the ground cover 

behind Rivercross before I could ask it what sort of 

creature it might be. Understand, the strongest beverage 

I had consumed that day was a diet Pepsi, and 

the flu shot I had just received isn’t known for psychedelic 

effects. And so I’m pretty sure this wasn’t a 

hallucination. Now, beavers are a symbol of New 

York (they appear on our State flag), but I thought 

they had pretty much disappeared since John Jacob 

Astor made his fortune off their backs. Can anyone 

clear up this mystery for me? 

The RIRA Common Council has completed the first 

half of our two-year terms of office. As in past years, 

attrition has whittled our numbers down to around 21 

delegates from the almost three dozen that can be 

seated from the residential districts. In each Council, 

members have reconsidered their promises, signed off 

on in their nomination forms, to serve out their full 

terms if elected. We are all volunteers, after all, there 

is nothing binding us to this obligation, and each of 

us interprets this commitment of time and energy differently. 

But there are now vacant seats from many of the 

building complexes that may be filled mid-term by 

interested residents. If you have been looking to work 

on behalf of this community, there are a variety of 

issues and projects in RIRA for you to sink your teeth 

into. Contact me, a representative from your building, 

or any Council member for information. 

Police, Parties, and Parks 

RIRA met last week for our monthly Common 

Council. We’ve encountered difficulty in convening 

the quorum necessary to conduct business of late, and 

I hope that a smaller, more cohesive group will correct 

this problem. In this case, we were obliged to 

wait a half-hour until the necessary number arrived. 

This was especially irksome as we had several guests 

from the 114th Precinct cooling their heels prior to 

the Public Access portion of our agenda. We invited 

NYPD Captain Ralph Forgione and several commu- 

Middle of November. I am delighted to be back at 

my desk. Thank you to all who sent their wishes. The 

combination of personal support with modern medical 

science is really quite astonishing. For current 

events: 

1. TEP: The 

foremost hot issue 

is the issuance of 

retroactive and extremely 

high Tax 

Equivalency Payment 

(“TEP”) bills 

by ESDC to the 

three remaining 

Mitchell-Lama 

The 

RIOC 

Column 

buildings. RIOC and DHCR have been working with 

the owners and tenant groups to preserve the stock of 

affordable housing, and this action by ESDC seems 

counterproductive. The Commissioner of Housing 

is well aware of the problem and is in touch with the 

Governor’s office to try to rationalize the differing 

approaches. The Island’s elected representatives, 

Assemblymember Kellner and Councilmember 

Lappin, have also weighed in on the matter. RIOC 

remains committed to the principles of the GDP. More 

to follow. 

2. Blackwell House: The construction fence is 

down and this historic restoration is again on full display. 

Interior renovation and programming remains 

to be accomplished. The Island has a treasure. Everyone 

should be encouraged to admire and protect 

it. 

3. Steam Plant-Cogeneration study: The 

NYSERDA contract has been fully executed and the 

study, expected to take about 4-6 months, is underway. 

The Main Street WIRE, Sat., Nov. 17, 2007 • 3 

nity officers to visit and respond to questions from 

the Council. It was a far-reaching discussion, covering 

parking and traffic issues, liaising and training 

issues with Public Safety, and emergency planning 

and reporting concerns. Since Roosevelt Island is 

politically part of Manhattan, the 19th Precinct is actually 

our precinct of record; the 114th in Queens responds 

as a practical matter, but our crime stats are 

reported in Manhattan. Screwy but true! 

We voted to fund a 30th anniversary Open House 

for RIRA, to be held at the Gallery RIVAA on Saturday, 

December 1, from 5 to 9 p.m. The bash is open 

to the community, 

so please drop by 

and wish us well. 

We also considered 

a request for support 

from our new 

neighbor, 

Marianne Labriola 

(and her organization, 

Open Heart/ 

Open Voice), 

whom you may 

have met at the Fall 

for Arts Festival; 

she sang beautifully 

in the evening 

concert at the Good 

Shepherd Commu- 

nity Center. 

Marianne has applied 

for a modest 

Public-Purpose 

Matthew Katz, President 

Roosevelt Island Residents Association 

e-mail: MatthewKatz@verizon.net 

grant to support a monthly concert series that would 

be provided to the community free of charge. The 

Common Council voted electronically over the last 

weekend, endorsing the request unanimously. 

Roosevelt Island offers a cornucopia of the arts far in 

excess of what one might expect in so small a community. 

This is by far the most ambitious concert 

series ever envisioned here, and we wish Marianne 

well. 

Speaking of 30th anniversaries, congrats to 

Rivercross on reaching that ripe old age. Sherie and 

I attended their party, as elegant as all Rivercrucians’ 

parties are, and had a ball. There was food being 

offered in every nook and cranny of the three lobbies, 

with a variety of entertainers, both on- and off- 

Islanders, keeping the mood convivial. Thanks, 

neighbors, you really know how to throw a party! 

In my last column, I spoke at length on the decisions 

being made regarding the Kahn Memorial to 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Since then, The New York 

Times has come out in an editorial also endorsing the 

project. I responded in an on-line Letter to the Editor 

last Monday, asking when someone in authority will 

listen to and acknowledge a community that has made 

it clear that it wants some other memorial to FDR. Is 

anybody listening? 

RIOC Elections and Rumors 

Last week the RIOC Elections Working Group, 

composed of RIRA and Maple Tree Group activists, 

offered an Orientation to candidates for the RIOC 

Board of Directors. The purpose was two-fold: to 

See RIRA Column, page 10 

4. Southtown: The construction continues apace 

on buildings 5 and 6. Great to watch for all of us 

amateur sidewalk superintendents. 

5. Tram: We are proceeding with the planning for 

the modernization of the Tram and have met with the 

Port Authority, among others, to benefit from their 

contracting experience in developing the Airtrain. 

6. Senior Swim: Despite our best efforts, we have 

not been able to attract 

enough participants 

to keep 

the program going. 

So, until enough 

seniors can get together 

who want to 

swim, we are reluctantly 

closing it 

down. 

7. Tree Lighting: 

November 29 

at 7:00 p.m. at 

Blackwell House. 

Come all ye faithful. 

8. Street Lighting: 

The hard core 

of non-working 

lights continues to 

be a problem on 

which RIOC is 

Steve Shane, President 

Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation 

e-mail: SShane@RIOC.com 

working. Con Edison is difficult to get and hold their 

attention. 

9. Board of Directors Meeting: Because of the 

low number of items on the November agenda, we 

are going to skip it and schedule a Board meeting for 

December 20 at 9:30 a.m. instead.


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LIGHTING 

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Mitchell-Lama Snafu Crystalizes Views on Island Housing... 

ESDC from page 1 

unable to make its tax-equivalency payments without a 

maintenance increase that DHCR won’t grant. 

If the increases remain in force, they will destroy affordable 

housing for Westview and Island House. A probable 

majority of current tenants, unable or unwilling to pay the 

increases required, would seek other housing. But this would 

present a problem for the owners. Michell-Lama rules 

specify income ranges for replacement tenants, and the rents 

are keyed to what families in those income ranges can afford 

to pay. As their names popped up on the list to take 

over available apartments, existing applicants would no 

longer be getting an offer of an apartment within their financial 

reach, and it’s likely many would turn down the 

opportunity to move in. 

How this happened is not altogether clear, even to 

VanAmerongen: “What exactly triggered them to focus on 

this issue, I don’t know,” she said Tuesday. But late last 

week – going into Saturday – she and other officials at 

DHCR were trying to make it clear that they had nothing to 

do with it – that the action was entirely that of ESDC, which 

inherited the rights and responsibilities (and bond debt) of 

the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) when it went 

bankrupt. They were, said the DHCR officials, “as surprised 

as anybody.” 

Conspiracy Theory 

Despite those comments, some saw a deliberate act, which 

they were attributing to the Commissioner of Housing, 

Deborah VanAmerongen. She also chairs the RIOC Board 

of Directors, and she has set a goal of losing no units of 

affordable housing here. Across the City and State, many 

Mitchell-Lama developments have left the program, and she 

seeks to stem that flow. In the case of Roosevelt Island, 

long-term affordability is a requirement VanAmerongen has 

set forth for the future of Island House, Westview, and 

Rivercross. (Eastwood already “escaped” Mitchell-Lama 

under the Pataki administration, with a program that moves 

apartments to market rate when they become vacant.) 

VanAmerongen doesn’t want the three remaining original 

Northtown buildings to leave the program or, if they do, 

she wants guarantees of long-term affordability. 

The thought was that VanAmerongen was in league with 

ESDC, creating a crunch for Rivercross’s tenant-shareholders 

and for Charles Lucido, who heads the consortia that 

own Island House and Westview. Supposedly, they would 

run to VanAmerongen with a request that she hold off ESDC 

and she would respond with an offer to solve the crisis – 

but with conditions. 

But DHCR denials include that theory, which raises other 

possibilities. 

The first is that, within the Spitzer administration, there 

is a left hand (ESDC) acting fully independently and without 

the knowledge of the right hand (DHCR) – ESDC effectively 

pulling the plug on DHCR’s affordable housing 

policy, or at least “preserving its claim” to its power to do 

that, as VanAmerongen described it Tuesday. It suggests a 

serious lack of communication and consultation within the 

Spitzer administration that may include HFA, the Housing 

Finance Agency. 

The second is the possibility that VanAmerongen may 

exact a price in return for her good offices in getting ESDC 

to back off. That price, presumably, would be an ironclad 

plan for long-term affordability. On Tuesday, she said: 

“After the [ESDC rent] notices went out, I went back and 

asked for reassurance that they are still willing to have discussion: 

‘Would you be willing to enter into discussions 

and renegotiate a TEP [tax-equivalency payment] level that 

will be affordable?’ They have assured me that they will 

be.” By seeking such a reassurance from ESDC, 

VanAmerongen acquires leverage with the Island’s housing 

companies. 

She would then be 

in a position to 

impose her 

affordability requirements 

in future 

negotiations 

as the price for 

keeping ESDC at 

bay. 

“Our understanding 

is that the 

housing portfolio 

of ESDC has been 

moved, under the 

Spitzer administration, 

to HFA, 

from a policy perspective, 

with DHCR continuing to serve from a regulatory 

perspective,” IHTA’s Davis told The WIRE. “The nitty-gritty 

of that transition between agencies is still being integrated 

into their internal systems, approaches, and mindsets. Part 

of ESDC’s initiative in this regard may have been to push a 

particular agency agenda forward in the State’s policy debate 

concerning affordable housing and which agency is in 

charge.” 

“I’m presuming affordable transactions can be put together 

– that it can be negotiated,” VanAmerongen said. Speaking 

specifically of the Rivercross cooperative, she later added, 

“I have not had any discussions with the Rivercross folks 

about the particulars of their situation... We need to circle 

back around with Rivercross and ESDC involved.” 

Potential Owner Response 

If the ESDC boost in PILOTs were to stand, 

VanAmerongen’s DHCR would be faced with an immediate 

and desperate request from building owners to increase, 

dramatically, the maintenance payments (in the case of 

Kellner to the Battle, Trying to Get Spitzer’s Attention 

Governor Eliot Spitzer 

Executive Chamber 

State Capitol, 2 nd Floor 

Albany, NY 11248 

Dear Governor Spitzer: 

I am seriously alarmed by the recent action taken by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) dramatically 

increasing the Tax Equivalent Payments (TEPs) for the three remaining Mitchell-Lama buildings on Roosevelt Island: 

Island House, Rivercross, and Westview. The TEP increases range between an astronomical 600 and 700%, removing all 

incentives for these buildings to remain within the Mitchell-Lama program and jeopardizing the long-term affordability 

of thousands of tenants’ homes. 

While ESDC has the right under its ground leases with the owners of Westview, Island House, and Rivercross to 

discontinue the tax abatements after 30 years, doing so would unilaterally and effectively eliminate the affordable housing 

stock on Roosevelt Island. These actions threaten to undermine the work done by Division of Housing and Community 

Renewal (DHCR) Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen and Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) 

President Stephen Shane to preserve affordable housing in this community. 

One of the buildings, Rivercross, a Mitchell-Lama Co-op already desperately in need of millions of dollars for basic 

repairs, has been told that their TEP will increase 685% from approximately $525,000 to an alarming $3.6 million. The 

tenant leaders of Rivercross estimate that the new TEP will cause monthly maintenance payments to be raised by 45% for 

each household. This will undoubtedly create an extreme financial hardship on residents, 66% of whom are senior 

citizens and most of whom live on fixed incomes. Tenants living in Westview and Island House will be similarly and 

unconscionably burdened. 

In 2005, after authorization from the State Legislature, the New York City Council passed Resolution No. 388-A, 

extending real property tax exemptions for 50 more years to Mitchell-Lama housing companies if buildings remain in the 

program. Since the passage of Resolution No. 388-A, there has been some question as to whether or not it is applicable 

to Roosevelt Island’s Mitchell-Lama buildings. So you are aware, attached to Resolution No. 388-A, was a list of buildings 

covered by the legislation, that includes Westview, Island House, and Rivercross. It is clear to me that when the State 

Legislature and the City Council voted to extend these tax exemptions, they explicitly intended to include Roosevelt 

Island. 

To date, your administration has shown a strong commitment to preserving and enhancing affordable housing, particularly 

Mitchell-Lama housing. ESDC’s actions are contrary to your work in this direction, and I hope represent a correctible 

error. DHCR and RIOC are the State agencies that work most closely with Roosevelt Island. ESDC should not be 

allowed to create policy in this community without first engaging these agencies. 

I understand that ESDC has recently agreed to meet with DHCR about this issue. This is not enough. Before irreversible 

harm is done to the tenants of Roosevelt Island, I urge you to instruct ESDC to rescind the recent tax equivalency 

bills issued to the owners of Island House, Westview, and Rivercross and continue to grant them their former tax abatement 

for as long as they remain in the Mitchell-Lama program. 

I thank you for your immediate attention to this matter. 

Very truly yours, 

Micah Z. Kellner 

Member of Assembly 

Rivercross) and rents (Island House and Westview). In short, 

if VanAmerongen can’t get ESDC to back off completely 

or almost completely, her agency will be faced with the 

impossible task of attempting to maintain affordable housing 

in apartments that have moved, almost overnight, out of 

the “affordable” category. 

The owners would be looking to leave Mitchell-Lama as 

soon as possible, to have the means of raising the funds 

required to pay the taxes. 

ESDC’s increase is, therefore, untenable, say those who 

are following the situation. Westview co-chair Opher Pail 

said, “This is absurd. The basis of our discussions with 

DHCR [toward resident ownership] was a freeze at the current 

level for 20 years. It’s a shocker – a bureaucratic snafu, 

not intentional – I hope.” 

But VanAmerongen said, “I’m not going to say that the 

[TEP] bills don’t 

mean anything, 

I’m being told that they are 

willing to discuss some 

negotiation on the TEP 

payments presuming there is 

some long-term affordability 

on those properties. 

–DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen 

because they 

could demand a 

payment and 

could pursue it 

aggressively.” 

Speaking of the 

managing partner 

for both Island 

House and 

Westview, she 

said, “I recommend 

that 

[Charles] Lucido 

reach out to 

ESDC directly. 

I’m being told that 

they are willing to discuss some negotiation on the TEP 

payments presuming there is some long-term affordability 

on those properties – willing to hold off until we have a 

deal to present to them.” Others suggested that Lucido could 

finally throw up his hands in disgust, and file for exit from 

Mitchell-Lama, a move which, if successful, could make 

both buildings far more valuable – particularly if he could 

anticipate getting an extension on the buildings’ ground 

leases sometime in the next 15 to 20 years, which observers 

consider likely. 

But VanAmerongen said, “It would be premature to talk 

about rent increases or opting out [of Mitchell-Lama] to 

have the money to pay [the increased TEP], until we know. 

We are still on the same path and the need for an argument 

for a good affordable-housing transaction is stronger than 

it ever was. It’s another reason we have to do affordability, 

not just because I want it, or RIOC wants it. It’s another 

reason to do an affordable transaction, to get ESDC to the 

table.” 

She added, “Opting out of Mitchell-Lama would be the 

wrong way to be thinking about this.” 

Choices 

Even so, the threat of an ESDC tax-equivalency hike does 

create a starkness to building choices. Leaving Mitchell- 

Lama, if it can be done successfully, would allow rent increases, 

but they would unquestionably be a serious hardship 

for most current residents of Island House and 

Westview. (Rivercross would cover increased taxes by keeping 

a substantial portion of the selling price of vacated apartments.) 

The other alternative is to bow to specific DHCR 

demands regarding future affordability and hope that 

VanAmerongen has the leverage with the Governor, and 

thus ultimately with ESDC, to keep the TEPs from going so 

high as to drive tenants out with rent increases that her 

agency would have to approve. 

M. E. Freeman, an attorney who is a pioneer Rivercross 

resident and a member of the building’s committee working 

toward an exit from Mitchell-Lama, told The WIRE on 

Wednesday that, “If ESDC goes through with this, it is essential 

and beyond argument that Rivercross will have to 

convert – become a conventional private-housing cooperative. 

We would have no ability to handle the PILOT increase 

without a 45% incease in maintenance fees, which is 

our only way under Mitchell-Lama to meet such costs. If 

we convert, we’ll be able to meet these costs through exit 

fees” (the building’s share of profit from the first sale of 

each apartment). Freeman said such a course would “allow 

our existing shareholders to remain in their apartments. That 

has always been our primary goal.” 

Politicians representing Roosevelt Island were in gear 

soon after the notices were received, attempting to head off 

a housing panic by demanding a rollback, or at least a delay 

in implementation, of the PILOT increase announced by 

ESDC. But there were no unqualified successes in that effort. 

Assemblymember Micah Kellner said, on Tuesday, 

“From what I understand, this is ESDC not understanding 

that these buildings are still within the Mitchell-Lama program. 

Deborah [VanAmerongen] thought they had an understanding, 

and this came out of left field.” He added, 

“The only thing that’s been agreed to is that ESDC has 

agreed to meet with Commissioner VanAmerongen to discuss 

how to further the policy of affordable housing. ESDC 

doesn’t realize that they’ve made an incredible mistake here. 

I’m asking the Governor to intercede and instruct ESDC to 

rescind the TEP bills they’ve sent out, and to work with

DHCR on the affordable housing goal.” 

Kellner was preparing a letter to the Governor but commented, 

“If we can’t solve this administratively among the 

agencies and the administration, we’re going to have to seek 

a legislative solution.” 

City Council’s 2005 Action 

In fact, there was a legislative solution. It is another dimension 

to the legal and regulatory climate in which the 

ESDC action took place. At least in theory, it could render 

the ESDC increases moot. But there’s a question of what 

the State Legislature intended in passing a law, and of how 

that law would be interpreted in the case of Roosevelt Island. 

The law, passed in 2003, gave municipal legislatures, including 

the New York City Council, the power to extend 

Mitchell-Lama tax abatements by up to 50 years. In 2005, 

then-Coucilmember and City Council Speaker Gifford 

Miller proposed that the City Council do just that, and it 

did. Westview, Island House, Rivercross, and Eastwood 

were specifically included in the City Council’s list of such 

buildings, but it later emerged that the Island buildings were 

technically excluded because they pay PILOTs, not “real 

taxes.” Nonetheless, Alexander “Pete” Grannis, who represented 

Roosevelt Island at the time in the State Assembly, 

assured Islanders that Mitchell-Lama buildings here were 

included, in spirit and intent if not in the specifics of the 

language. The WIRE ran a series of articles and commentaries 

on the matter, reaching the conclusion that, strictly 

speaking, the Island Mitchell-Lamas were not included and 

that the PILOTs could therefore be increased. 

But few believed that the Island’s Mitchell-Lama developments 

would be excluded from the “gift” of longer-term tax 

relief bestowed on all the other Mitchell-Lamas in the State. 

In fact, it seems highly unlikely that the State Legislature 

intended to exclude Roosevelt Island’s Mitchell-Lama buildings 

when it gave the power of tax abatement extension to 

local city councils. It’s also likely there was no intent to 

include the buildings – that is, that the Legislature didn’t 

consider Roosevelt Island at all. But attorney Robert Chira, 

who has written commentaries for The WIRE on housing 

issues, says that, in his view, “The City Council resolution 

takes precedence over the leases.” Chira goes on to explain, 

“The City Council is the legislative body that imposes 

real-estate taxes on properties in New York City – not the 

Mayor, not the State, not any State agency like ESDC or UDC... 

The very Lease provision derives from the Mitchell-Lama law. 

It is not an independent provision that UDC came up with and 

put into the Lease. It is in the Lease because the Mitchell- 

Lama law mandates a 30-year exemption.” 

But last week’s action showed that ESDC, at least, didn’t 

share the belief that the City Council had the power to extend 

tax abatements for the Island’s buildings. 

Kellner commented, “This is, again, the interesting issue 

of Roosevelt Island being its own unique universe.” 

Rivercross resident Freeman, seeing 

the overall situation through legal eyes, 

said, “It’s simple. We want equal treatment 

under the law. We are asking to 

be treated like everyone else.” She 

discredits any claim that the 2003 law 

and the 2005 City Council resolution 

don’t apply on Roosevelt Island. “We 

were told by our elected officials that, 

to the extent that the resolution did not 

effectively cover Roosevelt Island, 

appropriate steps would be taken to 

include us. We expect our elected officials 

and our government to give us 

that treatment by whatever means necessary, 

on the same basis it was extended 

to other Mitchell-Lama buildings.” 

She added, “To treat us otherwise 

would be discriminatry, arbitrary, 

and capricious, and it would fly in the 

face of this administration’s alleged 

policy of affordability.” 

Incentive to Leave 

Even if the matter is resolved in a 

return to the old PILOT levels, the action 

raises a question about what a future 

ESDC, perhaps under another 

Governor, might do. That, in turn, 

seems to increase the incentive for the 

buildings to get out of Mitchell-Lama 

without any long-term promises about 

affordability, so that they’ll have the 

power to increase rents (and maintenance 

payments) as necessary, should 

ESDC ultimately increase taxes. 

Once out of Mitchell-Lama, tax 

abatements go away, anyway. So the 

building tenants, trying to take over 

ownership of their buildings, and 

Rivercross tenants, who already own 

the corporation that owns the building, 

face a choice made simpler by the prospect 

of the ESDC increase: Leave 

Mitchell-Lama, gain the right to sell 

apartments at full market, levy a “flip 

tax” (a share of each apartment sale that 

goes to the corporate entity the tenants 

own), and use those funds to pay the 

higher taxes. In the case of Rivercross, 

that’s the heart of a plan recently described 

to the tenant-shareholders. 

As Rivercross started celebrating its 

30th anniversary last Sunday with a 

party throughout its lobby areas, resident 

leaders seemed to have reached 

some tentative conclusions: 

• That the ESDC action provided increased incentive for 

Rivercross to opt out of Mitchell-Lama and use a flip tax on 

apartment sales to fund PILOT payments, and 

• That the PILOT increases imposed by ESDC cannot 

stand in light of the buildings’ financial structure and 

DHCR’s likely unwillingness to grant rent (or maintenance) 

increases adequate to cover the increased cost. 

Rivercross, however, faces a special problem. Chira 

points out that, because it has already paid off its Statebacked 

mortgage and switched to a private mortgage, the 

ESDC action could make the lender uneasy about the possibility 

that the building’s tenant-shareholders could be unable 

and unwilling to make the PILOT payments called for. 

If the building fell into a tax default, either by inability to 

pay or by virtue of mounting a legal battle against the ESDC 


...With Hints of Infighting on Who Has Authority Over Housing 

Lappin Weighs In 

Executive Deputy Commissioner Patrick Foye 

Empire State Development Corporation 

30 South Pearl Street 

Albany, NY 10017 

Dear Deputy Commissioner Foye: 

I am writing to express my shock and dismay regarding 

the recent action taken by the Empire State Development 

Corporation (ESDC) to increase the Tax Equivalent Payments 

(TEPs) by 600-700% for the Mitchell-Lama buildings 

on Roosevelt Island. 

At the present time, Island House, Westview, and 

Rivercross are all in the Mitchell-Lama program. These 

three buildings provide 1,148 units of affordable housing 

to middle income New Yorkers. 

While I am aware that the ground lease agreements between 

ESDC and the owners of Westview, Island House, 

and Rivercross give ESDC the ability to increase TEP payments 

after 30 years, it is bad public policy to do so at this 

time. As long as these buildings remain in Mitchell-Lama, 

they should benefit from tax abatements. In 2005, the City 

Council and the State Legislature passed legislation to extend 

property tax exemptions for Mitchell-Lama buildings 

to fifty years, instead of thirty, and certainly intended for 

Roosevelt Island to be covered by this legislation. 

These increased TEPs will make it impossible for 

Rivercross to remain in the Mitchell-Lama program and for 

residents of Island House or Westview to achieve their goal 

of a tenant sponsored buyout. Not only will these increases 

force market rate conversions, they will also make it impossible 

for shareholders or tenants to retain any affordable 

housing in these buildings. Even worse, these increased 

payments will certainly force hundreds of Roosevelt Island 

residents from their homes. 

It is my understanding that ESDC did not reach out to the 

New York State Department of Housing and Community 

Renewal Commissioner (DHCR) Deborah VanAmerongen, 

Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) President 

Steve Shane, or any local elected officials before deciding 

to send out these TEP increases. In failing to do so, ESDC 

undermined our collective efforts to protect tenants and 

maintain short and long term affordability on the Island. 

I hope that ESDC will review and reverse this decision. I 

look forward to working with you to resolving this issue in 

an amicable and timely manner. 

Jessica Lappin 

Council Member, 5 th District-Manhattan 

TEP invoice received “out of the blue” by Rivercross’s 

mortgage holder, The Community Preservation 

Corporation, puts the building’s monthly tax-equivalency 

cost at a high multiple of the past cost. 

increase, the lender’s mortgage could suddenly become a 

very risky proposition. 

One concern for Rivercross residents could be that DHCR 

might attempt to treat that building differently, that is, to 

cause ESDC to back off on the higher TEP payments for 

Westview and Island House, but to allow them to be im- 

The WIRE’s 2005 coverage of the tax abatement issue for the Island’s Mitchell- 

Lama buildings is available on line, on Website NYC10044. Internet addresses 

for the relevant issues are shown, with dates, below. 

February 19, 2005 

nyc10044.com/wire/2512/wire2512.pdf 

March 5, 2005 


April 2, 2005 


May 14, 2005 


posed on Rivercross while it is attempting to exit Mitchell- 

Lama. However, attorney Freeman says that would be unequal 

treatment, illegal under the law. She said she would 

expect Rivercross to be treated according to its legal status 

as a Mitchell-Lama cooperative, without regard to any plans 

it might be making to exit the program. 

Commenting on DHCR’s policy of keeping units in 

Mitchell-Lama, Freeman said, “They’re concerned about 

future unborns.” Noting that the affected buildings are in 

need of catch-up maintenance that Rivercross hopes to fund 

through the exit fees, she said, “Our concern must be with 

present-day residents – our fixed-income and senior shareholders.” 

Even if ESDC backs off on the increases, Freeman 

said, “We will be in the same position we were in before 

they imposed this, which is that we want to exit 

Mitchell-Lama and we have a plan to do it, and we will 

continue on that course for all the reasons that we first presented 

the plan.” 

“We collectively are pawns in this debate,” IHTA’s Davis 

told The WIRE. “From no matter what perspective – owner, 

investor, tenant association. Our strength is that our issues 

are ‘real’ people issues, not concepts. In order for the policies 

to be brought to life, they have to concretize into a ‘real 

people’ scenario. This is what we provide the State in this 

debate. The good news is that the debate is still fluid and 

we can influence it.” 

Davis added, “As to what will happen going forward, it 

depends on how committed Governor Spitzer’s administration 

is to upholding the rights of tenants to become 

homeowners.”


Celebrating 30 Years, Rivercross Also Celebrates Building’s Staff 

The Board and shareholders of Rivercross honored the building’s staff at its 30th anniversary party last weekend. First row, left to right: Elizabeth Sencion, Management Assistant; 

Michael Hayden, Fitness Counselor; David Ortiz, Concierge; Michael Cruz, Maintenance Specialist; Luis Ortega, Porter; Mitchell Hammer, General Manager; Zenel Perezic, Resident 

Manager. Second row: George Morris, Maintenance Specialist; Agim Llolla, Porter; Edwin Santiago, Porter; Miguel Parra, Porter; Hadzi “Harry” Zenunovic, Maintenance Specialist; 

Jaime DeJesus, Doorkeeper; Alfredo Lopez, Porter; José Toribio, Doorkeeper. Not present for the photograph: Ralph Rivera, Porter; Felipe Wu, Porter; Pablo Rivera, Porter; Agim 

Gjevukaj, Porter; Alex Lall, Maintenance Specialist; Amed Morales, Porter; Paul Thursland, Doorkeeper; Timothy Spiro, Doorkeeper; Dan Satchwell, Temp. 

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Letters from page 2 

To RIOC Board Members: 

I am writing regarding a very serious concern. 

The Island has grown so much that it 

is imperative that we do more to increase 

the ability for residents to recycle and conserve. 

I recently attended a course with the Department 

of Sanitation. They are very willing 

to supply us with signs and other information 

to distribute in multiple languages. 

The individual buildings would have to purchase 

receptacles: one for glass, one for 

metal, and one for paper. I realize that space 

is sometimes a problem. But this is minor 

compared to the benefit this would provide. 

I have already met with Doryne Isley. She 

was interested but had reservations as to how 

to put this into place. She said that sorting 

is done in the basement by the porters. However, 

I am dubious as to how thoroughly it 

is being done. The first line of defense is 

the residents who would make this process 

so much easier for the porters. 

Beyond the crucial sorting that residents 

would contribute, I realize that there is also 

the issue of hauling recycled material away. 

I think that we could work this out as well, 

especially with our friends in the political 

arena. 

Please take this into serious consideration. 

I would be happy to do whatever is needed 

to facilitate this process. My contact in the 

Department of Sanitation is also willing to 

help us as much as possible. 

Environmental problems are more critical 

than ever, and I think that 13,000 people is 

not an insignificant number of people to 

make a dent in this problem. 

Katherine Vithlani 


Island Cats, a community group dedicated 

to the neutering of outdoor and abandoned 

cats on the Island, conducted a cat-sterilization 

program November 2-11, directed by 

the ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance for 

NYC’s Animals. Because of an emergency 

last-minute situation with the cold weather, 

we asked RIOC if we could use the Montauk 

Credit Union space for that number of days. 

It was agreed that it would be on a one-time 

basis. It has come to our attention that there 

were some complaints about an odor in the 

Island House lobby, which we fixed immediately. 

We very much regret any discomfort 

residents of Island House were caused. 

But we also regret any problems this may 

have caused RIOC. There was no way for 

anyone to foresee that this one-time, brief 

emergency accomodation would create such 

a problem. As many of us on the Island have 

reason to know, the new RIOC is working 

hard and imaginatively to help groups performing 

a community service. 

Jennifer Dunning 

Island Cats 


I certainly have appreciated all the help 

that my fellow Islanders have given me over 

the years. Especially, then, do I apologize 

for the rude way I treated the gentleman, 

with his wife, when they offered to help me 

up after I had tripped and fallen by the Deli 

on the morning of Sunday, October 25. (I 

was the blind man in the orange shirt.) 

My reflexes are slowing down, and I am 

really becoming a cranky old man, despite 

my efforts to mask the fact. I am not used to 

unexpected falls. Thank you! 

Thank you, everybody, for all your kindness. 

Reed Devlin 


Now you get something extra for the price 

of admission to the subway station on 

Roosevelt Island. They have found a new 

way to torture us: Talking escalators that 

don’t shut up and can be heard from one end 

of the station to the other. And nothing is so 

heartfelt as a mechanical voice wishing me, 

“Have a good day!” just after it has ordered 

me about. It said something about holding 

the handrail, but I don’t really recall because 

it was so traumatic I blocked most of it out. 

Please go tell George Bush to stop torturing 

the Arabs and the rest of us commuters. 

Neal Weissman 

To the Editor, New York Times: 

“A Roosevelt for Roosevelt Island?” Absolutely! Just not this three acre anachronism 

that was repudiated in a public survey taken in October 2004 by Southpoint Park designer, 

The Trust for Public Land. For seven years we Islanders have been a part of the planning 

for this thirteen-acre park and there is consensus that it should include an FDR Memorial. 

But we endorsed a “Wild Gardens/Green Rooms” design concept and rejected the Kahn 

plan as too formal and too sterile. The Kahn plan has hung fire for the last thirty-three 

years and now, as the $12.9 million Southpoint Park Phase I approaches the start of construction, 

the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute has put all their eggs in the Kahn 

basket. If our public officials no longer find the 2004 survey valid, why don’t they commission 

another? Parks should be built for the public that will use them not for the architectural 

community that will visit once and never return. 

Matthew Katz, President 

Roosevelt Island Residents Association 

New York Times editorial, Monday, November 5 

To State Senator Jose Serrano: 

During your campaign, you promised Roosevelt Island that you would set up office 

hours in the community. Though you’ve been in office for a full year and more, we’ve 

seen neither hide nor hair of you or any of your representatives, except at our blood drive 

in the June Roosevelt Island Day event. Assemblyman Kellner has office hours every 

Thursday, 3-7 p.m., in the RIOC office conference room. You could probably make a 

similar arrangement. 

You probably are, or certainly should be, aware of the huge debacle that has occurred 

with the loss of Eastwood from the affordable housing stock under the RIOC administration 

headed by Herbert Berman and under DHCR’s oversight. Perhaps you’ve gotten 

wind of the difficulties being experienced by Rivercross, Westview, and Island House 

buildings, all in Mitchell-Lama but working to extricate our separate buildings from the 

intransigence and ineptitude of DHCR by creating affordable and long-term tenant ownership. 

DHCR has recently made it a more difficult task imposing on us their criteria of 

“second-generation” to the terms of long-term housing affordability, in order to satisfy the 

current DHCR Commissioner VanAmerongen. In spite of this added burden, this criterion 

has been met. 

The concern of DHCR is housing, not homes. Stephen Shane, the current President/ 

CEO of RIOC, has said as much in a face-to-face meeting with the Westview Board of 

Directors. He’s not worried if we lose our homes, or residents leave due to their not being 

able to wait for serious repairs to be made by owners, but who, during privatization negotiations, 

have no intention of doing those necessary repairs. Yet Mr. Shane quite unambiguously 

stated to the Westview Board that he wasn’t bothered by our possible loss of 

tenants and would have no trouble filling our apartments because there’s a long list of 

people needing housing and waiting to take ours! 

And now, this serious additional attack on Roosevelt Island housing: Within the last two 

weeks, the three remaining Mitchell-Lama buildings’ owners have received news that the 

ESDC is beginning to bill our three buildings for full tax-equivalency payments, despite 

City Council Resolution 388-A granting real-property tax abatment (PILOTs), for an additional 

period of 50 years, to Mitchell-Lama housing companies. Our buildings were included 

on the list attached to this resolution. Some questions were raised at the time as to 

the applicability of this bill to our buildings, but we were assured by our political representatives 

(were you included?) that our tax abatement would continue as long as we were in 

the M-L program. 

This news means that an increase to Mitchell-Lama owners’ tax bills creates a situation 

whereby the owners will be required to pay a PILOT increase between 75% and possibly 

up to 100% in Westview and Island House of what is currently being paid, even while in 

the Mitchell-Lama program! In other words, ESDC (the State) does not recognize these 

Roosevelt Island Mitchell-Lamas as part of the City Council resolution. ESDC has found 

itself an easy and lucrative funding source! This enormous increase could force owners to 

pull out of the program faster and sell off their buildings, ricocheting into enormous rent 

hikes by new owners, and forcing current residents out. Or the current owners may try to 

pass on this tax hike to tenants while still in the program. Of course, while in Mitchell- 

Lama they’d need the authorization from DHCR to raise the rents. But from Westview’s 

point of view this is an agency that has never seen a rent hike it didn’t like, no matter the 

“affordability” issue. Higher rents, one way or the other, would be required to pay this bill 

because, as we all know, the owners are not expected to pay it out of their own pockets. If 

our rents were raised by 100%, what does that say about DHCR’s mantra of affordable 

housing? 

We are hoping for a political solution to this problem and hope that you will be part of it. 

Will you make it a point to come to this community with your colleagues and with some 

real information, and more importantly, with real solutions for us vis-à-vis this craziness 

from ESDC? This community is constantly under attack from either unfettered development, 

DHCR’s mismanagement, or RIOC. And now we’ve got ESDC on our backs. So 

much for paradise. 

Have you and Assemblyman Kellner spoken about this issue? Have you been in touch 

with Roosevelt Island’s City Council Representative, Jessica Lappin? What are you going 

to do to help remedy this situation? 

Roosevelt Islanders, a prime key to your election to the State Senate hope to see you 

again soon. We hope we don’t have to wait until next June. 

Sherie L. Helstien 

Secretary, Roosevelt Island Residents Association 

Member, Westview Taskforce Board of Directors 

To RIOC President Steve Shane: 

This is belated, but I want to thank you 

for clearing the street of many of the perpetual 

parkers. There seem to be a few left, 

like the van with the broken-down driver’s 

running board that stays in front of the 

school, but at least now there is a 50/50 

chance of finding a legal space open. 

I hope you will be able to keep the PS 

folks from being selective in their enforcement 

duties. 

By the by, perhaps the Empire State Development 

bombshell may help to persuade 

the folks to look with a wider scope at the 

effort toward privatization. Your efforts on 

that have been in the right direction, too. 

David J. Bauer 

offers many 

opportunities for 

volunteer 

involvement in 

gathering and getting 

out the news. To 

learn more, call 

Dick Lutz at 

212-826-9055, or 

Sherie Helstien at 

212-935-7534. 

Be a part of it! 

RIRA Column from page 3 

present current Directors to the candidates 

and to offer pointers on how best to reach 

the Island-wide electorate. Only two RIOC 

Board Members, Charlee Miller and Mark 

Ponton, responded to our invitation to attend. 

They offered candid descriptions of 

what is expected from the Board, what the 

time requirements are, and how the resident 

Board Members might be more proactive 

and exert more influence over RIOC. 

Thanks, Charlee and Mark. 

I hogged much of the second part of the 

program, having had the experience of three 

Island-wide campaigns for the RIRA Presidency. 

In a nutshell, my advice was: Start 

campaigning early. Take every opportunity 

to speak to voters – in every building complex, 

at the Farmer’s Market, at the Tram 

and subway – everywhere Islanders congregate. 

Cover the Main Street kiosks, building 

bulletin boards, storefront windows, with 

eye-catching campaign posters. And when 

they’re torn down (and they will be!), put 

up more. Prepare for the candidate events 

by becoming familiar with Island issues, and 

take advantage of the offer of free space in 

The Main Street WIRE to do the best writing 

of your life. The bottom line for candidates, 

both declared and potential, is: if you 

don’t take this opportunity seriously, why 

should anyone else? Unlike the RIRA Common 

Council, where volunteers can opt out 

despite a written commitment not to, the 

Governor’s appointees will need to bring a 

more serious approach to their voluntarism. 

Finally... 

As I write, there is disturbing information 

coming from the Empire State Development 

Corporation (ESDC) involving tax-equivalency 

(PILOT) payments that could radically 

change the nature of the privatization efforts 

of Rivercross, Island House, and Westview. 

At this point, I haven’t enough information 

to do more than pass along rumor, something 

that Roosevelt Island always has too 

much of. I suspect there will be concrete 

information available in the news pages of 

this newspaper and we shall read it together. 

Sometimes, there seems to be a conspiracy 

among those sworn to protect affordable 

housing here to do just the opposite. I will 

hold my peace until, hopefully, my fears 

prove to be unfounded or, tragically, they 

turn out to be true. Those of us under the 

guns of this potential calamity are holding 

our breaths. 

TM

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Guitars from page 3 

says he wants to “bridge the gap” to play and teach all styles. 

“I discovered guitar and I discovered how to be popular,” 

Joe says with a grin and a boyish shrug. “Girls started looking 

at me.” Another motivator was “to prove to my father 

that I could make a living as a musician.” He leans back, 

relaxed, with a satisfied smile. 

Joe isn’t trained as a classical guitarist, and had to adapt 

his teaching methods to meet the demands of his students, 

Asher among them. With rock and roll guitar, Joe says, 

“you memorize and you don’t really look at the notes [on 

the page]… you can step all over it and make mistakes. 

You learn music better via classical guitar instruction.” 

Classical guitar refers both to the type of music played – 

composers like Bach and Mozart – and to the style – no 

picks, just long fingernails. “See?” says Asher, laying his 

palms flat on the table and revealing long, white fingernails 

on his right hand and neatly clipped ones on his left, the 

fingerboard hand. “The mark of a classical guitarist!” Joe 

says, and then teases his student about having to get manicures. 

“Lots of maintenance, but no manicures!” insists 

Asher. 

Manicures aside, Asher doesn’t shy away from the hard 

work involved in his chosen art. “Whatever it is I’m gonna 

be, I’m gonna be a musician. It’s the hardest thing to do, so 

the most important thing is motivation.” 

So far, he’s stuck with it. Asher first picked up a guitar at 

the age of three-and-a-half but, he says, “I couldn’t get a 

teacher!” His parents bought him the tiniest guitar on the 

market and he went around strumming happily until he could 

get lessons. At five, he had a guitar-shaped birthday cake. 

“Guitar was my obsession! My mouth would drop anytime 

I saw one.” 

When his mom hooked him up with Joe, his first song 

was If I Had a Hammer, and Asher would play it standing 

up, “thinking I was so cool.” He shakes his head, smiling at 

the memory. He first played piano, but is glad he switched. 

“You express yourself through music. Piano is just punching 

keys, but guitar is so much more.” 

As far as practicing, Asher says, “My dad was on me, 

although I was motivated enough myself.” Joe nods in 

agreement. Asher describes going out into the hallway of 

his apartment building to play from 9 to 11 at night, sometimes 

10 to midnight. “Nobody ever minds,” he says. 

“Sometimes, the neighbors open their doors to listen.” He 

pauses. “Except when I’m playing scales.” 

It was Joe who encouraged Asher to try out for both the 

Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard pre-college programs 

last spring. “Essentially,” says Deena, “they’re looking 

for young people with serious professional potential.” 

Asher says his first reaction was, Yeah, right! I’m never 

gonna get in. He had only one week to memorize a page of 

Variations on a Theme of Mozart by Fernando Sor, a piece 

he picked after hearing it played by classical guitarist Elliot 

Fisk. But, “Joe assured me, and with that in mind, when 

auditioning I was confident.” 

“He was well prepared,” interjects Joe. 

“I was confident,” continues Asher, “and when you have 

that, no one can stop you from going anywhere.” 

Accepted to both the Manhattan School and Juilliard’s 

pre-college programs (an “extraordinary” feat, according 

to Deena), Asher chose Julliard because, he says, “When I 

went there I said, this is where I want to be. I liked the 

people, I liked the feel of it.” His opinion hasn’t changed. 

Help get the word out 

in your building: 

Distribute 

It’s about an hour every other 

week, Friday afternoon/evening. 

Call Sherie Helstien at 

212-935-7534. 

TM 

“If I were to go to college anywhere, it would be Juilliard,” 

he says with no hesitation. 

At press time, Asher was four weeks into the program, 

which runs every Saturday from September through May. 

A typical day on campus begins with an 11:00 AM chorus 

class of about 15 kids. Asher then has an hour-long private 

lesson with Tali Roth, the head of the 

pre-college guitar program. Then he 

gets a one-hour break to eat lunch and 

hang out with his friends, “which is like 

a present to me.” 

The afternoon begins with theory 

class, which, Asher says frankly, raising 

his hands in the air, “isn’t as hard 

as I thought it would be, since we’re 

starting from the beginning.” Break 

number two is followed by ear training, 

in which the student must sing a 

piece from sheet music, using the words 

of the scale (do, re, mi, etc.) 

Asher’s favorite part of the day is the 

end: two hours of chamber music with 

just the guitarists. “The five other kids 

in guitar are my best friends,” he says 

sincerely. “We share something in common.” 

Of the six guitarists in the program, 

Asher is the youngest. The others, 

two females and four males, range 

from 14 to 16. On playing in a group 

versus solo, Asher leans forward on his 

elbows and says, “The group is greater 

than the individual.” 

Though he describes the Juilliard program 

as challenging – Asher practices 

two to two-and-a-half hours a day and 

says “the teachers expect a lot” – he 

has a hard time even sitting still when he talks about how 

enjoyable it is. “It’s fun being with kids like you, [who are] 

all musicians. We all have something to talk about right 

away… we’re all happy and determined and up for whatever 

comes next.” 

For many, what comes next is admission into one of the 

top music schools in the country, like Juilliard or Berklee, 

and a future career as a musician. “In 

the future, I’ll have to practice three to 

four-and-a-half hours a day,” says 

Asher in a matter-of-fact tone. Without 

stumbling over any words, he goes 

on to say, “Music is where my head is 

now... I have to [continue to] accelerate, 

keep going. I can’t leave it.” 

Though he is studying guitar, Asher 

is also a talented singer and a fearless 

performer. “I never suffered from stage 

fright,” he says unabashedly, recalling 

the time he was eight and the Beatles 

Mania concert came to school. Asher 

jumped onstage and belted out Back In 

The USSR. Or there was the time he 

was at a favorite Indian haunt in Manhattan 

with live sitar music. “I love Indian 

classical music,” says Asher, by 

way of an introduction. When the 

musicians took a break, Asher picked 

up the sitar, an Indian guitar with a 

wide, elongated neck and a round base 

slightly smaller than a guitar’s. “It’s 

bigger than he is,” notes Joe, laughing. “And the money 

started flying out of people’s pockets! The amount of money 

[rose] in the tip jar!” 

“It’s OK,” says Asher assuredly. “The owners know me, 

the musicians know me.” 

In fact, the most memorable performance Asher says he 

has ever attended was a sitar concert at Carnegie Hall in 

2005. “I went to see Ravi Shankar – s-h-a-n-k-a-r – the 

Bob Ryan 

Rivercross resident Robert Michael Ryan, the husband of 

Mary Cavanaugh-Lutts, the owner-operator of The Best 

Home Services and a long-time Island resident, died November 

8. He was born July 11, 1937 in Montclair, New 

Jersey, and graduated from Montclair High School. He received 

a degree in business and marketing from Seton Hall 

University. He served in the Marine Corps, and was stationed 

in many areas, including Lebanon, Okinawa, and 

Haiti. 

He worked in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical packaging 

industry for over 40 years, most recently as President of 

Ryan Packaging. 

He is survived by his wife and her son, Matthew Loftus 

Lutts; and by a daughter, Megan Steckbeck, and her husband, 

and their two children; and by a son, Chrstian Ryan 

of Tucson, and his two children. His brother, John J. Ryan, 

survives, as well. 

Memorial and burial services will be private. Contributions 

may be made to Continuum Hospice Care, Jacob 

Perlow Hospice, 1775 Broadway #300, NYC 10019. 

(The deceased is not related to the Robert Ryan who was 

President of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation.) 

most famous sitar player in the world...” 

“He introduced sitar music to the West,” adds Joe. 

“Yeah,” nods Asher, “and I made a drawing for him, a 

portrait, and I was sitting in the second row.” Now his voice 

bubbles over with excitement. “And I looked and I was 

sitting right behind [Shankar’s] wife! I tapped her on the 

shoulder and she was impressed that I recognized her.” So 

impressed, in fact, that she took him backstage after the 

concert where Asher was able to give his picture to Shankar 

and have his photo taken with the sitar legend. 

With tastes varying from sitar to Mozart, it’s difficult for 

Asher to pick his favorite composer. “There’s so many good 

ones,” he says, glancing at Joe, who nods in agreement. He 

looks towards the ceiling and drums his fingers on the tabletop, 

thinking of an answer. He crosses his arms in sudden 

decision. “Bach is one of my favorites,” he decides, and 

goes on to explain that classical guitar parts are mostly interpreted 

from what were originally lute parts. The majority 

are transcribed by Andres Segovia – “s-e-g-o-v-i-a,” 

Asher spells clearly – “the most famous classical guitarist 

in the world.” Here, Joe and Asher momentarily enter their 

own world as they banter about the musician for a few moments. 

“He went blind and he still played!” exclaims Asher. 

Asher and Joe could sit and talk about guitar for hours, 

but Deena reminds Asher she promised his dad he’d be home 

within the hour, a reminder that, in addition to being a musician 

with talent well beyond his years, Asher is still a 12year-old. 

In addition to spending full Saturdays at Juilliard 

and practicing everyday, Asher also goes to school, does 

his homework, and is studying for his Bar Mitzvah next 

summer. “OK,” he says agreeably. “And I have to go pick 

up that guitar still.” 

When asked how he feels when he sees Asher’s progress, 

Joe struggles to find adequate words. “I am…incredibly 

proud of Asher,” he says. “I was so hopeful when I recognized 

his talent. If he pursues his gift, I know in my heart 

that he will become a professional musician.” 

Asher laughs. Pointing at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, 

he says, “Yeah, I’ll have a house the size of…of the 

church out here, and a Lamborghini…” His words fade 

into laughter. 

Joe lifts his head so his eyes are visible from underneath 

his baseball cap. “He could be more than a rock star,” he 

says in all seriousness. “People will say, let’s get the greatest 

guitarist on record. And they’ll get Asher Elbaz.”


Islander’s Play Produced 

David Negrin, standing, works with actors rehearsing a scene from his new play, Theft of 

Imagination. The work, currently in performances, examines the complexity of peacemaking. 

The premise of the play is that an ancient legal provision, long ago adopted by two enemy 

nations, calls for two young boys to be chosen to negotiate a settlement to end 100 years of 

war. Negrin grew up on Roosevelt Island, and attended PS/IS 217. He is a writer, filmmaker, 

and organizer of the NYC Screenwriters Meetup, a non-profit workshop. Theft of Imagination 

is at the Players Theater in the West Village, at 115 Macdougal Street. Tickets: 212-352-3101 

or on the website at www.TheftOfImagination.com. 

Jadwiga’s 

Crossing 

$19.95 

available at 

Wre Are One 

599 Main St. 

You Don’t Have To Go Off The Island 

To Find A Great Little Church! 

Welcome to The Church of the Good Shepherd! 

We are an Ecumenical Mission 

of the Episcopal Church, 

Rooted in And Open To Many Traditions. 

Please Come and Try Out Our 

Friendly, Caring Community! 

Worship is at 10:00 AM, with Child Care! 

Coffee and Goodies Right After. 

Sunday School: 9:30 AM 

Youth Group: 11:30 AM 

Call 917-297-8934 Lew Johnson, Vicar 

RIVERCROSS SUBLET 

AVAILABLE JANUARY 2008 

1 BEDROOM, 1-1/2 BATHS, FULLY 

FURNISHED, GREAT VIEW! 

1 YEAR (POSSIBLE EXTENSION) 

NO SMOKING/NO PETS 

CALL: 212-832-7894 

a story of the 

Great 

Migration


unClassifieds 

50¢ a word • 212-751-8214 

Deadline for December 1 issue: Tuesday, November 27 

Deadline for December 15 issue: Tuesday, December 11 

ONE-YEAR RIVERCROSS SUBLET available (with possible extension), available 

January 2008. Fully furnished one bedroom, 1-1/2 baths, great view. No smokers, 

no pets. Call 212-832-7894. 

SEEKING LONG-TERM SUBLET & TO BUY on Roosevelt Island. If you are 

moving or relocating, please call Linda at home 718-268-1479, work 516-683-5683, 

cell 917-225-0655. Thank you. 

CERTIFIED HEALTH AIDE – Seeking position to work with sick or elderly. Available 

day or night. Live in or out. Reasonable rates. References available. Call Suzette, 

718-763-8364. thru 10/19/07 

PROFESSIONAL CLEANING SERVICES – Home/office cleaning weekly, biweekly. 

Carpet, upholstery cleaning. Wood floors waxed and refinished. Call 

212-714-6097. 

SUBLET WANTED – Island resident looking for a lease assignment or a sublet. 

Call 646-775-7025. 

MAIN STREET THEATRE AND DANCE ALLIANCE – Ongoing registration for 

dance and theatre classes. 212-371-4449. Unique or period clothing & furniture 

gladly accepted. 

1990 OLDS, very good condition. Call 212-355-0825. 

FREE FULLER/STANLEY, WATKINS work-from-home information package – 

www.mycasusa.com, 888-351-2752, mycasusa@hotmail.com. thru 2/9/08 

REAL ESTATE AGENT ready to help you own land or a home in Florida through a 

fantastic and affordable program. Call 646-549-2345. 

TUTORING – English professor available. Essays / Test preparation / Grammar / 

Analysis. 646-319-3873. 

COMPUTER REPAIR, viruses removed. 917-916-5306. thru 2/22/08 

LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST / Certified Reflexologist – Island resident Diana 

Brill. Gift certificates available. 212-759-9042. 

FRENCH TUTORING by expert teacher, individual or group. Call 212-355-3848. 

NOTARY PUBLIC – Roosevelt Island Day Nursery, 4 River Road, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

school days. 212-593-0750. 

TOTALLY FREE INTERNET advertising. Website swapping. mycasusa.com 

myspace.com/mycasusa. 1-347-661-5175. thru 05/03/08 

EXPERT PIANO REPAIRS & TUNING – Prompt service. 212-935-7510. Beeper 

917-483-1020. 

PIANO TUNING – $95. Formerly with Steinway Concert Department. Good old 

pianos for sale. Ben Treuhaft, 212-505-3173 / BLT@igc.org. 

MATH TUTORING by lady living on the Island. Any level. Call 212-829-1406. 

CLEANING SERVICE – Residential and professional. Proprietor of 17 years is RI 

resident. Bonded & insured. Same personnel each visit. Call 212-688-6712. 

NOTARY PUBLIC – 212-935-7534. 

CAT SITTER – VACATION IN PEACE – Will feed and play with your cat, water 

your plants, pick up your mail, etc. 212-751-8214. 

New York City Marathon 

The Marathon supplied this list of finishers from zip code 10044: 

Rivercross 

doorkeeper Jaime 

DeJesus finished his 

first NYC Marathon 

with a time of 

4:23:58. 

He’s also planning to 

run the Los Angeles 

marathon in March. 

1785 Boateng, Rowland M 26 ......................................... 3:13:38 

12020 Jerman, Jenna F 24 ......................................... 4:00:42 

15056 Galindo, Rogelio M 28 ................ AGTC .............. 4:11:03 

16328 Shay, Anthony M 30 ......................................... 4:14:57 

21453 Voss, Henning M 39 ................ NYF................. 4:30:39 

22727 Herman, Neal M 24 ......................................... 4:34:57 

30181 Godleski, Christine F 43 ......................................... 5:02:36 

32575 Large, Duncan M 26 ......................................... 5:17:17 

36082 Vorlova, Sandra F 35 ......................................... 5:53:10 

37202 Belton, Elaine F 56 ......................................... 6:17:21 

Photo: Marianne R. Lau 

BEACON BASKETBALL 

Evaluations for Beacon Program basketball are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, December 

14 and 15, with a registration deadline of December 6, according to the Youth 

Program. Forms are available at the Youth Center at 506 Main Street, 3:00-8:00 p.m. 

Monday through Friday and 2:00-8:00 p.m. on Saturday or at the PS/IS 217 reception desk 

Monday through Friday, 3:00-9:00 p.m. 

The program has places for kids 11-14 and 15-18. It’s free. Registrations are being 

accepted now. 

The program is also seeking parent volunteers, who are asked to contact The Beacon at 

212-527-2505 or the Youth Program at 212-935-3645. 

seeks FEATURE WRITERS 

and REPORTERS as contributors... 

We also need volunteers for WIRE-Friday 

“stuffing” sessions in which the newspaper and 

advertising fliers are stuffed, counted, and boxed 

for Island-wide delivery. 

Lunch is provided. 

Call Dick Lutz at 212-826-9055 

or e-mail editor@MainStreetWIRE.com 

TM

Tired of waiting 1/2 

hour to 1 hour for 

your 

prescriptions??? 

METROCARE PHARMACY 

21 - 12 36th Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11106 

(just a few blocks from the Roosevelt Island bridge) 

(718) 606 - 0068 (718) 606 - 0069 fax 

We Accept MEDICAID, 

all MEDICARE plans, 

and most other insurance 

plans. 

Major credit cards 

accepted. 

Fast Courteous Service 

Free Pick-up & Delivery 

Great Prices 

Weekdays 9am to 7pm 

Saturdays 10am to 6pm 

Have questions about which 

medications your Medicare plan 

covers?? We can help. 

Have your prescriptions faxed 

or called in. And we’ll deliver it 

that very same day. 

Take 10% off select merchandise and 

services. 

ARE YOUR PARENTS 

GETTING FRAILER? 

DON’T KNOW WHERE TO TURN TO GET THEM HELP? 

Consult a private professional Geriatric Care Manager 

WE CAN HELP: Save You Time • Save You Money • Save You Heartache 

We know the law, the resources, understand the illnesses and handicaps. We can guide you 

and help you think things through. We help with Medicaid planning and applications, arrange 

and monitor home care, and help you navigate government regulations and bureaucracy. 

Hammertoes 


ELLEN POLIVY, LCSW 

Licensed Clinical Social Worker 

Your guide and advocate in complex times 

212-362-2076 

531 Main Street 

~ 25 Years Experience ~ 

www.familyassistance.net 

A Family Assistance Network 

Katherine Teets Grimm, M.D. 

Board Certified Pediatrician and Pediatric Allergist 

501 Main Street • Roosevelt Island 

212-753-5505 

Have a happy and healthy school year. 

Office Hours 

Monday & Thursday • 9 a.m. -12 noon 

Tuesday • 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

Wednesday & Friday • 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. 

Coverage provided at all times, when office is closed, 

by Dr. Grimm or by her group, Uptown Pediatrics. 

We provide comprehensive health care to children and adolescents. 

Dr. Grimm is also qualified to evaluate and treat allergy and asthma in adults.


The Greek Excellence that Put 

Astoria Cuisine on the Culinary Map 

Amazingly Fresh Fish 

Chops • Steaks • Salads 

Full Bar 

28-13 23rd Avenue, Astoria 

Reservations: 718-728-9194 

parties • corporate events • weddings • baptisms • showers 

Happy Thanksgiving 

to all our wonderful customers 

We now carry hot apple cider 

Open Every Day 

11AM-Midnight 

First Annual Island Kids 

Flea Market Fundraiser 

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007 12:00-5:00pm 

But first...we need your donations! 

Island Kids needs your gently used clothing 

(all sizes), toys, housewares, furniture, and 

electronics (all in working order, please) 

Drop off your items 

Thurs., Nov. 29 and Fri. Nov. 30 

6:00-8:00 p.m. 

536 Main st. Community Room 

(behind old pizza parlor) 

Questions? 

Contact Gina at 212-758-8408 

More details to follow on actual event

NYS Threatens Huge Tax Hike For Island's Mitchell-Lamas

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