Monday, September 8, 2014

Gorgeous View Of Manhattan East River Waterfront Seen From Roosevelt Island - WOW

From the Roosevelt Island Twitterverse.


UPDATE 9/9 - And another gorgeous view seen from Roosevelt Island.


Frank Farance said...

Two Days of Motorgate Pentafecta: All 5 security cameras faulty on fourth floor.


You've heard of the Trifecta (selecting the winning horses in the first three races). The last two days, I've hit the Motorgate Pentafecta: all 5 security cameras on the fourth floor are NOT monitoring parked cars, they point elsewhere, including at Central Parking's office.

Actually, hitting the Motorgate Pentafecta is easier than you think: the full report on Motorgate security cameras is in theattached PDF, the text is below.

Faulty Motorgate Cameras 20140908

Frank Farance
RIRA Planning Committee Chair


Date: 2014-09-08
Title: Security Cameras Not Working In Motorgate
From: Frank Farance

RIOC President Charlene Indelicato recently mentioned the Island's camera system is in operation, but that is not so. Much of Motorgate is not covered by the security cameras, which have taken four years to install, including expired warranties (because they sat in boxes for three years), multiple delays due to incorrect/incomplete purchases and faulty installation.

In short, there is a 50-100% chance a customer's car will not be monitored by the new RIOC security cameras. Why? The system is poorly designed, there aren't enough cameras, the camera systems are incomplete, and RIOC points the cameras away from the cars. RIOC is using the cameras to watch the bus depot and supplies outside, or watch the Central Parking staff in their offices, or watch the Central Parking staff's own security camera monitors. In other words: RIOC cameras are watching parking staff monitors that display Central Parking's cameras (see attached photo).

It is incomprehensible that RIOC consistently fails miserably in the security camera work. And it's not just Motorgate, the other Island-wide security cameras have their own problems, too. So if you're victimized, it is highly likely RIOC's security cameras will not see you nor the criminal.

About two weeks ago, I notified RIOC about this problem. RIOC Board Director and chair of the RIOC Operations Advisory Committee Mike Shinozaki promised to investigate, but I haven't heard from him. And the security camera operations are getting worse: for the past two days, none of the security cameras on the fourth floor (including the Visitor's Area) monitor the parked cars, the cameras point elsewhere.

In the attached document, please find photos of what the cameras see, and what the cameras don't see. I have taken time-lapse photography to confirm that the cameras are not moving. Note: Some photos are panoramic composites to give a full view of what the security cameras are missing.

CheshireKitty said...

Motorgate, including the surrounding sidewalk, and the interior atrium, is extremely filthy. This is the property of RIOC. Isn't there any way these premises can be kept clean? The train station is more heavily used but is kept cleaner than Motorgate. Isn't there anyway the sidewalk/plaza area of Motorgate can be kept somewhat cleaner? Also, there are elements that are crumbling, or pulling apart on the first floor. Couldn't a RIOC maintenance person make a survey of all that is falling apart and have it fixed?

The Motorgate escalator remains a stunning monument to RIOC inefficiency. The escalator has been out of service for many years, more years than I can remember - as if RIOC is in its own Shangri-La of timelessness with regard to this repair project, similar to the years it took to fix the north elevator. Imagine if the Motorgate escalator were located within a department store or mall - imagine how quickly the business owner would have gotten the escalator fixed. But on RI, some things, like fixing the escalator, never get done, and people wonder why there's a constant turnover of population.

RIOC: There are people who would prefer to use the escalator to ride up to the bridge level, rather than use the elevator or stairs. Having it available might make it a fun option for people to ride the escalator to the bridge level and then take a jaunt over the bridge to Queens. Not having the escalator only increases peoples' sense that they are "trapped" on the island, only increases the sense that we are in our own little world on RI, not quite linked to the outside world symbolized by the level of Motorgate leading to the bridge that the escalator - walled off - connects us to.

This escalator has been broken for longer than I can remember. It's a joke by now - the broken escalator that no RIOC administration can somehow manage to "tackle." Is it as difficult to find a contractor to fix the escalator as it is to find one to repair the elevator at the Manhattan side of the tram? Or does RIOC lack the money to fix the escalator?

Between the filth of Motorgate and the perpetually broken escalator, the impression a visitor gets is of an owner who has given up, is just waiting for the property to "creatively decay" so that it can be demolished one day and a new Motorgate constructed. The lack of upkeep - exemplified by the persistent refusal to repair the escalator - but also including the filth, sends the message that the owner has either given up or just doesn't care anymore.

It is nice that Frank has documented the deficiencies of the cameras in Motorgate. But, what someone should do, is send a series of photographs to Albany, starting with a photo of the escalator enclosure as well as photos documenting the filthy plaza and atrium, so that Albany will be aware of the ongoing lack of maintenance, including trash removal, power scrubbing, and the absence of effort directed to repairing the escalator.

The "excuse" that it is because of liability concerns that the escalator is not repaired, is pure hogwash. Imagine if there were no escalators at the train station. Escalators are in use everywhere you look, and somehow, even with the "liability" concerns, in general, people do manage to use them daily without problems. So "liability" is not really a good reason as to why RIOC refuses to fix the escalator. Is it cheapness? RIOC just doesn't want to spend the money? RIOC would rather keep the escalator enclosed in a wooden shed - a landmark of failure - rather than spend the money to fix it because of more pressing infrastructure priorities elsewhere on the island? But how long do these exigencies go on for? If it is a matter of prioritization, why does the problem of the escalator get pushed aside because of more pressing issues, for decades? It seems there will never be a time when the escalator is not a low-priority item for RIOC. And RIOC undoubtedly cannot explain why that is so.

Frank Farance said...

RIOC's 9/12 Moronic Incompetence: Hacking The 9/11 Memorial Tree.

Saw worker swinging axe, another swinging sledgehammer - hacking roots of our 9/11 Memorial Tree, a tree for neighbors lost on 9/11. RIOC should pay more attention. Dr. Ali Schwayri of RI Tree Board should have been consulted to avoid damage.

I asked RIOC staffer Erica Spencer-EL, who was watching the sudden construction behind the Good Shepherd Church, what was going on. She said RIOC was putting down some granite. Too bad this wasn't reviewed by the community or the RIRA Planning Committee.

In the first photo, you'll see in the top of the Bobcat bucket a big root they axed out on the south side of the tree, and the second photo shows how they hacked away at the roots on the north side of the tree.

At the end of the day, the workers covered over the root stubs with dirt ... which just masks the problem.

Don't y'all keep scratching your heads: Why does it seems like RIOC is unable to do anything right?

Frank Farance
Island House

NotMyKid said...

What neighbors got lost on 9/11?