The High Line Intends to Distance Itself

Next spring, Hudson Yards and The High Line will, for better or for worse, break ground on development and construction, becoming next-door neighbors along Manhattan’s West Side.

The ambitious and costly plans for the Hudson Yards have led Friends Of the High Line, the acting management in charge of its development and maintenance, to act fast. Last Tuesday, Friends of the High Line Co-Founder Robert Hammond lead a “Rail Yards Community Input Meeting” in the auditorium of P.S. 11, three blocks from The High Line, to invite input on construction and design ideas for the last third of its space. This portion of the park will wrap around the new Hudson Yards.

Credited to Friends Of The Highline

Hammond made clear to the audience of a hundred or so that stakeholders involved were all on board, and that they had reached an agreement, in principle, with owner CSX Inc. to extend to 34th Street. Conversations invited were discussion on what Section 3 would provide, what current plans to preserve the integrity of the High Line are, and how to adapt to becoming an entwined with the massive Hudson Yards project.

While the park is under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Friends of the High Line currently raises the private funds that support over 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, according to The High Line’s website. Like the Hudson Yards, The High Line finds itself pressed for funds.

The park succeeded, according to Hammond, despite the original intention to tear the structure down. “The city was not prepared for it to be such a success,” he said.

Original funding from the city for High Line construction totaled $160 million, and the final section is estimated to cost an additional $70-90 million. Hammond cautioned attendees about the city’s recent hesitation to fund the construction of the final section.

Like before, the High Line will have to depend on private donations and public initiative. Chris Johnson, the leader of Community Board Four, noting that the current High Line was born out of a community meeting, said “I’m not sure who the next members of the Friends of the High Line will be, but they may be sitting next to you.”

Once funds are secured, the major concern is how The High Line will be able to remain separate from the Hudson Yards developments. Referencing the magnitude of Hudson Yards, he said, “It is not on a Chelsea scale. It’s almost a--,” Hammond hesitated, “it is a Midtown scale. It’s Midtown, brought over.”

The High Line finds itself dangerously close to the proposed spaces. It’s northernmost section is adjacent to the Coach building. Its path wraps around the yard. Despite the city’s hesitation to keep it intact, the High Line in the afternoon on a temperate day seems to host a population of Midtown itself. According to Friends of The High Line’s statistics, The High Line currently averages as many daily visitors as the Met.

“Every day is the Easter Parade,” Hammond commented.

With the Yards development and an extension of the 7 train expected to bring massive numbers out West, estimates for the number of High Line visitors this will bring are very high. With this in mind, attendees of the meeting proposed multiple initiatives to preserve the High Line’s independence. There was a proposal for the practical, such as more bathrooms. There was also a favored proposal to bring a form of tribute to the history of the High Line and work done .

“When people stop me on the High Line, I get asked the same question: What was here before the High Line?”an attendee said.

One gentleman proposed a locomotive be placed on the third section as a more visceral reminder of what the High Line used to be. In the only attempt to acknowledge and possibly integrate the Hudson Yards properties, one woman proposed that the spacious Tenth Avenue spur be turned into a performance space, or maybe merging with the ‘Culture Shed’ planned for the Hudson Yards.

But there was one point to be agreed upon. There were numerous concerns voiced about integrity, and Hammond mentioned that some city officials and Related planners had suggested a seamless transition between the High Line and the Hudson Yards properties. This idea was rejected. It was important that the High Line remain its own separate and preserved space.

Hammond made clear the stance of him and his team, “In Section 1 and 2, 5 feet of space is required between the High Line and any building, “ he said, “For Section 3, the Friends of the High Line will maintain that distance.”

Massive Hudson Yards Project Faces Ballooning Finances

The West Side Rail Yard, by 2020, will be hidden under billion dollar platforms, residential and commercial skyscrapers, and a strip park. The total cost for this massive Hudson Yards project amounts, in a recently challenged estimate, to $3 billion. The MTA has chosen Related Co., whose work includes the Time Warner Center, as the developer.

“Creating a whole new neighborhood that will be the Rockefeller Center of the 21st Century and beyond is truly humbling,” said Stephen Ross, founder and Chairman of Related Co., to the Times, “The development will be an honor, a privilege and a work of love.”

‘Hudson Yards’ is the name of the proposed plaza of commercial skyscrapers, residential buildings, and park areas which will sit on top of the West Side Rail Yard between 30th Street and 33rd Street, 10th and 12th Ave. Currently, the rail yard holds the commuter trains operated by the Long Island Railroad.

The plan is expected to be complete in 2020. A number of new structures will , such as a new school for the zone, a city-mandated cultural center (or “Culture Shed”, as developers and designers of the site have it named), and a 51-story skyscraper with 1.7 million square feet. The structure’s main tenant, occupying 600,000 square feet, will be American luxury leather-goods manufacturer Coach. Estimations of the development are at expansions of 12 million square feet, or two times the size of Downtown Seattle.

Credited to New York Daily News

Coach became the first anchor tenant when the company agreed to occupy a building, originally  expected to be completed by 2015. The tower, to be built on 30th and 7th, can be built without decking over the train tracks. The 70-year-old company has been a player in the Hudson area for years, and many consider it to be a perfect fit for the new building.The building, according to Wall Street Journal writer Robbie Whelan, has a special elegant touch befitting of its new partner: “The southern building, which would house Coach, is, sensibly, the female of the pair —slightly shorter, with the atrium manifested as a slit in the dancer’s ball gown, giving a glimpse of a flash of leg underneath.”  

“Finally, we’re going to give you a building as nice as your pocketbooks,” stated City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in a press conference.

However, Related will need several new tenants before beginning work on the new ‘Rockfeller Center’. Crains New York estimates that the decision by Related to move ahead with the platform without other tenants is an indicator of the company’s faith in the future of the Yards.

One major reason for Related’s confidence is the linkage in which its new properties will be joined to the rest of Manhattan. The extension of the 7 train to 11th Avenue will end stop at a station located on 34th and 11th near the Javits Convention Center. There has also been consideration to extending it even farther to the Secaucus Junction Train Station in New Jersey, all set to be completed in the wintertime of 2013.

This November,  MTA workers were adding some finishing touches: tracks, station fixtures, and signals.

"If you ever did a kitchen, they bring the cabinets, but the finishes count," said MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodiceanu, in a commment to NY1,"Here is the same thing. The concrete, the walls are in place, but to get the finishes right takes time." The MTA estimates that by 2025, it will be the busiest subway system in New York City.

Credited to Jake Schabas for Untapped Cities

The cost and timeliness of the train is a contested issue. In a recent article, NY Daily News reporter Juan Gonzalez reported that the city has hidden more than $10 million in infrastructure costs for the Hudson Yards project. It stated that in an effort to maintain the appearance that the project is still under its $3 billion budget, costs for certain infrastructure improvements have been classified as belonging to other budgets. Gonzalez reports that “An Independent Budget Office analysis done at the Daily News’ request has found more than $160 million spent or earmarked for Hudson Yards infrastructure improvements.”

Adding to the mix is a report done by Jake Schabas, a journalist from Untapped New York,  that none of the subway extensions are being paid for by the MTA. He reports that, “All funds are coming through the City via the future property tax revenues that the Hudson Yards Redevelopment projects are expected to generate, a financing method known as tax increment financing.”

However, construction is eleven months ahead of schedule, and is expected to meet its 2013 opening date.

Due to the scale of the project, potential issues with tenants and construction, and the extension of the 7 line, the Independent Budge Office estimates that the city could ultimately inherit a $500 million debt from the Hudson Yards project.

Despite rising costs, Mayor Bloomberg sees the Coach tenant deal as an indicator of future economic activity the West Side can bring.


''This deal means that the market has spoken, the mayor said in an announcement, flanked on both sides by city officials, developers, and real estate executives, “The Far West Side's economic potential has now become an economic reality.”

Town Hall in the Kellen Gallery

Other than a lingering odor of chemical cleaning products in the air, the interior of the Kellen Gallery on Monday’s Town Hall showed no signs of having been defaced during Thanksgiving. Approximately eighty or so attendants including New School students, faculty members, and gallery workers gathered with the University Student Senate, President Van Zandt, and Provost Marshall to hold a discussion regarding the space’s continued usage by occupiers.

But several gallery workers were not ready to move on.  Recounting their horror at seeing the gallery’s destruction, one claimed that his “job to protect this space,” was now threatened. Increasingly vocal were other gallery supporters, such as a representative from the New School Radio organization. As recent grant recipients, these students had been given the Kellen Gallery for an ongoing exhibition and studio space that has now been interrupted. One Parsons professor pointed out that sacrificing a gallery for the sake of the protests “creates a hierarchy that puts art and design at the bottom. ” She pointed out that a defacement of a computer lab might have received a stronger reaction.

One particularly vocal New School student wanted to know why words such as “destruction” or “trash” were being used in reference to the gallery’s state. Comparing such dialogue to Fox News’ descriptions of Zuccotti Park, he pointed out that the graffiti could be considered political art.

 A couple occupiers that were present during the move from 90 5^th Ave to the Kellen Gallery claimed that those active in the defacing were a “petulant” and small group of seven or eight who might have ruined a positive occupation thus far. After an hour or so, there seemed to be a consensus among many that the negative actions of the protestor’s fringe group had eclipsed the main issues. Most present seemed to be outright supporters of the overall movement.

But after multiple laundry lists ranging from specific grievances to broad ideologies had been brought forth, some well-spoken and others just downright inflammatory, the discussion of the space’s future needed to be had. Pressed by University Student Senate co-chair Melissa Holmes, several people brought forth good points regarding the Kellen Gallery’s potential as a space for open discussion. Others felt that the University might be able to find a less public space. In the end, the lack of a fairly represented University community meant that a vote could not be had. After two hours, the gallery’s status was still up in the air, and the original goal of the meeting unmet. Attendees filed out with the promise from the University Student Senate that an email regarding a vote would be sent soon. 

Enrique Penalosa: Hope for an Urban Future

Enrique Peñalosa Londoño, at fifty-seven years old, the “Man of Plan,” is an award-winning journalist, an international consultant on urban policy and transportation, an avid biker, and the former mayor of Bogotá.  He also has a suggestion or two for New York City.

Credit: El Espectador

“We underestimate the power of dreams. The most difficult thing is to dream and to create a collective dream or a shared vision. I think it’s time to take a great risk suddenly and to do something new, to do the new New York.”

A charismatic and agile fifty-seven year old Colombian-American, Peñalosa ran his first three out of four mayoral elections entirely on foot, on a bike, or on a bus.

Peñalosa attended Duke University, studying economics and history, before receiving his Masters and Doctorate degrees in Management and Public Administration from the Institut International D' Administration Publique in Paris. From 1986 to 1990, Peñalosa served as economic advisor to then-President of Colombia, Virgilio Barco. In 1990, with neither political experience nor official support, he ran for the Colombian Congress. Elected with 22,000 votes, he only remained in office for one year due to reform measures that closed the Colombian Government.

Credit: StreetsBlog

              
           That year, Peñalosa decided to run for Mayor of Bogotá using the same campaign strategy as his Congressional win. Again, without the backings of any other officials, he went door-to-door, person-to-person, on foot, a bike, or on public transportation. After two unsuccessful bids, he was finally elected in 1997.

During his three years in office, Peñalosa built 52 new schools, refurbished 150 others, and increased student enrollment by 34 percent. He created or improved 1200 parks, established 13 libraries, built 100 nurseries, provided water service to 100% of Bogotá households, bought undeveloped land around the city for future developments in affordable housing and greenways, built 300 km of bikeways, and created the world’s longest pedestrian street, which measures at 10.5 miles.  Such comprehensive and expedited improvements had not been seen in developed cities such as New York since the age of Robert Moses, let alone in developing ones like Bogotá.

Penálosa sees New York as the perfect city for improvements. Densely populated and with a relatively flat terrain, he envisions Broadway being closed off to vehicles, and 42^nd street being a pedestrian-only walkway for tourists.

“Here in Manhattan, there could be at least a few cross-town bicycle ways. We cannot continue to deceive ourselves thinking that to paint a little line on a road is a bikeway,” Penálosa stated in an interview with StreetFilms, “ A bicycle way which is not safe for an eight year old is not a bicycle way. Hopefully the city can do a whole network of very well protected, physically protected bicycle ways all across Manhattan.”

Peñalosa believes that New York, as well as many other developed cities, put the select few who own motor vehicles first. They are given a higher quality of life and great strides need to be taken in meeting the needs of those without cars. To him, accommodating motorists first and foremost is undemocratic.

In a December 2009 interview with Business Standard, while discussing the new BRT system in Ahmedabad, India, Peñalosa claimed that affluential first-world cities like New York needed to re-evaluate how public transportation is viewed.

           “In the 20^th century, we made cities for cars. In the 21^st century, we need to make it for people,” he stated, “The people will have to understand that public transport is not only for the poor but for the rich as well.”

In documentary titled “Bogotá Change,” the rapid and radical transformation of a city once called the world’s “most dangerous, violent, and corrupt,” is seen as largely a result of Peñalosa’s unorthodox methods. According to the film, in ten years time, the violence-infested capital of Colombia became a model city under Peñalosa’s charismatic leadership, unique strategies, and philosophy of urban planning.

Credit: StreetsBlog

New York City parallels Bogotá in some ways. It has experienced a recent decrease in criminal activity. It also claims a large income disparity, a dense population, unsafe conditions for bikers, and a puzzling traffic problem. Informal vendors or “hawkers” are commonplace on Canal Street in Chinatown. In Bogotá, these peddlers have been relocated away from occupation the streets.

Like Moses in his heyday, Peñalosa made great improvements in city parks as well as construction of new ones.  Many of the city’s main streets and avenues were entirely renovated. But with the changes came controversy. By elevating the concrete slabs and installing placed bollards, he made it impossible for cars to park on sidewalks. He began construction on the TransMilenio, a rapid transit bus system that allows for acceleration by buses on designated roads, which now has 114 stations and counting, and services 1.5 million people. An increased tax on gasoline for vehicles has generates revenue for the bus system.

The aristocratic sectors of the city view him as a socialist and an idealist. His idea to turn the Bogotá Country Club into a public park was quickly turned down.

Other radical changes include his introduction of the Pico y Placa traffic mitigation policy, which restricts vehicles with license plates ending in certain digits from traveling the streets during certain times. As of July 2011, four digits are restricted each day between 6 AM and 8 PM, forcing drivers to take public transportation, carpool, or bike during those hours. The traffic congestion has since been reduced by forty percent.

              
          “I was almost impeached by the car-owning upper classes,” Peñalosa remembered, “but it was popular with everyone else.”

Unpopular enough for Peñalosa to lose the 2007 Mayoral Election, in which he received only 28.15% of the votes.

In 2009, he was elected President of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, New York-based group promoting sustainable transportation in the developing world. Many hope that his presence and leadership in New York urban planning grows, despite his desires to return to Bogotá as a Green Party Candidate for Mayor.

“Economics, urban planning, ecology are only the means. Happiness is the goal,” Peñalosa says, “We have a word in Spanish, ganas, which means a burning desire. I have ganas about public life.”

StreetFilms Interview- from 9:49

Bogota Change- 1:28-3:58

Bogota Change Start-2:00, then 8:15-end

Roosevelt Island's Transformation in Pictures

                  

              As the proposed plans for a New York City tech campus on Roosevelt Island were released to the public, the centerpiece seems to be a community blending, environmentally friendly cluster of facilities. 

Photo courtesy of Stanford University
Stanford’s plans call for building a marsh to filter water, extensive use of solar and geothermal power, and recycling water from storm drains.

Photo courtesy of Cornell University
Cornell’s plans include four acres of solar panels, and will generate more energy than it uses. 

The Coler Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility, sitting on the Southern half of Roosevelt Island, is a 2,000 bed hospital which provides medical rehabilitative and long-term care services.  It is the proposed site by both Cornell University and Stanford University to build their new tech campuses.        

The facility is a result of a 1996 merger between Coler Memorial Hospital and Goldwater Memorial Hospital. The hospital is in motion to be completely vacated by 2014, making it ideal in the eyes of both universities vying for the land.

Some of the facilities from the hospital have been around as early as the late 1930s. Roosevelt Island, originally named Welfare Island, has long been home to many who need chronic care. 

South of the hospital sit the ruins of the Renwick Smallpox Hospital, a 100-bed facility that opened in 1856 when the island was known as Blackwell’s Island. Designed by architect James Renwick, Jr., it was built on the Southern tip of the island in order to quarantine patients.

An image of Renwick Smallpox Hospital in the 1930s, courtesy of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. By the 1950s, like many of the other facilities on the island, Renwick fell into decay. In 1976, it became the only ruin in New York City to earn the designation of Historical Landmark. 

Today, Renwick sits with no roof, no inner walls, almost no floors. The steel framing stands as part of a $4.5 million dollar project to stabilize the decrepit masonry and open it to the public. It will continue to be fenced off despite the Roosevelt Island Campus plans. 

The Roosevelt Island Tramway connects the island to Manhattan. The tram began operation in 1976, and since than has ferried 26 million passengers across the East River.

Directly across the island, on Manhattan, lies the Weill Cornell Medical College, a graduate biomedical studies school of Cornell University, which hopes to leverage the success of its remote Medical College campus to gain favor from the selection committee. 

The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, completed in 1909, connects the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens with Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island.

An advertisement for Riverwalk Condos, one of the newest high rise condos on Roosevelt Island that has angered many of its residents.

A sign above one of Coler-Goldwater’s lab entrances. Many of these buildings will need serious renovations in order to meet the standards set forth by the school’s proposals.

Children and families play inside the Main Street Plaza. One of the biggest complaints by Roosevelt Island Residents has been the lack of recognizable businesses on the island, such as a McDonalds. Both tech campus proposals include plans for a student plaza for food courts and recreation

The Power Broker- Chapter 29

photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority

photo courtesy of the New York Public Library Picture Collection

photo courtesy of the New York Public Library Picture Collection

photo courtesy of the New York Parks Department

photo courtesy of the New York Public Library Picture Collection

photo courtesy of the New York Parks Department

photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Schools Leave Teaching Wall Street to Parents

Photo Credit: Associated Press

               “I know people are sleeping over at a park.” Said 7-year-old Cloe Davis who is a second grader at Little Red School House in the West Village. “But I don’t know why,” she added. All evidence shows that lower schools have left the education of the Occupation on Wall Street to the parents. [maybe be more clear- what is a lower school? Also, that is a strong statement, to say that all evidence shows that schools have left it to parents, can you back it up?]

               Schools have been vague about teaching the Wall Street protest to children. It is a debate as to whether the protest should be discussed at all in schools. But there are many alternative sources to aid parents in their attempt to explain what it means.

               

               On October 10^th all of the lower schools in Manhattan were off to celebrate the day Columbus is said to have discovered the Americas. However, a group of PTA parents from the Four Central Park East II Elementary School brought their children made to Zuccotti Park, in an event they named ‘Un-Columbus Day’ according to alternet.org. According to [try not to avoid repeating phrases] the Occupation’s website, October 14^th marked another family day in order to educate children. [check the grammar on this sentence. I am also confused as to what this Un-Columbus Day event had to do with the OWS protests]

               It is not clear whether schools are teaching the protest, though one teacher in Zuccotti park held up a sign last night that read ‘Inform, not Reform.’ There are safety and political reasons why teachers are not allowed to bring their children down to Wall Street. Though there were many teachers with their own children on 'Un-Columbus Day.' [This starts to feel wishy-washy. It's not clear whether they're providing OWS information to students, so how can we assume that parents have assumed the responsibility? Also, try to specify if the kids are students of the teacher, or the teacher's actual kids..]

         Others believe that, especially for Lower School, [what is Lower School?] the protest should not be dealt with in the classroom. “It’s hard for them to understand.” Said Marie, a Secretary at Spruce Street School an elementary school on Spruce Street located near City Hall. A representative of Brooklyn Friends School of Downtown Brooklyn said she wasn't sure, but added, "I'm sure that some classes might be doing something on the protest."

               Sarah Casselle the President of the PTA committee of P.S. 89 insisted that children are not learning or talking about it if they are not directly faced with it every day. [That sentence is confusing. How can the principal be sure that children aren't talking about it? What do you mean by "being faced" with it]  P.S. 89 is located Warren Street on the Lower West side of Manhattan, several blocks away from the park. According to Casselle, it is for this reason that her son is not asking about it. Casselle said, “P.S. 89 is quite a few blocks away and several physical barriers away from the protest.” She added, “my son doesn’t come home discussing the protest with his friends.”

            According to Casselle, the protest is not in school policy and should be left for home discussion with parents. She added that her son looks through newspapers and is informed by that as well.

Though many schools do not advertise discussions of the Occupation, parents are being encouraged to educate their children through bringing their own children to protest locations, or with with alternative sources on the web such as videos on youtube.com. [I understand that the piece is about parents taking on responsibility, but the evidence to back that up seems to be inconclusive compared to your opening declaration that "all evidence" points to at-home discussions only.] The young adult writer Lemony Snicket, best known for her Series of Unfortunate Events book recently published a book that attempts to describe the protest to children entitled The Lump of Coal, according to the Washington Post. [I see the relevance of the Lemony Snicket book, but I don't think it's a strong ending to a piece that isn't directly related. Maybe the piece could have ended on a quote to sum everything up as cleanly as possible]

Roosevelt Island's Tech Transformation

“Roosevelt Island wants to become Silicon Island.”

Councilwoman Jessica Lappin’s July press conference was clear: If Mayor Bloomberg’s inspired vision of New York as a Silicon Valley rival was going to happen, Roosevelt Island should be its hub.

The mayor, along with the NYC Economic Development Corporation, had released a “Request for Proposals” to the nation’s top universities. The city would provide prime real estate with almost no cost and pledge $100 million in infrastructure improvements to have a world-class “NYC Applied Sciences and Engineering School.” Three parcels of city-owned land were offered for the universities to choose from: a portion of Governor’s Island, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Roosevelt Island

Months later, with the October 28^th deadline for submissions approaching, Cornell University announced on Tuesday its partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. A highly reputable university credited as a catalyst for Israel’s recent technology boom, Technion’s partnership with Cornell makes its bid, previously hindered by lack of funds, stronger.

It also turns up the heat on Stanford, who is also part of a current alliance with City College of New York. Among the twenty-seven total competitors, many of the remaining schools’ top administrators have admitted in private the sizable lead that Stanford and Cornell have secured against them through aggressiveness, alumni connection and investment, reputation in engineering fields, and endowment.

Before issuing this RFP, the city had received eighteen less formal “expressions of interest” from twenty-seven schools around the globe. The NYC Economic Development Corporation estimates the project will generate $6 billion in economic activity, four hundred new companies, 8,000 construction jobs, and 22,000 permanent jobs for New Yorkers over the next few decades.

Roosevelt Island to become another Sand Hill Road?

What the two front-runners have in common seems to be location. Both Cornell and Stanford have plans for the Southern tip of Roosevelt Island. The specific site would be that of Goldwater Hospital, which is motion to be vacated completely by 2014. The two powerhouse engineering universities have formidable teams headlined by their school presidents. They have recently enlisted lobbyists, public relation firms and enthusiastic alumni to tout their Roosevelt Island plans.

Stanford’s five-hundred page proposal to turn Roosevelt Island into Sand Hill Road (an infamous street in Palo Alto that is both the birthplace of many startups as well as home to its famous creators) is almost complete. It will cost up to $2 billion in its entirety and take three decades to complete, but will accept graduate students as early as 2013. The campus will consist of 1.8 million square feet of residences, academic life, and student life buildings. The focus of the school will be on information technology, entrepreneurship, and executive education. Stanford proposes an 100 member faculty, with an estimate of about 2200 graduate students.

“This is like China,” one academic from Stanford exclaimed, in awe of the size and magnitude of the project.

 “This can be transformative for the university, transformative for New York City and maybe even transformative in the way that research operates in the future.But it is something that will be difficult,” Stanford electrical engineering professor Bernd Girod stated to NYConvergence, “There is no model and no blueprint. It is uncharted territory. We have to be very smart about this.”

Cornell’s proposal, although not made public yet, has a different academic approach but is of the same magnitude. Cornell proposes 200 faculty members, “several hundred graduate students,” and ““four focused research hubs” tailored to New York’s specific strengths. These hubs would include technology for cleaner and more efficient buildings, information science and engineering for health care, social mobile networking, and “intelligent trustworthy systems” like cloud computing and information security.

Both schools have stated that their decision to opt for the Roosevelt Island land has to do with its accessibility by subway and the ease and speed in which the groundwork could begin. Across the East River is Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell’s new $1 billion, state-of-the-art medical research complex on East 69^th Street.

Credit: Stanford University President's Office

"We think it's important for the location to be easily reachable by train," said Dan Huttenlocher, Cornell's dean of computing and information science. "This is not the taxi or limo crowd. These are grad students. Mass transit is key to making it part of the fabric of the city."

Credit: Stanford University President's Office

Robert Reidy, Stanford’s Vice President of Land, Buildings, and Real Estate, in a recent presentation to students, showed a preliminary rendering of the campus, complete with buildings centered around an open green space, cafes, retail shops, an auditorium, and a gym along the East River.

Reidy added that some existing buildings would inevitably have to be demolished in order to create a 10-acre site for the new campus. As for the tram, Reidy simply stated that he finds it “just odd.”

Save a Few Concerns, a Positive Community Reponse

While transit seems to be the main concern at hand from the competing universities, the Roosevelt Island community has other concerns.  The Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) created a committee to meet with the potential academic institutions and the E.D.C.

A community benefit agreement is the top priority of Island leaders. On September 27, an informal meeting was held between the RIRA, local organization leaders, and Cornell representatives. Organized by New York State Assembly Member Micah Kellner, residents voiced their concern about the Island becoming polarized, with an “us” versus “them” separation.

Roosevelt Island’s transition into a college town is a main point of concern. There was discussion of how the school’s bus system with work, what role public safety would play, and how necessary a mixing of the communities would be.

The Cornell representatives responded positively, expressing a strong desire to work hand-in-hand with the community. They had spoken to the heads of the local schools to discuss the possibility of various mentoring programs, a shared library, and other educational partnerships. According to local residents at the meeting, the Cornell representatives showed a strong interest in learning more about the culture of Roosevelt Island in efforts to create a cohesive community.

Still, the optimism and excitement in response to the Roosevelt Island proposals has left some room for bitterness. A recent meeting in Flushing hosted by Queens Civic Congress President Patricia Dolan resulted in Dolan’s curt interruption of E.D.C president Seth Pinsky. 

 “Roosevelt Island is not Queens,” Ms. Dolan stated.

“And I didn’t say it was,” Mr. Pinsky replied.

Community lobbyists such as Ms. Dolan, who is advocating a recently zoned Willets Point (which some at the meeting pointed out even Robert Moses could not fix), have come to the realization that their zones are no longer being considered. But a high-tech campus on Roosevelt Island, Mr. Pinsky claimed, will do wonders for Western Queens. Communities such as Astoria and Sunnyside will benefit from proximity when startups and students look for relocation options off the island.

Credit: "Roosevelt Islanders" blog

But to those involved with Roosevelt Island, response all across the board from political figures to organization leaders, has been in strong support for the project.

Councilwoman Lappin stated at her press conference in July, “We will welcome you, we will work with you and we want you. We did not want a hotel when that was proposed, we didn't want a big box store or luxury condos, but a world class engineering school- we want you.”

An Optimistic Reception

The island, populated by 12,000 people, will give up ten acres to the winning university. Most residents have welcomed Bloomberg’s initiative as a positive alternative to the luxury condo development that has occurred there recently. In their eyes, a new engineering school has the ability to grow Roosevelt Island’s popularity and economic development without losing its small community feel.  It goes hand-in-hand with the island’s growing reputation as a place for new technologies such as electric car charging stations and wireless parking sensors.

          “This is going to be extremely beneficial as well as promotional,” says Alex K., owner of Trellis, a diner that is a short walking distance from the proposed site, “That is, if we can get our lease renewed before the thing gets built.”

Erin Jones, a Roosevelt Island resident since 1997, and a waitress at nearby Riverwalk Bar and Grill, says that she has noticed how things have come a long way.

“Years ago when I first moved here, everyone waking up and down Main Street knew each other. Now if it isn’t the Riverwalk condos then it’s the Octagon condos,” she says, “I don’t mind so much as much as the older crowd might.”

Local businesses are excited to welcome the influx of laborers needed for such a vast massive project. It may be the economic boost the island has been looking for. Additionally, the location of the proposed site at the Southernmost tip of Roosevelt Island means that those on their way to the campus will commute through Main Street and bring life to its empty shops.

Main Street, which has recently seen almost a third of its small businesses shuttered, has been looking for new renters. An overwhelming majority of Roosevelt Island residents, in a recent poll taken, would like to see more well-known businesses opened. Some suggestions given were Duane Reade, a movie theatre, McDonald’s, and maybe, if they’re lucky enough, an additional Starbucks—surely all college student necessities.

Credit: Huffington Post

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