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MICAH Z. KELLNER65 th Assembly District
THE ASSEMBLYSTATE OF NEW YORK
ALBANY COMMITTEES
BanksCities
Consumer Affairs and ProtectionSteering
Corporations, Authorities, andCommissions
Racing and Wagering
834 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 (518) 455-
5676 , FAX (518) 455- 5282 1365 First Avenue, New York, NY 10021
(212) 860-4906, FAX (917) 432-2983
E-mail: [email protected]
August 29, 2011
Honorable Michael R. BloombergOffice of the Mayor City Hall
New York, NY 10007Re: Roosevelt Island
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
I would like to commend you and your staff on a great job
preparing New Yorkers for Hurricane Irene. The decisions you made
saved lives and showed the world the effectiveness of the Citys
disaster response plan. Hurricane Irene has also provided a unique
opportunity to seegaps in emergency planning, allowing us to
correct them before future disasters occur.Specifically, I am
concerned about protecting and evacuating the residents of
Roosevelt Island,which is located in my district.
Roosevelt Island requires special consideration when it comes to
emergency planning;
the Island is home to two acute-care hospitals, Coler and
Goldwater, and nearly 14,000 residents,many of whom are elderly or
disabled. Further, as the Island looks to expand with the
possiblelocation of an applied sciences center, with the
accompanying residents and staff, it is moreimportant than ever to
focus on emergency procedures. Had the City faced a more severe
stormthat required the evacuation of Zone B, there is currently no
practical plan in place to safelyevacuate Island residents.
Roosevelt Island only has a single ground access point the
Roosevelt Island Bridge which connects the Island with western
Queens. On Saturday, August 27, 2011 as the City was
bracing for Irenes impending arrival, you warned that the Citys
bridges, including theRoosevelt Island Bridge, would be forced to
close should sustained wind speeds reach 60 miles
per hour. The Metropolitan Transportation Authoritys subway and
bus service was suspended asof 12:00 PM. Also, the Roosevelt Island
Tram was forced to close at 6:00 PM due to windspeeds that exceeded
45 miles per hour. Should the Bridge have been forced to close,
RooseveltIsland would have been isolated from the rest of the City.
While many of the evacuationsthroughout the City were smoothly
executed, I fear that if the storm had been stronger we would
be facing an extremely different and deadly outcome on Roosevelt
Island.
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Despite being a Class B Flood Zone, Roosevelt Island was not
immune to flooding.During this storm, there was severe flooding in
Lighthouse Park, which is located at the northerntip of the Island
and adjacent to the Coler Hospital campus. The eastern seawall
which runsalong to the Goldwater Hospital campus, the future site
of the applied sciences center at thesouthern end of the Island,
also flooded. In light of Irene being downgraded to a tropical
storm
before reaching New York and still causing flooding in close
proximity to these to these twoacute care hospitals on separate
ends of the Island, it is safe to say the situation would have
beenmuch more dire should a Class 1 or Class 2 hurricane have
touched ground.
I believe we can use Hurricane Irene as a teachable moment to
better identify innovativeways to improve disaster preparedness. I
respectfully request that the Office of EmergencyManagement meet
with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation and local elected
officials todiscuss creating a comprehensive emergency preparedness
plan for Roosevelt Island.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you would like
to discuss this matter further, please contact me at (212)
860-4906.
Very truly yours,
Micah Z. Kellner Assembly Member
CC:Cas Holloway, Deputy Mayor for OperationsCommissioner Joseph
Bruno, Office of Emergency ManagementRoosevelt Island Operating
CorporationRoosevelt Island Residents Association
