Opinion

Here's what we're thinking about. Have an opinion you'd like to post here? Contact the editor: davestone13@gmail.com. We'll consider it.

Looking North Along the Briana Warsing Bypass

Still Following Me Around or the Briana Warsing Bypass

10/19/2017 - 18:02 Updated 1 year ago

A couple of weeks ago, I published Main Street WIRE Didn't Want Me, So Why Do They Keep Following Me Around? My fervent hope was that they'd go get their own ideas or, failing that, give me credit for the things that now make up most of what the "independent" newspaper does. While waiting to see if they copy me again (Of course, they did.), I recalled an earlier incident and decided to follow up on what I'm calling the Briana Warsing Bypass.

Archival image of directional signage in Australia around the time Governor Cuomo, RIOC's boss, was born and women were expected to cover up their knees.

Why Have Hudson and RIOC Teamed Up To Snub Main Street Retail?

10/18/2017 - 18:41 Updated 1 year ago

The worst kept secret on Roosevelt Island is that we have lots of location signage, good stuff too, easy to follow and right where visitors need it to be. The best kept is why it never benefits the struggling Main Street retail corridor.

Lede gives away the WIRE's motive. RI Youth Program draws kids away from PS/IS 217's Beacon. What the WIRE fails to tell you is that RIYP has exactly the same authorization for child care that the Queens-based Beacon does. It drives them crazy.

Advertisers: Drop WIRE Ads or Face Boycott

10/15/2017 - 16:15 Updated 1 year ago

If you advertise in the Main Street WIRE, your money's invested in a campaign of misinformation intended to drive a Roosevelt Island institution out of business. Is that what you intended to buy?

Kids at the computers in the Roosevelt Island Youth Center on Wednesday after the Main Street WIRE said they'd been "shut down."

Main Street WIRE Forced To Walk Back Effort to Destroy Youth Program

10/14/2017 - 09:18

Late last week, in the grand, local tradition of "Kick 'em When They're Down," Main Street WIRE Editor/Publisher Briana Warsing clubbed the Roosevelt Island Youth Program in a brutal attack, inspired by friends of PS/IS 217 Principal Mandana Beckman, hoping to bury RIYP, a group that's helped kids here for more than 40 years. On Friday, Warsing was forced to back down. But it was reluctant, partial and in another WIRE tradition woefully inaccurate.

Take the Pledge: End the Painful Stigma Against Mental Illness

10/08/2017 - 09:18

In my twenties, overturning everything I thought I knew about life by reading Kurt Vonnegut's novels, I heard that No More Blue Mondays, the subtitle for Breakfast of Champions, was about his taking medications for chronic depression, and I cringed. My hero had a mental illness? Now, we know that what's been hidden so long is that it's about as common and every day as catching the flu, and a new program Make It OK is out to change our minds .

Main Street WIRE dumped in a commercial doorway.

Main Street WIRE Didn't Want Me. So, Why Do They Keep Following Me Around?

10/04/2017 - 15:47

Is the Main Street WIRE stalking me or just scrambling to keep up?

Dear RIOC: Here Is What A Sign Looks Like Part 3

10/04/2017 - 09:08

We're not taking it personally. RIOC's braintrust hasn't responded to our previous helpful suggestions about signage nor, as far as we know, to Judy Berdy's brilliant idea about putting lamppost banners to good use. Maybe the gang at 591 Main Street's just been busy. Maybe they're mulling a thoughtful, appreciative response. Whatever. But undeterred and standing ready, as faithful Roosevelt Islanders, we're still willing to help.

Dear RIOC: Here Is What A Sign Looks Like Part 2

10/01/2017 - 09:04

It wasn't a banner week for RIOC sign-wise, excuse the pun. "Yes, the RI logo is ugly," wrote one longtime resident, agreeing with our thoughtful assessment of the RI mockup thing lugged around town on Tuesday. "Uglier than ugly," another topped him, but the worst insult of the week was handed RIOC by its sister agency, the MTA.

Should Westview Follow in Manhattan Park's Footsteps?

If Westview Goes Market - Learning from Manhattan Park's Decline

09/25/2017 - 17:08

Prolonged stalling increases the risk that Westview will end up dropping Mitchell-Lama unilaterally, converting the complex into market rate rentals and coops. A look at what's become of market rate housing at Manhattan Park helps explain the dangers.

Charlene Indelicato, March 2016, with new hire Kimberly Quinones

RIOC: Board of Directors or Vassals?

09/20/2017 - 16:37

The idea's a good one. Bring in a majority of Roosevelt island residents to populate a Board meant to guide and approve how RIOC governs. But has crafty maneuvering in Albany handcuffed our locals, turning them into medieval vavasours? Are they stuck, for all serious purposes, with simply nodding along with Governor Andrew Cuomo's decisions, no longer empowered to influence much of anything?