Dear neighbors and supporters,

     Five months ago, we asked three simple questions: Where is the structural report? What are the environmental hazards? Can this building be saved?

     We asked on December 2. We asked on February 12. We asked on February 18, when Community Board 8 voted 37–0 to pause the demolition. We asked on April 15, when over 100 of us packed Good Shepherd Chapel and chanted "Report! Report!" for an hour and forty-five minutes.

     146 days later, the city still hasn't answered.

But something shifted. And this week, it shifted in our favor.

     DOB agreed to a site walkthrough — and we're bringing our own engineers and architects.

After months of refusing to share the structural report, DOB has been in direct communication with ArchRI to schedule an on-site walkthrough of the building. This was offered at the April 15 town hall, and we immediately accepted.

Here's the difference this time: we are not going alone.

We have engaged one of the leading forensic engineering firms in the country to join us on the walkthrough and provide an independent professional perspective on the condition of the building and the smokestacks. This will be the first time (as far as we know) any engineer outside of the city government has been inside this building since the demolition was ordered.

If the building is truly beyond saving, what we see will reflect that. If it isn't — and we believe it isn't — the city will have to explain why it's spending $8 million to destroy what could be repaired for a fraction of that cost. And after that - adaptively reimagined to a vibrant, mixed use community hub. 

     Four elected officials demanded a Community Advisory Group — and we have the letter.

On April 22, Congressman Jerry Nadler, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, State Senator Liz Krueger, and Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright signed a joint letter to RIOC CEO BJ Jones demanding that RIOC establish a formal Community Advisory Group for the Steam Plant project with monthly meetings. That's federal, city council, state senate, and state assembly — all four levels of government — standing with us in writing.

This is a copy of that letter. RIOC has not yet responded.

     The Manhattan Borough President is on our side.

At the April 22 CB8 meeting — held on Roosevelt Island at Cornell Tech — Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal stated on the record that his office is "advocating alongside you for independent air quality monitoring and public release of structural reports."

     Our story went national.

The Gothamist investigation was broadcast on WNYC public radio and distributed nationally through NPR One. Combined with the New York Post and amNewYork coverage, the demolition of the Roosevelt Island Steam Plant is no longer a local story (but keep following Roosevelt Islander Online) . People across the country are hearing about what's happening to our community.

     Meanwhile, on the ground right now:

Another contaminated rain water runoff was documented and reported by multiple residents to DEC. Investigation results are pending. A protection barrier was placed on the tram enclosure roof — smokestack demolition preparation is underway. The western smokestack — over 230 feet tall — stands less than 8 feet from an occupied air-supported tennis facility, with no adequate engineering protection visible beyond a sidewalk bridge - covering 8 feet. The DEC oil spill case has been open for 80 days with no resolution. And not one document — not the structural report, not the environmental tests, not the remediation and community protection plans — has been shared with this community.

     What you can do right now:

- Share this petition. We're at 1,937 signatures. Help us break 2,000 this week — every signature adds pressure. →  https://c.org/trTGFWVFWV

- Donate to the legal fund. Every dollar matters. → gofund.me/de8f122d8

- Write to your representatives. Tell Speaker Menin to hold a City Council hearing on HPD's conduct — specifically their denial of the DEC oil spill to her own staff. Tell the Borough President to follow through on independent air monitoring. Tell Mayor Mamdani that 146 days of silence is unacceptable. Sample letters are at archrica.org.

- If you live on the island: Document what you see. Photograph the trucks, the dust, the activity near the school and Firefighters Field. A community member's phone call is what alerted the state to the oil spill in the first place. Your eyes are our monitors.

- If you're a journalist: We have a site walkthrough with forensic engineers happening this week. We have an NPR broadcast, a Gothamist investigation, four elected officials on record, CB8 supporting resolution, and a structural report the city won't release after 146 days. Contact ArchRI at info@archrica.org.

     This building was designed by the architects of the LPC Landmarked American Stock Exchange, and Lord & Taylor Building. It has stood on this island since 1939. The city completed repairs on it in 2023 — and then ordered it demolished a year later. No structural report. No environmental review. No community input. An "emergency" that the city's own official says isn't one.

The smokestacks are still standing. The engineers are coming. And we are not going away.

     Architectural Community Alliance of Roosevelt Island (ArchRI)
     archrica.org · info@archrica.org · @TheArchRI