Safety, Air Quality & Transparency Among Community Concerns For Planned Steam Plant Demolition, RIOC Can Do More To Protect Roosevelt Island Residents Says RIRA President

To the Roosevelt Island community.

The Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA), has been studying the Steam Plant and related Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) work since September 2025, including the Island’s long-term budgeting.  We are reporting here that, contrary to prior statements:

• (1) RIOC does have a say in the potential demolition of the steam plant.
• (2) The current AQ (Air Quality) monitoring is inadequate and not what was promised, especially for the RI Day Nursery, Tennis Bubble, Cornell residents, and Tram and NYC Ferry passengers.
• (3) HPD plans on half-demolishing one smoke stack and use the half-stack as a “chute” for demolition waste from the steam plant yet there is NO engineering validation for using a half-stack for that purpose and NO engineering validation that debris interacting with the inside of the chute will create no new hazards. Also, there is NO engineer on HPD staff with experience in demolishing smoke stacks as pointed out by Skip Hartman from The Roosevelt Island Business Alliance during the July 15, 2026 Steam Plant Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting. (Shown below at the 44 minute 20 second mark).

Note: While there are some interested in preserving the steam plant (Architecture Association of Roosevelt Island) and others with opposing views, RIRA has not taken a position on this topic.

RIRA’s concerns are expressed as: We strongly request that RIOC assert itself, as described in Department of Buildings (DOB) order (See Document 1 below), to assure the community’s safety, provide transparency, and be mindful of the Island’s (including the residents’ and RIOC’s) long-term financial and budgetary interests.

RIRA was formed in 1977 and there is long institutional knowledge about the Island, including relevant topics like:

• air quality in the Goldwater demolition for the Cornell campus,
• ground leases and RIOC-induced rent/maintenance increases for tenants,
• and cross-agency conflicts in the rat invasion at PS/IS 217 in 2017 (City’s DOE vs DoHMH) and RIOC’s possible contamination of NYC water supply in 2016 (duck poop and carcinogens seeping through sprinkler heads because RIOC didn’t install backflow preventers in its cross-connects)
• among scores of other RIRA investigations and advocacy for our community. 

The steam plant demolition topic, analysis, and advocacy is similar to prior RIRA work.

Here is what we discovered through the Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and its CAG meetings, which included other agencies, elected representatives, and other Island organizations:

• (1) Contrary to RIOC’s public announcement, RIOC *DOES* have a role to play and can assert control over the demolition process – see below.  Elected Reprsentatives should push RIOC to get the community’s interests (like safety, air quality, and transparency) and RIOC’s interests (roadway damage, Helix damage) as a condition for doing work (not just demolition) at the work site.
• (2) The current air quality work is inadequate – it’s not just about asbestos, but other air quality hazards (PM, VOC, etc) that result from doing work at the site, including the contaminants and debris.  We were promised air quality monitoring at the June CAG and that has not happened – see below.
• (3) The demolition of the smoke stack and use as a chute has not been validated by an engineer.

Here are details.  There are serious concerns about the  steam plant work that must be immediately addressed, including:

• Investigation and stop work until safety issues (community, environment, worker, etc) are addressed
• More oversight by RIOC, who has an actual say in the project
• Finding proper project management and contractors/vendors to perform the work
• Accurate reporting at CAG meetings

I’ve attached four important documents:

• “July 2024 DOB Comm. Order to Demo – re 5 East Main Street, Roosevelt Is.pdf” – DOB violation on perimeter and demolition order
• “OATH_ECB Violation Details.pdf” – June 29, 2026 safety violations
• “GetViolationImage.pdf” – image of violation
• “ALC – Air monitoring report – 06-29-2026 – 5 E Main St, NY – Ambient – Report.pdf” – asbestos air quality report

First, RIOC does have a say in this and has control over this project as Document #1 (July 2024 order) shows “Roosevelt Island board clearances” are a prerequisite to the demolition. 

RIOC should assert itself, on behalf of the community, and use the expertise of its Owner’s Representative vendor.

Second, as requested by RIRA, we wanted safety, transparency and addressing community needs as a top priority which is not being done. There are problems with safety violations, stop-work orders and serious safety concerns including debris hitting the tennis bubble and air quality for RI Day Nursery.  This is a serious operational flaw in the project.

Third, the current work has serious safety problems, including a violation and stop-work order concerning: “FAILURE TO DESIGNATE AND/OR HAVE SITE SAFETY MANAGER OR SITE SAFETY COORDINATOR PRESENT AT SITE AS REQUIRED. NOTE: AT TIME OF INSPECTION, I OBSERVED A BRICK STACK TOWER APPROX. 210 FEET WITH FACADE REMOVED TO INST”.  See Documents #2 and #3.

Fourth, RIRA had noted that it has experience with air quality monitoring with the Goldwater Hospital demolition.  While HPD has reported air quality monitoring (attachment #4), it is incomplete. 

Yes, there is asbestos monitoring, but there is not regular air quality monitoring that is part of the Community Air Monitoring Program (CAMP), as one vendor reports:

Implementation includes:

• Daily equipment setup and calibration
• Deployment of real-time air monitoring instruments, including:
• Photoionization Detectors (PIDs) for VOC detection
• Particulate monitors for PM-10 measurement
• Upwind and downwind sampling station placement
• Meteorological monitoring, including wind speed/direction and temperature
• Field logs, QA/QC procedures, and response protocols for exceedances
• Alert thresholds and stop-work protocols per NYSDOH/DER-10 guidelines
• Daily or weekly summary reporting, including charts, exceedance logs, and documentation of work stoppages or corrective actions

Our Process:

• Pre-Mobilization Planning
• We review the scope of intrusive work, site layout, and surrounding receptors to develop a site-specific CAMP plan.
• Instrument Setup and Calibration
• Monitoring units are placed at upwind and downwind locations, typically at breathing zone height. Instruments are calibrated to manufacturer and agency standards.
• Real-Time Monitoring During Active Work
• During soil disturbance, demolition, or intrusive sampling, our technicians collect continuous air quality data and respond to any alert conditions.
• Action-Level Response
• If VOCs or dust levels exceed prescribed thresholds (e.g., 5 ppm VOCs above background, 150 µg/m³ PM-10), CORE initiates immediate response actions such as misting, work stoppage, or barrier adjustment.
• Data Management and Reporting
• At the end of each monitoring day, we compile and interpret the data, document compliance or exceedances, and prepare summary reports for regulatory submission.

Community Air Monitoring Regulatory Alignment:

• NYSDOH Generic Community Air Monitoring Plan
• NYSDEC DER-10 (Appendix 1A)
• OSHA air quality standards (for worker exposure)
• Project-specific RAWP, SMP, or HASP requirements
• Site easement or redevelopment covenant air monitoring conditions

The above is similar to prior AQ monitoring efforts on Roosevelt BUT NOT what is being done here for the steam plant work, e.g., there is no monitoring for non-asbestos hazards like PMs (particulate matter) and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) being done here.

Here is a simple test on RIOC corporate governance: if, God forbid, there were an accident at this site and the local news media investigated this, this would be a HUGE fiasco – not just for HPD, but for RIOC, too.

This must be addressed immediately.