These are our initial findings but this is just the first step. We will be holding a listening session on Saturday, October 17th from 1:30-3pm at the Roosevelt Island Public Library to hear your feedback.
In June I began working with the Roosevelt Islander to better understand how residents find and share local information, where they see value in local information ecosystems, what areas feel difficult to navigate, and where the local information ecosystem could be stronger.
This was a community listening project, meaning that I met Roosevelt Island residents where they are – the farmers market, local businesses, community events, and on the street. I asked questions but mainly I focused on listening to what residents had to say about any number of topics they felt passionate about. I was interested in learning more about where and how they access local news and what they wanted to see improved in their community. If you’re a resident and I spoke with you, I want to thank you for offering your time and thoughts during our interactions. If I haven’t spoken with you, I want to extend an invitation to chat and learn what you enjoy about living on Roosevelt Island.
The listening project also included a community survey where I received 93 responses, and a community listening session hosted at Roosevelt Island Public Library, where 12 residents spoke for roughly an hour and half about issues they experience on Roosevelt Island and how the Islander can better cover those issues. The goal was not simply to ask what stories people want to read. It was to understand how information moves across Roosevelt Island, what changes residents want to see and to make sense of the Islanders role in that process.
One of the clearest findings is that Roosevelt Island is not short on information.
Residents get news, information and updates from several organizations including the Roosevelt Islander, RIOC, and the Roosevelt Island Citizen Project app; several social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp and also places where residents send and receive information; friends and neighbors, community organizations, newsletters, and word of mouth are also methods of information exchange. The challenge is that all of those sources often exist in separate places.
In other words, Roosevelt Island is information-rich, but often fragmented in how that information is organized and shared.
That fragmentation matters because residents are not only looking for more news. They are looking for information that is easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to act on.
Here’s what I learned:
Transportation and infrastructure stood out
Transportation was the most consistent concern throughout the research. In the community survey, it was the most requested coverage topic and the issue most frequently raised in open-ended responses. But the listening session showed that “transportation” means much more than whether a train or tram is running.
Residents talked about tram crowding, tourism pressure, Red Bus reliability, accessibility, school travel, commuting safety, schedules, and the basic ability to get on and off the Island. Housing and development were often connected to the same concern, whether Roosevelt Island’s infrastructure and public services can keep pace as the community changes.
One practical recommendation is to create a recurring “Getting Around Roosevelt Island” update in the Islander newsletter/website, bringing transportation information into one predictable place rather than requiring readers to search across multiple sources.
Residents want to know who is responsible
Another major theme was accountability.
Residents asked for more reporting that explains how decisions are made, who has authority, and what happens after a decision or complaint. They also wanted to know when public input is possible and whether showing up at a meeting or submitting feedback can actually make a difference.
That points to journalism that does more than explain what happened. It should also help answer: Who decides? What happens next? Can residents weigh in?
One recommendation is for the Islander to add those questions to relevant accountability stories or create evergreen explainers about how Roosevelt Island works.
The Islander’s archive is an important community resource
Residents also raised a more practical problem: finding older reporting.
Over the years, the Roosevelt Islander has built a substantial record of local government, transportation, development, housing, public safety, community events, and Island history – over 11,000 stories. But that value is insignificant when older stories are difficult to search and find.
A searchable archive organized by keyword, topic, date, and category could make that reporting much more useful to residents while strengthening the Islander as a long-term record of the community. We have created a beta version of a story repository. You can access it here. We hope this can be a placeholder until a more polished version can be created.
A trusted newsroom can also be a fragile one
The research also reinforced something important about the Roosevelt Islander itself.
Residents said the Islander was the most trusted single local information source from survey responses. At the same time, listening-session participants raised concerns about how much of the Island’s information ecosystem depends on one person.
That creates both an opportunity and a vulnerability.
The Islander plays an important role in verifying information, preserving institutional memory, explaining decisions, and connecting residents. But that role becomes difficult to sustain if reporting, publishing, archiving, social media, newsletters, events, and community engagement all depend on one person.
That is why some of the recommendations focus not only on audience growth, but also on sustainability: contributor networks, stronger distribution partnerships, documented newsroom systems, and better use of owned platforms such as the website and newsletter. These are some ways to strengthen your community’s trusted news source and improve information sharing.
The strongest finding may be the simplest one
Despite the frustrations residents expressed, there was also a clear desire to participate.
More than 70% of respondents who answered the community survey said they would be interested in future feedback or community-listening opportunities. The listening session also showed an interest in sharing information, identifying common priorities, and using existing community institutions more effectively.
That may be the most encouraging part of the project.
Residents appear willing to participate. The challenge is creating clearer pathways for that participation and showing people that their input can lead somewhere.
The larger opportunity for the Roosevelt Islander is not simply to publish more. It is to become an even stronger connective layer in the community.
We want to hear from you!
The recommendations in this assessment grew directly out of what residents told us through the community survey and listening session. They include ideas for making transportation information easier to find, improving access to past Islander reporting, explaining who makes decisions on Roosevelt Island, and making local journalism more useful and actionable.
But these are still recommendations.
The next step, and by far the most important, is hearing from residents about whether these ideas would actually be useful.
Would you use these tools? Which ones would make it easier for you to stay informed? Is there something missing that would be more valuable to you?
We will be holding a listening session on October 17th from 1:30-3pm at the Roosevelt Island Public Library to hear from you. You can RSVP here.
This is your opportunity to tell us if you feel these recommendations are useful to you and to offer any additional information you think is valuable.
The Roosevelt Islander has limited resources, so your feedback can help identify which ideas are worth prioritizing.
Here’s the August 24, 2026 Roosevelt Island community Listening Post session at the Public Library
and me earlier this summer at the Farmers market talking about the project.
Jake, Thanks for this thoughtful summary of your initial findings. It would be helpful to the readers if you reminded them and introduced yourself and your role as a community listener and researcher in the first paragraph (even though you linked to the article in June, which they may have forgotten). I look forward to future updates.