Weekend, August 16-17, 2025 – NEW BUS ROUTE TO COLER AFTER DECADES OF REQUESTS

By admin

NEW BUS ROUTE

TRAM BACK ON FULL SERVICE
AND 
A GREAT RIOC SPRUCE UP

Weekend, August 16-17, 2025 

Judith Berdy

Issue # 1511

RED BUS TO SERVE COLER

 The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) and NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler announce a new pilot program that will extend free Red Bus service on Roosevelt Island directly to the front entrance of the skilled nursing & rehabilitation center located at 900 Main Street, during morning and afternoon rush hours, beginning Monday, August 18. As part of the pilot, Coler will serve as the northernmost stop on the island from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays. The initiative aims to improve public transportation access for Coler residents, staff, and visitors.

“The extension of the RIOC Red Bus service to our main entrance at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler will have a profound impact on the quality of life of staff, residents and visitors who commute to our nursing facility from other transportation hubs on Roosevelt Island,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler Interim Chief Executive Officer David Weinstein, MA, HSA, LNHA. “I am grateful to our partners at Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation for working with us to improve accessibility to this invaluable service.”  

“Extending the Red Bus to Coler Hospital is something that has been requested of different RIOC administrations for years, likely since the facility first opened. Today, we are pleased to announce a new pilot program that will finally allow Coler residents, staff, and visitors to travel directly from the island’s transportation hubs to the hospital’s front door every weekday during our busiest rush hour periods,” said Mary Cunneen, Chief Operating Officer of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. “I want to thank David Weinstein, interim CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler, for his partnership and commitment to making this possible, and RIOC’s Transportation Department, led by Nestor Ortiz, for moving quickly to turn this long-standing goal into a reality.”

Currently, passengers traveling to or from Coler via the Red Bus must use the Octagon stop, located south of the Coler campus. This additional distance can be challenging, especially for Coler residents, many of whom have mobility limitations. Under the pilot program, the Red Bus will instead make its final northbound stop at the same Coler stop used by the Q102 bus during weekday peak hours.

The addition of the Coler stop is not expected to affect the current Red Bus schedule. During off-peak hours and weekends, the route will continue to begin and end at the Octagon.

TRAM BACK ON FULL SCHEDULE

Our Tram operator, Leitner-Poma, has completed the communications system upgrade work on the South Tram cabin early. Both cabins will now return to their normal schedules, with 2 cabins operating starting today at 2:30pm for afternoon rush hour service. 

We want to thank everyone in the community for their patience and understanding while we completed these necessary system upgrades. 

KIOSKS GET PAINT JOB AND SCRUBBING 

Above left: before     Above right: after

I submitted a problem on the RIOC website under the heading “Report a Problem”.  All I wrote is that our 50 year old round kiosks are dirty and have not been powerwashed and the tops painted in years.

Less than a week later RIOC send me photos of the newly cleaned and painted kiosks.  Looking better than in years the RIOC RED shines again. 

Thanks to tthe maintenance staff members:Christopher Alexander Mehdi Omrani Alex Perez for their efforts. 

CONCRETE PATCHING AT OCTAGON BUS STOP

A part of the sidewalk at the Octagon bus stop has been cracking and was a tripping hazard. After reporting it to 
“Report a Problem” the area was repaired promptly.  Now the tripping hazzard has been removed,

PHOTO OF THE DAY

NEGLECT AT R.I. POST OFFICE
THERE SEEMS TO BE NO CLEANING GOING ON AT OUR LOCAL POST OFFICE

Credits

ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION
NYC HEALTH +HOSPITALS 
JUDITH BERDY

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

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