NYCkayaker Roosevelt Island Memorial alternative

[Erik Baard]

Ms. Gina Pollara
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute

Dear Ms. Pollara,

 Franklin D. Roosevelt certainly deserves a memorial in view of the United
Nations that respects the Louis I. Kahn vision, the environment, and the
timeless beauty of nature. In that light I propose that the Kahn design be
expressed through natural elements that enhance its sense of place in the
harbor.

 As the founder of the LIC Community Boathouse and
www.NatureCalendar.com<http://www.naturecalendar.com/>I have spent
many hours as a volunteer harbor and estuary ecology advocate
kayaking around Roosevelt Island and admiring its green southern tip from
the nearby Queens waterfront. What happens at the southern tip of Roosevelt
Island is viewed by more lovers of our estuary heritage in Manhattan and
Queens than on Roosevelt Island itself. This letter reflects my personal
concerns and hopes for the site.

 A V-shaped colonnade of indigenous trees is the central visual element of
the Kahn design, and that can be responsibly included in a final design. It
could still flank a sustainable and lush greensward and garden, but
elevating it would be a needless pouring of concrete.

The retaining wall edging the entire tip of the island will be both costly
and damaging to the environment. What is needed is a soft shoreline
that allows harbor birds, tidal pool creatures, and saltwater plants to
live. A soft shoreline also offers safe landings in emergencies to paddlers
and rowers, who will be surrounding the island in far greater numbers over
the coming years (many of whom will be Roosevelt Island residents).

You are also seeking higher maintenance costs and significant hassles with a
retaining wall, as can be witnessed across the strait at Queensbridge Park.
Instead, I recommend that you save millions of dollars in construction that
will be unattractive and environmentally unfriendly by retaining the edge
largely as is, improved only by cleaning and aiding the habitat restoration
that is underway through natural propagation.

This is in keeping with the "blue wave" that is refashioning New York Harbor
into a place of recreation and education. The NYC Department of Parks and
Recreation's recently inaugurated NYC Water Trail encourages soft shorelines
for safety, ecology, and aesthetics.

To meet ADA access needs, perhaps the funds saved by omitting the unneeded
retaining wall could be used for paving a perimeter path with NYC bedrock,
recycled from construction and tunneling. Not only does the use of native
stone (more attractive than typical concrete) better respect the environment
and serve to give visitors a sense of ubiety, it symbolizes the profound
role that the Roosevelt family has played in the history of our city's
culture and civics.

The monument itself can be made from the bedrock as well. But instead of
a confining room (which is also a dull spot in the vista of those looking
out onto the harbor), perhaps have inclined slabs that allow visitors to
read the immortal quotations while enjoying the uplift of openness all
around. It would be ironic to have the Four Freedoms speech carved into
confining walls.

I hope you consider this less costly, more environmentally friendly, and
less rigid alternative. To execute an inherited plan without question would
be contrary to the central lesson taught by the lives of both Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Erik Baard
917 687 0896
www.licboathouse.org
www.naturecalendar.com