On July 18th, with final approval from the Safe Zone City Council, Yamagato Industries completed the land use review process for its proposed Roosevelt Island reconstruction effort.
The review process began in the fall and included approval from the Safe Zone Community Planning Board and the Safe Zone City Planning Commission. Yamagato Industries expects to break ground on Roosevelt Island in early 2019, with the first phase to be completed in 2020, and full build-out planned for 2021.
“We are extremely grateful for the support of the city council for this opportunity,” said Kam Nisatta, acting president of Yamagato NY. “We worked throughout the public review process to incorporate input from the community into our approach – that input has resulted in a stronger build plan. We are confident the result is a neighborhood we can all be proud of and that will benefit both the new Roosevelt Island community and the entire Safe Zone. We look forward to breaking ground next year and continuing to work closely with the community as our rebuild develops.”
Roosevelt Island has sat undeveloped since the conclusion of the Second American Civil War in January of 2014. The few buildings that remain on Roosevelt Island stand in the shadow of the demolished Queensboro Bridge, one of the many land routes to the island of Manhattan that have yet to be repaired. Yamagato Industries says that the development of Roosevelt Island will include reconstruction of the Queensboro Bridge as phase one of a Manhattan-aligned project that has yet to be fully outlined. Kam Nisatta indicated in her press conference that it was "too soon" to talk about the island of Manhattan and that there are many logistical hurdles to consider before the entombed island is approached for revitalization.
As part of the process for rebuilding Roosevelt Island, Yamagato Industries and the city have made a series of commitments to ensure that the new neighborhood provides benefit to the Safe Zone and delivers lasting benefits to the entire city as repairs on the mainland continue apace.
On the construction side, this includes an innovative program to reduce truck trips by reusing demolished materials on site and barging some of the heaviest and bulkiest construction materials. Additionally, the Roosevelt Reconstruction plans include a new green energy power plant on the southern end of Roosevelt Island that will eradicate the notorious rolling blackouts that have plagued the Safe Zone. The new Roosebelt Island will provide access to public facilities operated by the Deveaux Society and its subsidiary the ReGenesis Foundation. These facilities include spaces for local community organizations, SLC-Expressive ability training and mentoring programs for post-high school young adults. The Deveaux Society is proud to cooperate with Yamagato Industries on this exciting new chapter in New York's history.
