Priced Out of the Air. Priced Out of Safety.The death of a neighbor forces us to confront what privatization and neglect have built.I want to begin with a person, not a policy. Her name was Catherine Same Mahouve. She died on November 15 inside her home at 560 Main Street. She should have been safe. Her family is now facing the impossible. Her daughter, Justine, lost her mother and her home in the same night. If you are able, this is where you can help. Hold her memory for a moment. Because everything that follows is about what it means to lose someone who should still be here. The warnings were everywhereThis tragedy did not erupt in a vacuum. Residents of Roosevelt Landings have been raising alarms for years. The record is painfully clear. A year ago, a mobility device battery ignited in the hallway at 540 Main. Fire doors that should have isolated the smoke did not close. Tenants had already reported them broken. Nothing was done. Residents filed complaints about mold. Roosevelt Landings has been trying to warn this island for a long time. The hedge fund yearsTo understand the present, you have to understand how Eastwood became Roosevelt Landings. The state built this building with public money. Urban American took control. Across every transfer, the price rose. Island House fought for ownership. Roosevelt Landings was never invited into the room. This is not speculation. The air has a cost. Now we see a life does too.Two weeks before the fire, Eleanor and I wrote about being priced out of the air we breathe as a metaphor in our last two articles. We did not imagine how quickly our warning would become literal. At Roosevelt Landings: The air is metered. When a building becomes a financial instrument, safety becomes optional. We must name what this really is: a culture of disregard that predates the fire, that shaped the conditions of the fire, and that will produce another tragedy unless someone stops pretending this is normal. The institutional silenceIt has been months since RIOC acknowledged anything we have published. After the fire, RIOC offered no meaningful public accounting. And within RIOC’s structure sits the REDAC Committee, chaired by Howard Polivy. Comfortable approving projects without asking who is left behind. Nine seats. This is not an oversight. Roosevelt Island’s quiet truthThis island was planned as an experiment in equity. The buildings with power have representation. The largest building complex on the island houses the people with the least political influence. No one should be comfortable with this. Return to Catherine Same MahouveHer life mattered. Her story must not be absorbed into the bureaucratic silence that has already swallowed too much of this community’s pain. We will keep asking the questions others avoid. And we will not leave the Landings behind. |
Friday, 28 November 2025
Priced Out of the Air. Priced Out of Safety.
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