Akeem Jamal is an assistant Mayor of Yonkers City and the assistant vice president of communication and public affairs in Roosevelt Island, New York. He was appointed as the assistant vice president of Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) by the organization president, Shelton J. Haynes. RIOC is a public-benefit corporation located in NY, created to facilitate the growth and development of Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt is a small island located on the East River.
RIOC is an organization managed by a team of five board members under president Shelton Haynes, who reports to the board. The organization was created in 1984 to control the development of the island. It replaced other agencies that operated the island’s development, including the Roosevelt Island Development Corporation and Welfare Island Development Corporation. The organization’s board was appointed in 1986 to facilitate its development.
Roosevelt Island needed specialized operations and infrastructures like an aerial tramway, underground garbage collection system, seawall improvement, and island bus system. The previous agencies provided basic services such as bus routes and subway MTA stops. Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation identified the gap between these services and stepped up to supplement them with technical improvements. The Island is based on new urban communities’ principles of the Great Society programs of the 1970s.
The development of the Roosevelt Island new community was authorized by the general Development Plan to lease the city’s land to the NYS Urban Development Corporation in 1969 for ninety-nine years. The island is focused on building rental houses. As a result, many specialized operations are needed to facilitate the desired growth. The city management considers Roosevelt a critical resource for city expansion; thus, it is willing to finance and promote all operations to improve its growth.
Today, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation controls a mixed-income community of more than twelve thousand people. It features various parks, landmark buildings, green spaces, and recreational centers. It also contains a waterfront promenade that offers beautiful views of NY city icons like the Chrysler building, UN headquarters, and Queens’ Pepsi-Cola sign. Transportation structures like roads and trams connect the Island. To manage the numerous activities and operations set in Roosevelt Island, RIOC and Akeem Jamal have been employed to lead specialized operations.