A Vote in the Shadows: When the Public Record Disagrees with Fay Christian
When the facts contradict the narrative, the silence becomes the story.
There are two truths in public governance. Timelines do not lie. And silence is often the loudest answer.
In 2017, during a dispute over reporting, RIOC board member Fay Fryer Christian corrected David Stone. She insisted that during the critical 2011 vote to extend Rivercross’s ground lease by forty years, she was still living in Westview. She framed it as fact and instructed him to “check the minutes” if he wanted to report truthfully.
The public record tells a different story.
According to the ACRIS filing dated December 12, 2008, Christian purchased Unit 308 in Rivercross four years before the vote she referenced. She was already a shareholder when she cast her vote in 2011. She was a shareholder again when she voted on the Rivercross Second Amendment in 2018. The minutes show no recusal, no disclosure, and no discussion of conflict.
On November 17, I reached out to her with two questions. Does she still stand by her 2017 statement. And did she ever seek guidance on recusal for either of the Rivercross votes.
She did not respond.
The public record is not in dispute
The 2007 purchase of Unit 308 is verified through the recorded proprietary lease transfer. The only additional detail in the filing is a secondary address for Christian at 625 Main Street, Apartment LL36. This aligns with what longtime residents recall, including the account from a former Westview task force member and a Roosevelt Island historian, who remembered Christian’s move as abrupt and controversial at the time. Our source’s impressions cannot be treated as evidence, but they fit the timeline that ACRIS confirms.
Christian was a Rivercross owner when she voted. That is a matter of record.
She was not the only one
During the 2011 and 2018 votes, she was one of several Rivercross residents serving on the RIOC board. Among them was Howard Polivy, who remains on the board today. Polivy’s tenure has been marked by recurring questions about influence, judgment, and his closeness to certain Island institutions.
Margie Smith also voted on those Rivercross actions. In the community she has long been held up as a transformational figure. Internally, she was closely aligned with contractors and advisors who shaped many key RIOC processes over the years. That dual legacy is important to understand as the broader story is reconstructed.
Every Rivercross resident on the board voted for the privatization deal.
None recused. None appear to have disclosed their stake in the building.
This article focuses on Christian. The broader Rivercross story will follow.
Margie’s remark, and the gap it exposed
In a recent Governance Committee meeting, Smith mentioned that she had sought guidance from the Governor’s Office about whether she needed to recuse herself from Rivercross matters. This was a public statement, not a documented fact. At this time there is no paper trail supporting that claim.
Her remark still matters. It indicates that at least one board member believed recusal was a live question. It confirms that the issue was known and possibly discussed behind the scenes. It suggests that RIOC was not blind to the potential conflicts.
What we do not know is whether Christian ever made a similar request.
Or whether Polivy did. Or whether anyone did. There is no public documentation showing any of them sought or received formal waivers.
This is why we filed a FOIL request on November 17. Our request seeks any recusal discussions, waivers, or ethics guidance connected to the two Rivercross votes.
If those records exist, RIOC should produce them.
If they do not exist, the absence is its own answer
UnFOILable: How RIOC and the State Keep Residents in the Dark
FOIL exists for one reason: because government is the public’s business. This piece follows earlier reporting on the Public Purpose Fund cycle, including Bigger Pie, Uneven Slices and Eleanor Rivers’ narratives from the September 19 board meeting. Together, they map a troubling pattern. Residents of Roosevelt Island deserve to know how their money is sp…
Middle class advancement, or something more
There is nothing wrong with middle class residents gaining financial stability through privatization. That story is common and often deserved. But in Rivercross, some advanced more than others. Some walked away with multiple units now valued in the millions. Some insiders accumulated opportunities not available to regular residents.
This is where the rumors lived and grew during the privatization era.
Rumors that votes and positions were shaped by the promise of what was coming.
Rumors that certain board members had more to gain than they acknowledged.
Rumors that the ground lease debates were not as clean as they appeared.
These rumors cannot be treated as fact.
But they cannot be ignored either.
Anyone with information, documentation, or firsthand insight can help fill the missing pieces or disprove the claims entirely. That is how community history is corrected.
Why Christian’s silence matters now
Christian’s record contains three points that cannot be argued.
She owned a Rivercross unit during the votes.
She voted on decisions that shaped the building’s financial future.
She misrepresented her residency timeline when questioned about it in 2017.
She is still on the RIOC board today.
The same is true of Polivy. The same shadows fall across his votes, his decisions, and his silence. Their time in leadership is at the end of its arc. Whether they choose to step down now or wait for public attention to make the role uncomfortable is their decision. But the scrutiny is here. The documents are here. And more questions will follow.
If any board member, past or present, believes this accounting is incomplete, they are invited to provide clarification. Facts, not silence, will determine the next part of this story.
Final notes
This article focuses on one angle of a larger narrative. Rivercross did not privatize itself. It moved through a system shaped by policy, influence, private gain, and public indifference. As we continue to document the Rivercross story, the files will speak for themselves.
For now, the most direct question remains unanswered.
Fay Christian was asked to confirm her own recollection.
She chose not to.
Funny how a timeline can be clearer than a recollection. Paper doesn’t blush, after all. I read your piece with the snow coming down and thought about how some stories age like footprints on fresh powder: crisp at first, then softened until no one wants to admit who walked where. This one seems to be settling the opposite way, revealing more the longer we look.