Why is RISA still around?

For years, the Roosevelt Island Seniors Association (RISA) ran the island's senior center. In 2016, its longtime director, Rema Townsend, was charged with felony grand larceny, accused of siphoning...

For years, the Roosevelt Island Seniors Association (RISA) ran the island's senior center. In 2016, its longtime director, Rema Townsend, was charged with felony grand larceny, accused of siphoning public funds meant for senior services into her own pockets. On January 18, 2017, Barbara Parker signed the 2016 tax filing, listing herself as Secretary, with Delores Green as President and Wendy Hersh as Vice President. Today, Parker and Hersh lead RIDA, another group receiving public funds.

According to reliable sources familiar with the internal fallout, Wendy Hersh served as the internal whistleblower who helped expose the financial misconduct. She, along with Ron Davidson and Lynne Shinozaki, conducted the deep-dive research that was first turned over to Ben Kallos and then to the Department of Investigation. However, rather than being embraced for exposing the wrongdoing, Hersh became the target of a campaign led by her fellow board members. Public statements and editorials at the time sought to downplay the severity of the misconduct, characterizing it as “minor bookkeeping errors” — a narrative later refuted by the indictments themselves.

Among the RISA membership at the time were Howard Polivy as well as Fay Christian. According to these same sources, none publicly acknowledged the wrongdoing or spoke against the effort to maintain RISA’s funding after the scandal broke.

Following Townsend’s departure, RISA largely went dark, reporting minimal income and little public activity. Then, around 2020, Andrea Jackson took over as President and reported that funding rose to roughly $15–20K annually.

We have reached out to Parker and Hersh to clarify when they assumed leadership, under what circumstances, and whether it overlapped with Townsend's final days. We also asked Parker why she stepped down. Both Parker and Hersh now serve on the board of RIDA, with Hersh currently listed as its president. If substantive responses arrive, we will update this article.

Meanwhile, the Carter Burden Network – a city-contracted nonprofit with credentialed staff and deep resources – took over the senior center. From our reporting, they have consistently provided transparent, professional, and accredited services since the 2016 fallout.

Let’s be clear: we are not alleging wrongdoing by RISA's current leadership. But we question the logic of continuing to funnel public purpose funds to an organization with no website, opaque public communication, a past history of mismanagement, and a board whose activities remain largely hidden.

The Polivy connection

Ellen Polivy formerly served as RIRA president. During her tenure in 2012 she touted RIRA’s role in organizing CERT classes. According to RIOC records, Howard Polivy "presently is Chief of the Roosevelt Island Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)." Frank Farance, current RIRA president, corrected the record, stating Howard's CERT group operates independently of RIRA. Howard Polivy has declined to respond to our questions.

Our sources informed us that RISA runs a handful of evening classes at the senior center – classes that include as participants Howard and Ellen Polivy, RIOC’s most senior board member and his wife.

We mention this because public trust depends on accountability, especially when those benefiting from publicly funded programs also sit in powerful oversight positions. While we do not allege the Polivys steered funding to RISA or RIRA, the appearance of closeness merits scrutiny. Oversight demands daylight, not secrecy.

So what does RISA do these days?

We still don’t know. Our best information is that RISA runs occasional classes in the CBN-managed senior center and collects revenue from weekend flea markets – flea markets that, according to neighbors, include participation by Ellen Polivy. Again, Polivy has not responded to our inquiries.

While the Carter Burden Network operates the senior center during weekday hours under its city contract, sources familiar with the arrangement note that the Department for the Aging (DFTA) funding does not cover evenings or weekends. RISA has recently framed its role as filling in those off-hour gaps, though it's unclear how consistently that programming takes place. In practice, both CBN and RIDA also receive public funds that support senior services and community programming — including activities during evenings and weekends — which raises further questions about the necessity of maintaining a third, less structured, and publicly invisible organization in this space.

More importantly, RISA is not structured or positioned to provide oversight for another nonprofit like RIRA — especially given that its current board remains largely unknown to the community and operates with minimal transparency or accountability.

Why RIRA is needed but can it come back?

As reported in our last installment (RIRA Disqualified on Paper, Rewarded), RIRA received its funds indirectly through RISA. After publication, multiple sources reached out to help fill in the blanks regarding RIRA’s troubled history and internal dynamics. According to those sources, while RIRA has long played an important role as a community watchdog, its ability to represent residents has eroded over years of conflict and dysfunction.

Ellen Polivy and Lynne Shinozaki, faced relentless attacks from Frank Farance, according to our sources, creating an environment so hostile that elections effectively stalled. While Farance is often well-prepared and knowledgeable in public forums, he lacks broader support from the community at large. Still, he continues to respond publicly to questions when others remain silent.

Frank Farance, RIRA President, offered a brief response:

“Too many things are wrong/misleading, it shouldn't be published until it is researched, corrected, balanced, and fair.”

Farance strongly objects to this characterization. In a detailed written response, he disputes the claim that his actions stalled elections and asserts that his disagreements with prior RIRA presidents were based on procedural and financial concerns, not personal hostility. He believes the article overlooks serious governance issues that were raised at the time by multiple members of the Common Council, not just himself. He has committed to elaborating further in the public comments.

Why does this matter? An independent residents association can provide oversight, push for transparency, and advocate for services that improve life on Roosevelt Island. But any comeback will depend on confronting the past, embracing reforms, and putting community interests first, something RIRA has struggled to do in recent years.

Taking a step back

We thank Dhruvika Patel Amin, Vice President/Chief Financial Officer, for adding $100K to the pot this year – an important boost to the Public Purpose Fund (PPF). We also thank Prof. Lydia W. Tang and Dr. Michal L. Melamed for their tireless work over the past year. New board members cannot fix decades of broken systems alone. They need public awareness and pressure. Not because we believe everyone in power is doing wrong – but because when government hides, it forgets it exists to serve the public.

We hope this month-long investigation motivates RIOC to open up. Share PPF grant information. Change the grant process from short-term, event-based handouts to support for services that genuinely improve quality of life on the island. In the mean time we’ll keep asking questions and investigate.

We posed a closing question to RIOC and its board:

"Will you be willing to hold a committee meeting focused on reforming the Public Purpose Funds to help it thrive visibly for years to come?"

If we receive a response, we will update.