Roosevelt Island’s AVAC
How does Roosevelt Island’s AVAC system work? Gibbs and Hill illustrate the AVAC system operations from apartment building to terminal in their report to the Welfare Island Development Corporation in 1970. Envirogenics Co., the US distributor for AVAC manufacturer Centralsug, describes the AVAC system components using photographs from US systems installed between 1969 and 1972, before construction began on Roosevelt Island. Gibbs and Hill illustrate the AVAC system operations from apartment building to terminal in their report to the Welfare Island Development Corporation in 1970. Urban explorations by the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) with students from the Child School, and a documentary examine how the system works today.
The AVAC System
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Breaking it Down
Roosevelt Island’s pneumatic garbage disposal is a nearly invisible process. What happens to the garbage here once we’re done with it? The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) worked with students from The Child School to teach residents about the garbage infrastructure on the Island. The crew started by investigating the school’s chute and valve rooms, and then got to know the AVAC facility through a tour with its engineers. After their extensive on-site research, the students created a series of visual metaphors to make the Island’s complex system more accessible.
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Nature Abhors a Vacuum
What do six enormous vacuums, two cyclone separators, several miles of steel tubing, bailing wire, copious duct tape, eight NYC Dept of Sanitation employees and, occasionally, a six-foot tall Swedish engineer with a flexible collarbone have in common?
They are the system that daily pulls tons of household waste though underground pneumatic tubes on NYC’s Roosevelt Island. Using interviews with sanitation employees, engineers and Roosevelt Island residents, Nature Abhors a Vacuum shows you how the AVAC system works, why it works for Roosevelt Island and most importantly, who fixes it when it jams.
Featuring: Jerry Sorgente, Senior Stationary Engineer, NYC Dept. of Sanitation; Neil Gallagher, Director of Bureau of Building Maintenance, NYC Dept. of Sanitation; Tom Turcic, Director of Engineering, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC)
Roosevelt Island residents: Judy Berdy, Irene Clark, Marlene Flum, Emma Felix, Vicky Feinmel, Selwyn Fund
Director / Editor / Director of Photography: Gregory Whitmore
Producer / Interviews: Juliette Spertus
Camera: Steven Taylor
The Roosevelt Island AVAC System: Its proper use and care
The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) worked with students from The Child School to create a user’s manual for Roosevelt Islanders. Many residents aren’t aware of their exceptional pneumatic system. As a result, items that can harm or clog the system get thrown into the chutes. CUP envisioned this manual as a way to encourage residents to care for their system and its future.
