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Roosevelt Island Tramway
The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S., having opened on May 17, 1976, to serve residential developments on Roosevelt Island. The tram is operated by Leitner-Poma on behalf of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York.
Before the tramway opened, Roosevelt Island had been accessed via the Roosevelt Island Bridge from Queens, which had opened in 1955. Starting in the late 1960s, the 63rd Street subway line was built to connect new developments on the island to Manhattan. Due to delays in the subway's construction, the tramway was proposed in 1971 and approved in 1973, initially as a temporary mode of transport. The tramway carried 1.25 million riders in its first year and remained popular thereafter, despite intermittent closures. Ridership declined sharply after the subway opened in 1989, though the tramway remained in operation. Following two major breakdowns in the mid-2000s, the tramway was rebuilt from March to November 2010. The stations were renovated in the late 2010s.
Originally, the tram used two 125-person cabins that were hauled by the same cable. After the 2010 renovation, the cabins were replaced with 110-person vehicles that could operate independently. The cabins travel 3,140 feet (960 m) between an at-grade terminal on Roosevelt Island and an elevated terminal on Manhattan Island. The route operates at all times except late nights, with headways of 7.5 to 15 minutes. The tramway uses the same fare structure as the city's bus and subway systems, and fares are paid with either MetroCard or OMNY. Over the years, the Roosevelt Island Tramway has been the subject of commentary and praised as an icon of New York City, and it has been depicted in several works of media.
What is now Roosevelt Island was, until the mid-20th century, known as Blackwell's Island or Welfare Island; it was largely occupied by hospitals and asylums. The Queensboro Bridge, which connected the island with Queens and Manhattan, opened in 1909. A trolley (streetcar) line ran across the bridge when it opened, stopping in the middle of the bridge at an elevator that took passengers down to the island. The trolley remained in service until April 7, 1957, as the last trolley line in New York state; a bridge to Queens had been completed two years earlier.
After the state government leased Welfare Island from the city in 1969, several large housing developments were built there in the early 1970s, necessitating the construction of a public transit connection. Welfare Island was renamed Roosevelt Island in 1973, and residents began moving onto the island in mid-1975. The Roosevelt Island subway station on the 63rd Street Line was being developed to serve the new community, but the entire line was delayed significantly by the mid-1970s. The first residents of Roosevelt Island had to travel through Queens to leave the island, making it difficult to travel to and from Manhattan via car.
Because of the delays in building the subway line, an alternative mode of transportation between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island had to be devised. At a meeting of Manhattan Community Board 8 in September 1971, the Welfare Island Development Corporation proposed an aerial tramway, which the board narrowly approved the next month. The tram was to run between the Motorgate parking garage on Welfare Island and 72nd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side, with two 120-passenger cabins that ascended 200 feet (61 m) above the East River. The Christian Science Monitor wrote that the tramway "ought to be the classiest transportation buy in New York City". Although the 72nd Street location had been selected because it was far from the subway, wealthy Manhattan residents objected to the tramway's terminal being placed there.
The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), a New York state agency, had studied the feasibility of a ferry, a bus, and an aerial tramway by 1972. Ferry routes to 34th, 63rd, and 71st Streets were studied but were ruled out due to high operating costs, lack of mass-transit connections, and lack of union support. Other alternatives under consideration included an elevator extending directly from the Queensboro Bridge. UDC architect William Chafee proposed an aerial tramway, which was ultimately selected because it was cheap, direct, and fit into Roosevelt Island's quiet character. By early 1973, the UDC was finalizing plans for a tramway, which was to be the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S. The tramway was to be the main means of travel between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan, and it was intended as a temporary mode of transit until the subway was completed. The plans called for two 125-passenger cabins that would travel 2,470 feet (750 m) across the East River's western channel, just south of the Queensboro Bridge. Officials hoped the tramway would help the UDC's sales campaigns for the island.
Residents of Sutton Place, a street facing the East River in Manhattan, opposed the tramway plan because they felt the tramway would cause urban blight. The United States Coast Guard also needed to approve the project because it crossed a navigable waterway. In September 1973, the route was changed to the north side of the Queensboro Bridge after property owners protested; UDC president Ed Logue said that "no prominent people lived" near the bridge's north side. The next month, the New York City Board of Estimate approved the aerial tramway. The state government was given a franchise for the tramway in December 1973, allowing construction to begin.
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Roosevelt Island Tramway
The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S., having opened on May 17, 1976, to serve residential developments on Roosevelt Island. The tram is operated by Leitner-Poma on behalf of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York.
Before the tramway opened, Roosevelt Island had been accessed via the Roosevelt Island Bridge from Queens, which had opened in 1955. Starting in the late 1960s, the 63rd Street subway line was built to connect new developments on the island to Manhattan. Due to delays in the subway's construction, the tramway was proposed in 1971 and approved in 1973, initially as a temporary mode of transport. The tramway carried 1.25 million riders in its first year and remained popular thereafter, despite intermittent closures. Ridership declined sharply after the subway opened in 1989, though the tramway remained in operation. Following two major breakdowns in the mid-2000s, the tramway was rebuilt from March to November 2010. The stations were renovated in the late 2010s.
Originally, the tram used two 125-person cabins that were hauled by the same cable. After the 2010 renovation, the cabins were replaced with 110-person vehicles that could operate independently. The cabins travel 3,140 feet (960 m) between an at-grade terminal on Roosevelt Island and an elevated terminal on Manhattan Island. The route operates at all times except late nights, with headways of 7.5 to 15 minutes. The tramway uses the same fare structure as the city's bus and subway systems, and fares are paid with either MetroCard or OMNY. Over the years, the Roosevelt Island Tramway has been the subject of commentary and praised as an icon of New York City, and it has been depicted in several works of media.
What is now Roosevelt Island was, until the mid-20th century, known as Blackwell's Island or Welfare Island; it was largely occupied by hospitals and asylums. The Queensboro Bridge, which connected the island with Queens and Manhattan, opened in 1909. A trolley (streetcar) line ran across the bridge when it opened, stopping in the middle of the bridge at an elevator that took passengers down to the island. The trolley remained in service until April 7, 1957, as the last trolley line in New York state; a bridge to Queens had been completed two years earlier.
After the state government leased Welfare Island from the city in 1969, several large housing developments were built there in the early 1970s, necessitating the construction of a public transit connection. Welfare Island was renamed Roosevelt Island in 1973, and residents began moving onto the island in mid-1975. The Roosevelt Island subway station on the 63rd Street Line was being developed to serve the new community, but the entire line was delayed significantly by the mid-1970s. The first residents of Roosevelt Island had to travel through Queens to leave the island, making it difficult to travel to and from Manhattan via car.
Because of the delays in building the subway line, an alternative mode of transportation between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island had to be devised. At a meeting of Manhattan Community Board 8 in September 1971, the Welfare Island Development Corporation proposed an aerial tramway, which the board narrowly approved the next month. The tram was to run between the Motorgate parking garage on Welfare Island and 72nd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side, with two 120-passenger cabins that ascended 200 feet (61 m) above the East River. The Christian Science Monitor wrote that the tramway "ought to be the classiest transportation buy in New York City". Although the 72nd Street location had been selected because it was far from the subway, wealthy Manhattan residents objected to the tramway's terminal being placed there.
The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), a New York state agency, had studied the feasibility of a ferry, a bus, and an aerial tramway by 1972. Ferry routes to 34th, 63rd, and 71st Streets were studied but were ruled out due to high operating costs, lack of mass-transit connections, and lack of union support. Other alternatives under consideration included an elevator extending directly from the Queensboro Bridge. UDC architect William Chafee proposed an aerial tramway, which was ultimately selected because it was cheap, direct, and fit into Roosevelt Island's quiet character. By early 1973, the UDC was finalizing plans for a tramway, which was to be the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S. The tramway was to be the main means of travel between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan, and it was intended as a temporary mode of transit until the subway was completed. The plans called for two 125-passenger cabins that would travel 2,470 feet (750 m) across the East River's western channel, just south of the Queensboro Bridge. Officials hoped the tramway would help the UDC's sales campaigns for the island.
Residents of Sutton Place, a street facing the East River in Manhattan, opposed the tramway plan because they felt the tramway would cause urban blight. The United States Coast Guard also needed to approve the project because it crossed a navigable waterway. In September 1973, the route was changed to the north side of the Queensboro Bridge after property owners protested; UDC president Ed Logue said that "no prominent people lived" near the bridge's north side. The next month, the New York City Board of Estimate approved the aerial tramway. The state government was given a franchise for the tramway in December 1973, allowing construction to begin.