Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival A Total Transportation Mess - Residents Furious That Tram, Subway, Ferry, Bridge Overwhelmed By Visitors
Roosevelt Island residents are furious today over the long lines and delays at the Tram, Subway, Ferry and bridge caused by the overwhelming number of visitors going to the Cherry Blossom Festival today at the southern section of the Island - FDR Four Freedoms Park
Start of Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival @4FreedomsPark https://t.co/jE0y1BS8k2. pic.twitter.com/nfeNQBKuFg— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
and the West Waterfront Promenade next to Cornell Tech.
Walking the West waterfront promenade to Roosevelt island Cherry Blossom Festival pic.twitter.com/ivQgkYAIB9— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 14, 2019
Will have much more on this but for now social media has the info.
It’s very crowded at Roosevelt island cherry blossom festival. 5500 people entered Southpoint Park as of approximately 1:30. pic.twitter.com/VY14gMf6dd— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
Visitors on way to Roosevelt Island cherry blossom festival walkingfrom subway on Main Street. Over 10 thousand people counted so far entering Southpoint Park. pic.twitter.com/hcr4nVCd2C— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
Reports of unsafe conditions at Roosevelt Island subway station @NYCTSubway as its being overwhelmed by visitors for today’s Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival. @RIOCny https://t.co/5DeTgw0Yfb— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
#RooseveltIsland #NYC is crowded as f#ck. Long lines for the 🚠 and Ferry, Checkpoints for the park😳🙄 If you really want to relax, enjoy the island and the blossoms, visit tomorrow or during the week! #nyctouristip pic.twitter.com/NEL1tsmU89— NamelyNorm (@NamelyNorm) April 13, 2019
Record turn out for the @Rooseveltisland #cherryblossom festival. Lines at a standstill for @mta @NYCferry tram and even over @NYC_DOT bridge. We need better public transit infrastructure! @RidersNY @TransitCenter @TransAlt @Straphangers pic.twitter.com/jl4CDdTS75— Ben Kallos (@BenKallos) April 13, 2019
This is ridiculous. Everything on this island is broken. pic.twitter.com/GOIQTyrtvA— John Thrasher 🌸 (@jthrasher) April 13, 2019
Unsafe conditions at train station. People going up on the down escalator. People pushing to get out. Strollers blocking the exits. Escalator broken.— 007Myy (@NYTTYTTYY) April 13, 2019
Complete mess at Roosevelt Island subway station. @NYCTSubway overwhelming crowds from cherry blossom festival. @RIOCny @NYPD114Pct pic.twitter.com/Pxu7g0XK1s— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
@MTA Roosevelt Island is just a mess beyond belief an event that's on the island brought masses of ppl only for all even ppl with strollers to walk up 2 long flights of steps and nypd controlling how the escalators should run causing just ppl to be angry #fixtheproblemmta pic.twitter.com/rKhyaYSwLE— Wasted_Elmo (@Wasted_Elmo) April 13, 2019
Absolutely unbelievable crowds waiting for Roosevelt Island subway. Completely overwhelmed by visiting crowds for cherry blossom festival @NYCTSubway @NYPD114Pct @NYPD114Pct @BenKallos @galeabrewer @SeawrightForNY @SenatorSerrano pic.twitter.com/1IAAOWIwKB— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
Watch till the end where we almost got crushed at the Roosevelt Island subway escalators (@mta had 1 visible staff member, @richerryblfest & RI security had 1 staff each at entrance) piss poor planning & crowd control for 1000+ people #cherryblossoms pic.twitter.com/lbxDQBZvvG— Larry Au (@larryau) April 13, 2019
The train station is an utter nightmare. People having a hard time entering/ exiting. One escalator out of service. People using the down escalator to walk up. Complete disaster. Next year Festival Organizers should appoint people to the station to help manage. pic.twitter.com/AJR9f0U3QY— 007Myy (@NYTTYTTYY) April 13, 2019
@NYCTSubway this is at Roosevelt Island, complete mob scene. Why is the F not running the day of the island's only festival? pic.twitter.com/XIIqIBzL19— Adam Asher (@ramsahead) April 13, 2019
@Rooseveltisland Current tram line situation..... #RooseveltIsland #cherryblossoms pic.twitter.com/BT4MpCbDFP— 007Myy (@NYTTYTTYY) April 13, 2019
Huge line for Roosevelt Island Tram. Overwhelmed by Roosevelt Idland cherry blossom festival and visitors are still coming. Vehicles are stopped from coming over RI bridge. pic.twitter.com/UNE5mlbmP2— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
Huge crowds at the Ferry too. Resident Stephen Quandt shares these photos
and reports:
No crowd control at the ferry! The mates had to yell at the crowd to move. The line went well back to the street
Turns out, not only is there a ferry to Roosevelt Island, a lot of people knew about it before me, and they all came to see the cherry blossoms, too. These folks are on line to be wanded before proceeding. pic.twitter.com/wMK396xSLh— Ellen McDermott (@HeyNell) April 13, 2019
Not the Mexican border. Just people trying to get off Roosevelt Island on foot. @Rooseveltisland @NY1 pic.twitter.com/yzGVmDZnzE— Joey Bartolomeo (@missjoeyb) April 13, 2019
Can’t reenter the island with my car. NYPD shut everything down. pic.twitter.com/h67fsRrF6P— Michael Heilemann (@Heilemann) April 13, 2019
I had to walk with my groceries over the bridge because the Uber wasn't allowed to cross. I have back problems and live in the island. No one cared.— Martin A. Rivas (@MartinRivasPhD) April 13, 2019
Coler Hospital staff can’t make it to work because Roosevelt Island Bridge is closed due to overwhelming traffic and visitors from the Cherry blossom festival today. @RIOCny @NYPD114Pct— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
Roosevelt Island @Starbucks baristas doing great job today despite being overwhelmed with huge lines from cherry blossom festival visitors. Longer lines for bathroom too. pic.twitter.com/kH879BsTRb— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 13, 2019
Hey, if you’re thinking of coming to @Rooseveltisland for the #Cherryblossoms, please consider Brooklyn instead. They have ‘em too. And they also have craft beer, artisan anything and gluten-free gluten. We don’t have that here. Please go away. https://t.co/VcvOVY1g9G— Peter Szekely (@peszeke) April 13, 2019
This should never have become a tourist trap. People live and work here disgusting— CHINAJO (@CJsCraftCorner) April 13, 2019
We do, and it's an amazing place to live. We never asked for such attention.— Carla Perez (@carla_giannina) April 13, 2019
Stupid planning. People live and work here should never have become Disney— CHINAJO (@CJsCraftCorner) April 13, 2019
ANNOUNCEMENT: Thanks to today's Cherry Blossom Festival, I am now a permanent cast member on Survivor: Roosevelt Island.— Conner Kennedy (@Conner_Kennedy) April 13, 2019
Roosevelt Island activist Frank Farance warned of potential transportation problems earlier this week due to the Cherry Blossom Festival in emails to the event organizers, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) and Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) and as a comment to this post. According to Mr. Farance:
... The Manhattan side of the Tram might become congested. Even with 2 trams in operation, that's about 2000 people per hour (combined) and the Tram lines are certain to flow into the streets, sidewalks, and off-ramp traffic of the Queensboro Bridge? Is NYPD helping manage crowd control on the Manhattan side?The performances at the Rooseelt Island Cherry Blossom Festival were very good
The Roosevelt Island subway station needs crowd control during arrival and departure to make sure the station itself does not become overcrowded. For example, the entrance to the station should be kept clear so people can leave the station, but that might be a problem if 10,000 people are on the north side of the checkpoints.
RIOC should ask for NYPD to assist, including their counter-terrorism staff: with such a high density of people in a confined space, this really requires much more help than what RIOC Public Safety Department can provide with a staff of approx 50-55 officers for a crowd of over 20,000....
but RIOC needs to examine whether the disruptions in transportation are a price worth paying for this event in the future.
We would like to thank; the performers, staff, RIOC, RIRA and all the vendors for helping to create a beautiful atmosphere and lovely event. We would also like to thank all participants that showed up to the event and hope that everyone had a fun day. #Cherryblossomfestival2020— Roosevelt island Cherry blossom festival (@richerryblfest) April 14, 2019
Stay tuned for more.
UPDATE 10:55 PM
What was the Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossom festival and how is one to ever recover from the trauma? The island was dangerously overcrowded and there was pretty much no way to get off.— Ellia Khan (@elliak) April 14, 2019
The performance of the MTA and the communication within that entity was not the fault of festival staff, we are sorry that you experienced this at our free festival and hope you will attend our next festival where issues mentioned will hopefully be fixed.— Roosevelt island Cherry blossom festival (@richerryblfest) April 14, 2019
Roosevelt island may not have the transportation to handle such large crowds for these types of events at all. Many residents hope these types of events will no longer take place here. https://t.co/x9CLRBWF9j— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) April 14, 2019
UPDATE 11:20
My four-year-old daughter brought her camera to make a story book about the festival. After walking over the bridge to Queens to get an Uber back to Manhattan, she announced that she's calling it "Our Family Escapes from Roosevelt Island."— Bryan Bridges-Limon (@bbridges72) April 14, 2019
“Security Checkpoints” on Roosevelt Island were a joke. A table set up on the road with a couple of “guards” using scanners for a large line of visitors. The guy who checked backpacks barely looked inside them. Pointless if security was the goal. They were overwhelmed.— Debbie Davies (@DebbieTDavies) April 14, 2019
The event is free so that anyone in NYC can enjoy our festival and that due to it being free it is normal of other events to consist of long lines and waits. As stated we are sorry for this inconvenience.— Roosevelt island Cherry blossom festival (@richerryblfest) April 14, 2019
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