Roosevelt Island Tram Commute Profiled in NY Times

The New York Times Next Stop series documenting various NYC commutes profiles the Roosevelt Island Tram today and features interviews with Roosevelt Island 36o and Judy Berdy of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society.

According to the NY Times:

Everyone heralded the tram’s comfort, safety and unbeatable views as reasons for their choice of commute, but the thing that surprised me was that they said it was also more convenient. For them, connecting to East Side buses or a train at 59th Street was a much more palatable commute than taking the subway under the river.

True, island residents who work on the west side of Manhattan, are more likely to take the F train, which stops a few blocks from the tram station, but a common criticism of the train was its overcrowding. “The subway at this time of day — I might have to wait for a few trains to go by because they’re so crowded,”...

The article shows Roosevelt Islanders are a friendly group.

Watching the Manhattan-bound commuters pile onto the tram, they all seemed to know each other. They even made sure that their children said “hello” and “good-bye” to Mr. Paravati, the amiable conductor who chanced upon the job 32 years ago and has been working the trams ever since.

Unfortunately, there was nothing in the article discussing the scheduled shutdown of the Tram next year for repairs that are planned to take at least seven months or what/if transportation alternatives will be made to substitute for the lack of Tram service.

The Tram is a wonderful way to commute. Instead of merely reading about it, let's show everyone what it is like. First take a day time trip to Manhattan facing south with U2.

You Tube video link is here. And a night time trip back to Roosevelt Island facing north with Hellogoodbye. You Tube video link is here.