No F Train Service To Manhattan From Roosevelt Island This Weekend - Meeting Planned With MTA For Additional Service During Tram Outage

Image of Roosevelt Island Subway Station From Subway Nut

Here we go again.

Be aware that there will be no Manhattan Bound F Train Subway Service from Roosevelt Island beginning 12 AM Saturday until Noon Sunday this weekend. According to the MTA:

F Coney Island-bound trains run on the V from Roosevelt Av to 47-50 Sts Weekend, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon, Dec 5 - 7

For service from 21 St-Queensbridge and Roosevelt Island, take the F to Roosevelt Av and transfer to a Coney Island-bound F .

RIOC is not reporting any Roosevelt Island Tram advisories for this time. Be prepared for crowded Trams going into Manhattan.

F train Subway service, or lack thereof, has long been a huge problem for some Roosevelt Island residents and may now start impacting the decisions of those potential new residents as to whether or not to live here. An example is this recent message from a reader:

I'm looking at Roosevelt Island as a possible location to rent. Is the tram outage a serious problem for current potential residents or mostly just a hassle for those who normally use the tram to get to the upper east side as part of their regular commute? I would be taking the F train either way. I spoke to a leasing agent who basically glossed over the problem, but I'm not sure if their view is trustworthy. Some further insight would be much appreciated.

I replied:

The tram is scheduled to go out of service in March 2010 for what is said to be a 6 month time period. The fear of some residents is that it will take longer than 6 months but of course there is no way of knowing. Also, the work replacing the tram has been postponed 2 or 3 times already in the last year.

If the tram does go out of service there is a real concern among some residents that the rush hour commute (7:30 AM - approx 9 AM) from Roosevelt Island to Manhattan will be very overcrowded. At present, there are times during rush hours when Roosevelt Island subway riders have to let one or two trains pass without getting on because of overcrowding from Queens. In June 2008, the Tram was out of service for about 10 days. There were no significant problems reported with F subway service during that time. However, since that time there have been 2 new buildings constructed and the residents from these building will certainly add some additional crowding to the F Train.

In my opinion, whether the additional subway overcrowding caused from the Tram outage is merely a hassle or something more significant depends upon what you are used to. I used to live on the UES and took the 4,5,6 trains at Lex/86th street. Now that was an overcrowded train station. The L at Bedford is overcrowded. For me, the F is not and probably will not be terribly overcrowded during rush hours when the Tram goes out of service. Others may and do feel differently.

Another problem though is that on occasional weekends, there are subway disruptions of F train service in one direction or the other. If that happens during the tram outage, weekend travel from and to Roosevelt Island will be a real pain.

The reader decided to look elsewhere:

Thanks, I've decided to continue hunting. Luckily in this market the options are plenty.

I can see the transit issue on weekends being a pain. If there were more shops on the island it might make for a better situation. That being said, I can see it as a great place to escape the city. Without going too far away.

In regard to Roosevelt Island train service during the Tram outage, it was reported during the December RIRA meeting that a group of local elected representatives, RIOC staff and RIRA members will jointly meet with MTA engineers next week to try and find a way to bring additional subway service to Roosevelt Island during the Tram outage for the 2 hour morning rush hour commute. One proposal is to run 2 Q trains per rush hour (a total of 4) from 21st Queensbridge to Roosevelt Island, 63rd/Lex, 57th Street, etc and then down to 34th street.

Previously similar pleas for Roosevelt Island Q train service have been rejected by the MTA as being not feasable but perhaps this new proposal which limits Roosevelt Island Q train service to a total of 4 trains for the morning rush hour during tram outage will be possible.

If additional trains are not possible, there is always the Roosevelt Island Sling Shot or maybe a zip line over the East River.

You Tube Video Of Zip Line In Labadee