Roosevelt Island Tram Platform Jam Packed With Riders Waiting For The One Operating Cabin - Residents Getting Frustrated And Angry With Shoving And Pushing By Some At Times, PSD Officers Doing Their Best To Keep Tram Safe And Orderly Says RIOC

The Roosevelt Island Tram has been operating with only one cabin since last Tuesday.

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) announced on February 16:

Dear Roosevelt Island Community:

We have been informed by Tram operator Leitner-POMA that the North Tram cabin needs to be taken out of service for a scheduled four-day period to perform emergency repair work on a hydraulic tension cylinder at the Manhattan Tram Station. We have scheduled the repair work to take place from Tuesday, February 20th through Friday, February 23rd so as not to interfere with weekend Tram service while the F-train is offline.

Please be advised that the South Tram cabin will remain in service during this four-day work period (2/20-2/23). Travelers should consider utilizing other modes of transportation, including the F-train, Ferry, and Q102 bus for off-island travel while the work takes place.

We apologize for the inconvenience and will work to ensure full service is restored as quickly as possible.

Yesterday I asked RIOC Communications Director Bryant Daniels:

I received reports about overcrowding, pushing and shoving at the Manhattan Tram Station yesterday with only one cabin in operation. Do you anticipate both cabins operating this weekend when there will be no subway service at all?

Any comment from RIOC about the status of Tram repair and these comments below from residents about problems with overcrowding yesterday at the Tram?

1. "My husband told me that a fight almost broke out, so crowded, lots of tourists and pushing and someone almost fell. He couldn’t see much of what happened, a lot of people inside. This was around 6 pm"
2. “I am a senior and my husband walks with a walker. First, after waiting about 5 minutes for a Tram we couldn’t get on it. We were then about the third row of people from the front of the platform. We waited 15 minutes for the next Tram. When it arrived people stampeded for it, pushing me and knocking over my husband. I grabbed for him and saved him from hitting the floor. I screamed 2 or 3 times STOP, put my arms out to shield him from more pushes and I pushed back the stampeding people near us. This is a very unsafe situation. We need Public Safety staff at the front of this crowd. Instead, a Public Safety man was in the booth eating an ice cream cone. Warn your neighbors of this unsafe situation which happened to us at about 5:50pm tonight”
3. It was around 4:30. Manhattan side of the Tram. Platform was full of both residents and tourists. As the Tram approached the station, someone violently pushed several rows of people (of all ages, both residents and tourists) to get closer to the Tram. A young man stopped him and called him out for it, and the offender started saying something about "these tourists" but he was called out for his rudeness. As folks started to board the Tram, he actually walked *away* from the Tram as I countered his complaints, and another person called him out saying "I'm also an Island resident and you just pushed me." At the end, it looked like he did not even board the Tram! Not sure if it was because he was embarrassed and/or he did not want to be confronted by the several islanders he had just offended and who started calling him out. I understand we're all frustrated with the situation of not enough train service and now reduced Tram service. We are all upset and frustrated and annoyed, but this is absolutely not the right way to go about it. Shoving, pushing, stampeding, knocking people over, etc. are unacceptable."
4. Yesterday about 7:20 PM, PSD was having people line up at tramway plaza in manhattan, we waited in line and then they switched tactics and decided to let everybody up the stairs then stood outside the turnstyle and started shouting at us to move in more, even though the platform was packed. Luckily nobody listened to them and nobody was pushing. I believe PSD could be better used doing actual crowd management instead of whatever they are doing now.
5. There was a long line around 7:30pm today and the tram was packed, but that’s to be expected I guess.

Mr Daniels replied yesterday:

We were also made aware of some of these reports via our online Tikkit system and Deputy Chief Amoroso will be on site personally this evening to monitor rush hour service at the Manhattan station. We understand how frustrating the changes to the F-Train service have been for island residents, and this week’s repair work on the north tram cabin has only compounded those frustrations. It’s important for us to continue to encourage tram travelers to be courteous to their fellow riders and to the PSD officers on site who are doing their best to keep things safe and orderly. Should any issues arise while waiting in line for the next tram, please speak with one of those officers or one of the POMA station attendants so it can be addressed immediately.

Regarding the repair work, POMA has informed us that they remain on schedule, so we still expect service to be fully restored by the weekend.

Last evening at about 7 PM, as I was exiting the Tram Cabin at the Manhattan station I noticed an elderly couple being assisted to a bench seat by Public Safety Department Deputy Chief Amoroso on the next departing Tram. Deputy Chief Amoroso led the couple to a seat 

before allowing the Tram sliding door on the middle platform to open for the large crowd about to rush inside the cabin.

Between 7 PM and 8 PM, the Tram platform was very crowded with riders waiting patiently between the turnstyle entrance and the end of the platform. There was no line in front of the turnstyle or down the stairs. It appeared that most of the waiting Tram riders were residents at the time.

There were 4 Public Safety Officers, including Deputy Chief Amoroso, 

doing a good job managing the crowd of riders keeping the platform area safe and orderly.

Deputy Chief Amoroso said that if you are a senior or disabled person needing assistance to board the Tram, tell the PSD officer and they will make sure you get on safely.

About 100 people were able to enter the cabin before the door closed leaving about 10-12 riders waiting another 15 minutes for the next cabin to arrive. They were first on line to enter the newly arrived cabin. This cycle repeated itself for the hour I was there. 

The Tram platform was jam packed this afternoon between 4:30 PM and 6 PM 

with a line by the staircase entrance too. 

The vast majority were tourists. I spoke to a group of very nice French student tourists in a group of 12. They told me they were very excited to see the "sightseeing views" from the Tram that they learned about on "the internet". The few residents at the time were not very happy describing the situation as "Insane!"

As I got off the Tram this afternoon on the Roosevelt Island side, I saw many of the same tourists on the platform waiting to take the Tram back to the Manhattan station without leaving the Roosevelt Island station.

Here's a Roosevelt Islander Instagram post from yesterday. Take a look at some of the comments.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Roosevelt (@rooseveltislander)

Hopefully both Tram cabins will be operating by this Saturday when there will be no weekend Roosevelt Island F Train service at all.