We believe there can never be too much art or too many people buying it
Prove us right! Make your holiday season bright with the purchase of art at affordable prices that you can enjoy every day of 2025 and well beyond. Dates and hours of RIVAA's Affordable Art Sale are Saturday and Sunday December 14th and 15th from 11 AM - 5 PM. In addition to tables with artwork and art-related crafts from 43 RIVAA and local artists, there are affordable art walls in the gallery as part of our Gifts of the Heart exhibition.
RIVAA is a member organization dedicated to establishing an art center in its unique Roosevelt Island location on the East River in New York.
When you buy from RIVAA, you are supporting a Roosevelt Island nonprofit and shopping local, supporting the community. Art makes a great gift, so visit RIVAA Gallery at 527 Main Street, and buy art.
Among the items on the
Agenda
is an Update on Roosevelt Island Tram Operations.
There is no issue which has decreased the quality of life
and angered more Roosevelt Island residents than the long lines
and unsafe platforms
from overcrowding by
sightseeing tourists
on the Roosevelt Island Tram.
In slightly over 1 month's time,
over 2200 people have signed the Trampled By Tourists, Priority Boarding for Residents and Workers on the Roosevelt Island Tram petition.
According to the Petition organizers:
Roosevelt Island Residents and Workers Need Priority Boarding of the Roosevelt
Island Tram
New York Transportation Law § 102
“No common carrier shall make or give any undue or unreasonable preference
or advantage to any person or corporation or to any locality or to any
particular description of traffic in any respect whatsoever, or subject any
particular person or corporation or locality or any particular description
of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any
respect whatsoever.”
It doesn’t say there can’t be a preference shown. It says there can’t be an
“undue or unreasonable preference”.
The tram is no longer available to residents and workers - it has become a
tourist attraction.
It is *reasonable* to give residents and workers priority boarding and
return the tram to its original intended use. Urban Transportation.
RI has very limited reliable public transportation options, with over 12,000
residents and hundreds of workers - there's one subway station, with only
one line, a very limited ferry service and the tramway. With the tramway
inundated by tourists we are left with a single subway station and are
facing a transportation crisis, often made worse when there is a subway
shutdown.
Further, the RI Tram is funded by the residents through our land leases and
not by New York City or New York State.
Our Position
RIOC has taken the position that it would be illegal to offer priority
boarding of the Roosevelt Island Tram to island residents and workers based
on this:
“No common carrier shall make or give any undue or unreasonable preference
or advantage to any person or corporation or to any locality or to any
particular description of traffic in any respect whatsoever, or subject any
particular person or corporation or locality or any particular description
of traffic, to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any
respect whatsoever.” New York Transportation Law § 102.
We disagree.
Giving island residents and workers priority boarding is not an “undue or
unreasonable preference.”
It’s all about the phrase “undue or unreasonable”.
If the law had been written without that phrase, then the RIOC position
would be correct. No common carrier could give any advantage or
preference. However, that’s not what the law says. The law appears to
envisage some sort of exception as long as it is reasonable (not
unreasonable, or not undue). Laws are drafted carefully and thought is
given to each word.
The Roosevelt Island Tram is Urban Transportation
“The original Roosevelt Island aerial tramway - the first tram in the
country to be used for urban transportation – was opened in May 1976” (Source: RIOC website)
The Roosevelt Island Tram has ceased to be available to residents and
workers as a reliable method of transportation
A combination of factors has led to a massive increase in the use of the
tram by tourists, particularly since the tram has recently appeared in a
number of popular “Top 10 things to do in NYC” lists and videos. The
platforms are crowded and lines often form outside the platform. What used
to be the case only during certain limited times of day and certain times
of year is virtually now a constant.
Island residents and workers now struggle to get on to the tram, often
starting in the morning till late into the night. Many people have given
up on the tram while others struggle through the chaos
This is particularly onerous for our neighbors who may be elderly or
unable to walk or stand easily. The island is home to a lot of elderly
folks and folks with limited mobility. The same is also true for families
with young children.
Priority Boarding for residents and workers is reasonable given the change
in ridership
Residents and workers are now excluded from one of their limited modes of
transportation to and from home or work, children school, or nearby
shopping places.
The tourists are not using the tram as a mode of urban transportation, but
rather as an opportunity to get great pictures of NYC during the crossing.
Almost all of the tourists turn around and head straight back to
Manhattan. That is tourism, not transportation.
Precedents for this exist, such as:
In 1976, “residents were issued priority passes for the tram and a minibus
that travels from the tramway station through the island's Main Street.”
due to the number of tourists displacing residents.
Source: NY Times.
On December 7 2023, Governor Hochul announced preferential treatment for
residents of Queens and The Bronx who use the Henry Hudson Bridge and
Cross Bay Bridge with a Toll rebate program which is not available for
those who do not live in Queens or the Bronx.
Release by NY State.
As previously reported, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, NYC Council Member Julie Menin and former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney have expressed support for providing some sort of Roosevelt Island Tram boarding preference for residents and workers
During the December 7, 2024 Roosevelt Island Tree Lighting Ceremony, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine told me he supports a Tram Boarding priority for Roosevelt Island residents and workers too.
Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.
The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.
