Death of the First Roosevelt Island Tram
Historic Preservation Failure
The first Roosevelt Island Tram made it’s last run across the East River, ten years ago this March. Its replacement is safer and more reliable, but discovered by tourists, it’s not as special.
By David Stone
The first Roosevelt Island Tram lifts off across the East River. Fine Art Photography Print by Deborah Julian ($28) © All rights reserved.
Breakdowns, one forcing high risk rescues, doomed the old Tram. Its big flaw? Out of date technology.
Built in 1976 as the original commuter tram in the U.S., it relied on an integrated pulley system. Cables linked the cabins. More importantly, both had to move at once. Partial shutdowns were impossible.
The answer? Full replacement, cabins, cables and all. That opened in 2010. RIOC crowded the maiden voyage across the East River with politicians eager for credit. A band played, but it wasn’t the same.
Take a ride with me in the final days of the first Roosevelt Island Tram…
In the decade since, the universe discovered the Tram. Safer, reliable service draws tourists, but we lost the intimacy of a ride home with neighbors.
After 33 years, the original Tram cabins went out of service as did the gears and cables they relied on. But what became of them?
RIOC preserved the historic relics.
But although RIOC invests millions in the permanently unusable Smallpox Hospital, the old cabins collect dust. And neglect in a cage behind the Motorgate atrium.
Proposals for reviving them has come from artists at RIVAA as well as the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. But RIOC has not budged, and nothing suggests a change.
RIOC’s priorities for preservation are baffling. Blackwell House closed, three years after restoration was announced. Ribbon cuttings also pushed back and no end in sight.
The Smallpox Hospital, treasured for its links to James Renwick, is a money pit, and the Lighthouse is never quite finished.
The legacy Roosevelt Island Tram cabins? Just an embarrassment of neglect.
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“I Can Ask”
Chair Fay Christian opened the Operations Advisory Committee on February 12th, reading out member names from a prepared sheet that omitted Melissa Wade. It didn’t feel intentional, but it struck me as odd precisely because it came from something prepared. Lydia Tang gently corrected her, noting that Wade was, in fact, a member of the committee. Wade met the moment with grace, or perhaps she simply wasn’t bothered by it.
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