After over five years and millions of dollars spent, both of the new Tram elevators were operating yesterday afternoon. As recently as Monday, neither was working and one never had been. But in spite of media reports and their own promises, RIOC has been silent.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
New Tram Elevators, Same Old RIOC
RIOC struggled with construction issues for more than five years, spending an astonishing $6.1 million, but then ignored the finished product. With the state agency under Governor Kathy Hochul operating like a leaderless assembly of independent parts, the much awaited completion limped quietly past.
Then, on Monday morning, visibility increased because, with neither elevator working, disabled, moms with strollers and others with heavy packages were left stranded. But no alert came out of RIOC.
One elevator went back in service by late afternoon, but the state agency that never gets it wrong missed that, too. And on Wednesday, with the second elevator working for the first time, they apparently didn’t know.
Is It Working?
After seeing the second elevator taking passengers up and down for the first time at around 3:00 yesterday, we checked back an hour later. It was stalled on the upper level, but there were no signs. And its call button was working.
On the Tram, we asked a RIOC Public Safety Officer if both elevators were now in service. He shrugged. He didn’t know.
So, we asked the Tram operator – not a RIOC employee and in no way responsible for the elevators. Both were working, he said.
“But the new one looks like it’s stuck on the upper level…?”
That stumped both. But don’t blame them. When there is no leadership giving directions, updating information, everyone’s freelancing, trying to do their best with what they have.
No word from Hochul’s Albany based team responsible for ordering around her twenty or so six-figure executives. The result, essentially, is that you are all on your own because nobody is in charge.
More from the Roosevelt Island Daily News
- Fall Prevention for Seniors: Make Your Apartment Safer, Nov. 20Fall prevention for seniors: Sen. Krueger’s Nov. 20 virtual roundtable tours a typical NYC apartment, with tips on landlord changes and balance. RSVP on Zoom.
- Thursday’s PSD blotter: two hospital runs, a trespass summons at 888 MainRIOC’s Nov. 12 PSD blotter lists 15 incidents: six medical calls, two alarms at 546 Main Street, and a late-night trespass at 888 Main Street that ended with a summons.
- Queens Home Prices and Rents Rise in October 2026 as Long Island City Condos Draw BuyersQueens home prices and rents rose in October 2026. See StreetEasy’s housing figures and Long Island City condo contract activity at Radiant and Vesta.
- Medicare Open Enrollment Ends Dec. 7: Get Answers on 2027 ChangesMedicare open enrollment ends Dec. 7. Sen. Krueger’s Nov. 16 virtual town hall covers 2027 premium, deductible and Part D changes, with a HIICAP expert’s Q&A.
- Wednesday’s PSD blotter: two medical calls, a water leak, a custody reportRIOC’s Nov. 11 PSD blotter lists 10 incidents, all on Main Street, including two medical calls at 555 Main Street, a water leak at 560 Main and a custody or visitation report.
Susan Rosenthal, a Sacrificial Lamb?*
After Susan Rosenthal was fired, David Kraut would talk about almost anything except Susan. This was unusual because David could discuss a subject long after everyone else had exhausted both the subject and the available oxygen. When her name entered the conversation, however, he became careful. At first I mistook that restraint for discretion; later, I began to recognize guilt.
