Each year, cherry blossom season on Roosevelt Island brings wave after wave of pinkish beauty, north to south, along the East River shores. With many new trees planted, the waves increase, but so do the surges of visitors eagerly sharing the beauty. Their gains are, increasingly, residents’ losses.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
It hit home last week.
It was late morning with thick gray-to-black clouds overhead. There was a flood watch, but the crowds kept coming to the Tram. For some reason, I followed my intuition and took a seat on the Tram at Second Avenue. Usually, I stand but not today.
The perspective was… Well, before the cabin lifted off, tourists formed a wall around me, looking forward to the ride ahead. Next, the cameras came out. No fewer than six videos of the glide across to Roosevelt Island would soon add to already enormous collections on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Just what the world needed, a few more Tram videos.
But this was even before the draw of flowering cherry trees awakened.
You can’t stop the cherry trees, and you can’t stop the tourists, and you can’t blame anyone for wanting to see the blossoms in the warm spring air. But we can better manage all that brings with it.
Cherry Blossom Season Is Upon Us
As in every spring, the first blossoms struggle through the chill of early March near the basketball courts and Capobianco field.
The months-long show is a delight, especially for those who live here and experience the whole thing, but it doesn’t come without some dread.
There’s the crowding, enhanced for travel this year with the limits created by subway work. Lines for Tram rides will build, and sometimes, the subway cars won’t be able to board everyone on the platforms. The ferry landing will become a chaos of boarding and exiting passengers without enough space.
But, listen, this is New York City. Crowding is endemic. Every time I’m tempted to think it’s bad now, I remind myself of having to walk in the street while getting around Christmas/New Year crowds in Times Square, just getting to business appointments – twenty years ago.
And consider the bright sides. First, tourists come here because they’re eager for a small slice of the pleasures we have all the time: the waterfront promenades, the abundant parks, the art, the escape from city life, but not too much.
Roosevelt Islanders live in a rare place, unique in the world, the envy of many.
Let’s not forget the money. Our local businesses haul in cash while feeding and otherwise serving people who’d never come without cherry blossom season.
But, Still…
The seasonal crowding, especially concerning transit, is a massive problem. Roosevelt Islanders can’t get where they need to go because visitors overwhelm the Tram, subway and ferry. Some suffer worse than others.
Some physically challenged and frail Roosevelt Islanders gave up on public transit already. Watching parents herd their children onto the limited seats in Tram cabins is disheartening. Best views mean folks with canes sometimes stand while cabin attendants do nothing.
Clean-up demands on RIOC mount because even a small percentage of visitors can create big messes that must be handled. That strains budgets paid for almost exclusively by residents.
Getting Ahead of Cherry Blossom Season
Unlike past years, RIOC’s managers are looking into ways to better manage the cherry blossom influx, this year, we learned. They’ll have to hurry because it’s running ahead of tradition for 2024.
Given that you can’t stop the tourists or the cherry blossoms, there are ways to better manage the inevitable. Hopefully, that includes serious attention to the Tram. Repeating even the most recent past is unacceptable.
The cabins are basic, necessary transportation for residents who should never be crowded out. That’s on RIOC, and mumbled evasions won’t do anymore. It’s a source of constant friction and frustration, and it must be fixed.
We’ll check back in with RIOC, keeping you updated.
In the meantime, once the clouds clear and temperatures rise, enjoy what we have and so many others want just a passing piece of.
The Emergency Was Always Underground
The steam plant and the steam tunnel were never two problems. They were one system. They were only separated later, when separating them made development easier and responsibility harder to pin down.
2 COMMENTS