It was a warning. Two Tram rides were ahead of me, later in the day, but with temperatures below freezing at 9:30 in the morning, tourists were already out, adding to the limitless array of Tram cabin photos. I thought it would get worse, and it did. Why won’t RIOC help?
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Although RIOC was reminded a couple of weeks ago about the coming cherry blossom crunch, nothing has been done. Tram rides are frequently jam-packed with residents crowded out by tourists, many of whom leave their manners back home.
Adding to that is the negligence of operator, Leitner-POMA, a company to which RIOC bows down while losing money on every Tram ride. Last fall, Leitner-POMA proved so inept that the state Department of Labor stepped in. DOL taught them how to control the regular, wildly swinging cabin incidents and add signage.
Sadly, no one – RIOC included – has convinced them that operators should speak up about holding on during rocky rides, removing backpacks in crowds or respecting reserved seating.
Tram rides, once joys for commuting and shopping Roosevelt Islanders, are now stressful to the point, for some, of being no longer possible.
But none of this brought any meaningful action from RIOC or Leitner-POMA.
Here’s how the rest of the day went…
The Tale of Two Tram Rides
It’s 1:30, and as the Roosevelt Island platform fills up with passengers waiting for the next Tram cabin, I check. No public safety officers anywhere and no Leitner-POMA employees either. Neither surprises anymore. Bloated staffing doesn’t mean you get to see any of them.
There’s the usual scrum as a full platform of people scrunches through the cabin doors. You shuffle your feet and stay with the current.
But then, just inside, I’m pushed aside by a tall woman determined to get some window space for her inevitable video.
“Jesus Christ,” I swear, but either she doesn’t hear me or doesn’t care.
As soon as I get that cuss out, another visitor begins pushing me from behind. I turn and order him to stop pushing. Instead of apologizing, he launches the first of a four-minute tram ride’s worth of self-justification.
On his main point, I agree. He’s elderly and “handicapped,” he says and has a “right” to a bench seat. He does, but of course, those are already filled with tourists, mostly children, who couldn’t care less.
Here’s the thing. I’m 6’2″ and weigh 186 pounds. I can fend for myself, but what about others – smaller, frail, intimidated by crowds? There’s a reason you seldom see walkers, wheelchairs or many older adults in the cabins anymore. There’s a reason everyone you ride with looks like a stranger.
So many have been crowded out, you wonder, Where the hell is RIOC?
Coming Back Home
After taking care of some business, I climb back up the stairs and find a platform filled back to the turnstiles well ahead of the next cabin’s landing.
This isn’t rush hour, folks. It’s mid-afternoon. On a cold, windy day.
Has anyone at RIOC seriously thought about what will happen when the main cherry blossoms pop? Very possibly on the weekend without subway service? Where the hell is RIOC?
Does it bother anyone at the state agency or among its Albany overseers that so many residents are being crowded out of basic transportation? Is the greed for tourist fares so intense, they can’t do anything to help?
Plenty of suggestions are out there for how this could be handled better and more fairly. All ignored.
As we shuffle like cattle into the cabin, leaving several behind, a tiny woman, thin and about five foot nothing, squeezes in, head down, and clutches a pole.
The ride is rough, especially over the towers, and a couple of swinging incidents are lessened by the dampers DOL forced on RIOC and Leitner-POMA.
As my buddy Eliot used to say, “Some things are just wrong.”
Finally…
There’s a consistency in how Roosevelt Island is managed. Much of it’s pretty good, like the Red Buses, if a little shaky. But too much remains dangerous and/or ugly no matter how often RIOC is reminded or pleaded with.
About 6:30, I’m walking past the unidentified Youth Center when an e-bike blasts through the stop sign/crosswalk just ahead of me. He’s doing something around 30.
All these delivery guys know that PSD isn’t going to do anything about constant traffic violations. Sooner or later, someone will be seriously injured, and RIOC will be shocked… shocked!
A little bit later, I watch another e-bike coast through the stop sign across from Good Shepherd Plaza. This is maybe fifty feet from PSD headquarters, and there’s not an officer in sight, all along the canyon.
Where the hell is RIOC? What are we paying these people for?
AVAC: Where the Pipe Curves
This is the final installment in my notes from the December 2nd, Operations Advisory Committee meeting, following “An Emergency, Apparently” and “Rust Is Funny Until It Isn’t”.
1 COMMENTS