Chief Brown’s Tram crowding plan shows RIOC’s cluelessness. With inadequate safety measures and nonexistent personnel, it’s a hollow gesture that fails to address chronic crowding.
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
At a very lightly attended Public Safety Meeting last week, Chief Brown introduced a new Tram boarding plan. It was strange because it emphasized a significant flaw within PSD and RIOC. That is, they are clueless. More clueless than you probably imagined. Here’s why…
Brown’s Tram Crowding Plan
Early afternoon, this past weekend on the 2nd Avenue Tram platform.
The plan, described by Brown and Deputy Chief Anthony Amoroso, was captured on video, courtesy of the Roosevelt Islander.
Chief Brown said, according the Roosevelt Islander, “when the Manhattan Station Tram Line extends down the stairs to the Plaza area, PSD officers will reduce the usual number of people waiting on the platform from 100 persons capacity to 50.
Added Amoroso, “once those 50 get on to the tram, people have to wait minute or two more. Then we’ll send the other 50 up the stairs through and then we’ll load the tram up to its capacity and then it will go across.”
Chief Brown clarified that only when there is a line down the Tram station stairs will the platform capacity be reduced from 100 to 50.
(See the conversation here.)
Some Questions…
- Why is Brown installing the Tram crowding plan now instead of during the holidays when something was badly needed?
- What on Earth made Brown and/or Amoroso think this would help?
The PSD brain trust proposed a Tram crowding solution. It seemed to address complaints about pushing and shoving by tourists while boarding. That is real and a high risk for any physically challenged people. At December’s RIOC board meeting, a resident reported her husband being pushed to the floor in a tourist stampede. Certainly not the first. Nor the last.
A significant number of disabled and older residents no longer consider the Tram an option. That’s because they consider boarding dangerous. It’s hard to imagine how Brown’s plan would bring any of them back.
There are numerous points of failure. Not the least of which is that it confirms RIOC indifference toward ADA rules. People with disabilities get no special treatment in RIOC world. But let’s consider the elephants in the room first.
Invisible Elephants in the Room
You probably haven’t noticed the elephants in the room involving Tram boarding. They’re invisible.
- The first may be the most frustrating. That is contractor Leitner-POMA is responsible for providing a platform manager. In other words, problems with Tram crowding are primarily its responsibility. But in the words of a RIOC executive, “We’re not getting what we’re paying for.” RIOC exacerbates that failure by trying to fix it without pushing Leitner-POMA. That puts them on the hook as well. If there are platform managers, they’re invisible.
- Unseen, also, are the Public Safety officers Brown repeatedly insists are around to assist with boarding. Over the last four days, I’ve ridden the Tram at least twice each day. As usual, I have not seen even one PSO on either side in any crossing.
No plan, not even one as lame is this one, will work if its depends on imaginary personnel.
Today, An Illustration
I got on the Tram at 2nd Avenue at around 2:00 this afternoon. When it came time to board, kids as they often do, rushed past everyone to grab the bench seats. There they parked, right under the RESERVED SEATING signs.
It was less of an issue because few if any seniors or disabled riders joined the stampede. But before the doors closed and while the cabin’s batteries charged, that changed. An older couple boarded. The woman leaned on a cane while guiding her partner who steadied himself on her arm.
I asked her if they needed a seat and got a firm “Yes.”
I led them through the crowded cabin, then told some kids on the bench they had to move. It took a little coaxing, but I finally got the couple seated.
I’m relating this story because this is neither mine nor PSD’s job. It’s Leitner-POMA’s. It shouldn’t be anyone’s job, but parenting skills no longer include teaching respect or deference for others in need.
As usual, no Leitner-POMA platform manager was around nor was there any PSD presence. The Tram operator was busy… staring at his cellphone. As he continued doing as we crossed the river.
The Brown/Amoroso Tram Crowding Plan
There so much wrong with what the PSD brain trust outlined last week, it’s hard to know where to begin. So, let’s start with the deception.
Brown said he’d have three officers at the Tram on the Roosevelt Island side during morning rush. Three more would spring up on 2nd Avenue for evening rush. Overseeing boarding orderliness would be their task. Otherwise, he would dispatch officers to help only there was a line going down the stairs.
This is a early afternoon weekday. There is no line going down the stairs. But how does a person with a cane or walker get through this crowd? RIOC is legally charged with providing equal access, but they don’t.
Deputy Chief Amoroso repeatedly insisted that there are lines that long only during rush hours. It’s hard to categorize this. Just “wrong” or “dishonest” doesn’t cut it. But the truth is simple. RIOC defies reality by actively acknowledging its view that weekends don’t count. The managers are all comfortably at home, and you should be too.
This reminds me of a line from Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album: “The cops don’t need you, and man, they expect the same.”
Not a rush hour. Weekday, mid-afternoon.
Also not a rush hour. Another weekday, early afternoon.
During neither of the above instances was there a public safety officer or Leitner-POMA platform manager around.
Moreover, the Roosevelt Islander, who challenged Amoroso and Brown at the PSD meeting, has posted numerous long, weekend lines.
Finally…
Something that should not go unnoticed. At the PSD’s alleged “community engagement meeting,” I counted five RIOC employees, one board member and less than ten residents. Obviously, this is a vote on no confidence in Brown and his operations. RIOC’s other executives and board remain oblivious.
Troubling was the presence of Roosevelt Island Disability Association president Wendy Hersh and Roosevelt Island Residents Association president Frank Farance. Both sat in the front rows, but neither raised a single objection. Who are they representing?
Roughly 2,500 individuals signed a petition demanding a solution to Tram crowding. 2,500 to under 10? Community Board 8 passed a resolution in support of priority boarding for Roosevelt Island residents and workers.
Is RIOC or Team Hochul paying any attention? Will they ever have any responsible plan for the Tram? How forceful must residents get before RIOC does the job residents pay for?
Howard Polivy, the Man Who Never Left
There is a particular rhythm to board meetings. Once you have sat through enough of them, they begin to blend together. The agenda appears. The minutes are approved.
