Since early November 2024 more than 2500 people have signed the Trampled By Tourists, Priority Boarding for Residents and Workers on the Roosevelt Island Tram online and paper petition. According to the petition organizers:
Advocates of Roosevelt Island Tram priority boarding support a proposal for the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) to set up a permitting system that will issue a Roosevelt Island Tram Fast Line Pass available to everyone, local resident, worker or visitor. The Fast Line Pass would have to be picked up in person on Roosevelt Island before it can be used making it unlikely that the one time picture taking Tram tourist will obtain the pass.
Last Sunday, Roosevelt Island elected officials and NYC candidates in the upcoming Democratic Party primary election joined together with about 2 dozen Roosevelt Island residents at the Manhattan Tram Plaza to rally in support of priority boarding for residents and workers on the Roosevelt Island Tram.
Reporter Luca GoldMansour spoke with NYC Council Member Julie Menin, former NYC Comptroller, Manhattan Borough President and current NYC Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, several local residents and recorded the rally. Here’s what happened.
According to Ms Menin:
So many residents on Roosevelt Island have come to me in the past couple months to say they really want to have residential preference on the tram and so I set up a meeting with the Governor’s office later this month. I’m including a lot of local residents who’ve been working on this issue and it really makes a lot of sense…
… My office has now researched other jurisdictions who gave a residential preference to the utilization of their ferry system which is sort of equivalent to the Tram and in those instances they were able to create a residential pass.
That’s what we’re looking to do here by the way. I think we can create a residential pass that gives priority to residents and at the same time we don’t need to necessarily hurt tourism. We can actually boost tourism at the same time by giving tourists a tourist pass that promotes some of the wonderful attractions on Roosevelt Island…
Scott Stringer told the rally goers:
Here’s the bottom line. This city depends on tourism. We need people from all over the world to come to our city, spend money and continue to be the center of the universe. But if you come to our city, there’s a great place for you to visit and take pictures and that’s called the Statue of Liberty. You do not have to get on the lifeline of Roosevelt Island which is the Tram….
… When I’m Mayor, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make sure that we bring tourism back here stronger than ever but not on this Tram. This is not a tourist attraction this is a lifeline…. This tram should not be overcrowded, it should not keep families separated because you can’t get back to and from work…
In addition to Ms Menin and Mr Stringer, NYC Council Member Keith Powers (a candidate for Manhattan Borough President), NY State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal ( a candidate for Manhattan Borough President), 76 AD Part A Democratic Party District Leaders Rebecca Weintraub and Ben Akselrod and Todd Stein (candidate for Democratic Party District Leader) attended the rally in support of resident and worker priority preference boarding the Roosevelt Island Tram.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams has previously expressed support for resident and workers priority boarding preference on the Roosevelt Island Tram.
Paul Krikler, the creator of the Tram Petition and among the organizers of Sunday’s rally said:
We had an amazing turnout of elected representatives and candidates for office all speaking out clearly in support of priority boarding. We have a meeting on June 16 with people in the Governor’s office thanks to our Council Member, Julie Menin. That’s a huge step forward for this campaign.
The NY Times reported today on the Roosevelt Island Tram Priority Boarding issue today.
According to the NY Times article:
… R.I.O.C. says long waits are not necessarily a day-to-day headache: Long lines for the tram have formed on only 17 days so far this year….
Here’s more on the Fast Pass proposal for the Roosevelt Island Tram.
Why don’t people just take the subway if the tram line is too long? I’m baffled.
Roosevelt Island is an ISLAND! It is isolated from mainland Manhattan. Our residents PAY the shortfall between revenue and operating costs so that we have a safe, short commute for our working residents, our school children, our elderly, our disabled, for essential Roosevelt Island workers, and patrons of our commercial establishments. We have limited shopping on our Island. Many folks shop on the Eastside and come home ladened with their purchases.
The MTA does not contribute a plug nickle to support our tram. All of the cost of maintenance and repair is borne by the residents… not to support tourism, but to support the tram as a commutation lifeline!
The F train has considerable outages and slowdowns. Many weekends, the F train skips Roosevelt Island in one direction or the other. Our residents should not have to wait an hour to get home.
We have a very large population of older adults and disabled living on Roosevelt Island. With no bank nor medical facilities on the island, the seniors and disabled only use the tram to get to their banks and medical appointments right next to the tram. The F train elevators and escalators are out for servicing without notice and so the subway is not a reliable mode of transport for older adults or disabled.
One needs to live on Roosevwlt Island to know how much we are inconvenienced.
Evidently, nothing has happened since 2021 with respect to getting a bank branch back on RI: https://www.nycitynewsservice.com/2021/12/10/roosevelt-island-wants-a-new-bank-where-there-is-none/
Because the F train is not always reliable or predictable. Wait times of 12 minutes or more are not uncommon and sometimes those trains don’t have much space on them either.
the solution here is obvious. Institute an $9 congestion surcharge that escalates yearly until it reaches $15, on top of the regular fare. that’ll thin out the line and the added revenue can fix the subways!
Not readily available and it’s one of the most dangerous means of transportation today. Seniors and disabled can not afford to risk their safety taking the F train. The escalators and elevators randomly work, increasing the already stressful commute for mothers with strollers.
Beyond all of the obvious practical reasons that justify priority boarding, there’s also the $2 million shortfall that residents cover, without which the tram could not operate.