Voice Of The NYC Subway System Joins The Roosevelt Island Tram Team Making Announcements And Welcoming Riders

I heard a familiar voice making announcements while riding the Roosevelt Island Tram this afternoon.

Why did this voice sound so familiar? Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Assistant Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs Bryant Daniels gives us the answer. According to Mr Daniels:

We’ve been working with Poma to find ways to enhance onboard communications inside the Tram cabins. In late February, Darren McCarthy and his team installed a brand-new sound system that allows cabin attendants to play automated messages with the push of a button, including alerts about holding on while the cabin is in flight and reminders to observe priority seating for elderly and disabled riders.

We began using the new alerts shortly after the system was installed, with Poma personnel recording the initial batch of messages. A passenger and Roosevelt Island resident, Daniel Schwartzman, heard the new announcements and thought it would be great if his colleague, Charlie Pellet, could record them himself. Charlie is better known to the world as one of the voices of the New York City subway system (“Stand clear of the closing doors, please.”) and works with Dan at Bloomberg Radio. Dan brought the idea to Charlie, who loved it, and then brought it to us at RIOC. We loved it, too. The Tram is iconic, and so is Charlie’s voice, so the fit was seamless.

After hearing from Dan, we sent him and Charlie our scripts, and within two days Charlie had sent us these wonderful recordings that are now playing inside our Tram cabins.

We did keep one message in place that was recorded by one of our cabin attendants, Laurence Figueroa, who also has a rich, deep voice. That alert, “Please stand by for an important announcement by the cabin attendant,” is played only as needed and serves as a nice tribute to our Poma team and the work they do every day.

On behalf of RIOC, I want to thank Dan and Charlie for reaching out and making this happen. We really appreciate their thoughtfulness and time. And thanks as well to Darren and his team for continuing to improve the ride experience for Island residents.

Roosevelt Island Tram rider Jeanine Barone has a different take on the new voice of the Tram. According to Ms Barone:

My problem with the new RI tram messaging is with regard to tonal quality. The Voice Over artist is way too buoyant. In fact, it feels like I’m about to embark on a Disney World ride. It’s not the tone I’d like my doctor to take if he were to tell me I had congestive heart failure, for example. And, though this is likely the same tone used on the subway, it works for the subway, which is totally grungy. So the upbeat Voice Over takes the edge off.

But the tram itself is the opposite of grunge. It doesn’t need anything to take an edge off. In fact, by having this amount of buoyancy on top of the loveliness of the tram, it superimposes a vibe that makes it feel like a must-do ride.

The NY Times reported today on Mr Pellet being the new voice of the Roosevelt Island Tram:

… It turned out that Pellett loves the tram. Maybe not as much as he loves the subway — “I once broke up with somebody because she would not ride in the front car,” where he would have almost the same view as the train operator, he said — but there was love in his voice.

“The tram is a gem,” he said. “The tram is iconic. If you think about five iconic things in New York City, there are the subways, there is Times Square, there are yellow cabs, there is the Statue of Liberty and, I would suggest, there is the Roosevelt Island Tram.”…

… He also knows that there can be lines, especially since social media discovered the tram and turned it into a tourist destination, an inexpensive way to see the Manhattan skyline, to the dismay of some Roosevelt Islanders….

Here’s more on Charlie Pellet, the voice of the NYC Subway system and now the Roosevelt Island Tram.

I like the new voice of the Roosevelt Island Tram. What do you think?