Good morning. It’s Friday. Today we’ll look at a project involving the old Roosevelt Island tram cars.
Fifty years ago this week, the first bright red Roosevelt Island tram flew across the New York City skyline, suspended above the chaotic comings and goings below by a system of wires running alongside the Queensboro Bridge. When it opened, the red tram was the only way to directly access Manhattan from Roosevelt Island — the subway would not reach the island until over a decade later, in 1989. In 2010, the original tram cabins were retired in favor of a more modern design still in use today. Since then, the old cabins have sat, largely forgotten, beneath the Roosevelt Island bridge, collecting dust and a variety of graffiti. Now, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation is marking the 50th anniversary of the tram by asking the community to submit ideas for how to incorporate the old tram cabins into island life. In the four days since the campaign started, the committee has received almost 50 submissions, Bryant Daniels, the body’s assistant vice president of communications and government affairs, said in an interview, including those that have poured in via social media comments. “We have a really passionate community that really feel strongly about the history of the island,” Daniels said. “And so we wanted to bring everybody into the conversation here and do something fun and unique with these cabins.” The effort marks the island’s latest move to capitalize on rising interest from tourists, who often found themselves drawn across the East River by the famous red tram, which has even had a starring role in a Spider-Man film. Christopher Satch, 34, a Roosevelt Island resident, first heard of the plan to restore the old tram cabins from the island’s local news outlet, The Roosevelt Islander. As he scrolled through comments advocating for turning the cabins into some kind of bar or coffee shop, he drew on experience as a horticultural consultant for a more unusual pitch. He suggested turning the cabins into greenhouses by drilling holes in the bottom for drainage and adding lights to draw passers-by. He recommended keeping the cabins close to where to where they were currently stored, on the northeast side of the island, which attracts less foot traffic than the promenades that look across to Manhattan. “It’s all paved-over concrete nonsense, so why not have those cars there as something to see as you get on the island?” he said. “They have some cool plants in them, and that’s another attraction that would draw people to buy things from the local shops and things like that.” Andrew Enock, 27, who grew up on the island but recently moved to Bushwick, Brooklyn, saw news about the effort on Instagram. He said he had wanted to do something about the old tram cabins for at least a decade, as he walked past them while they sat beneath the bridge. His pitch, he said, was to turn them into an outside dining area, complete with informational placards about the island’s history. The seating would serve local food trucks and other vendors from neighboring Queens, he said. Enock said he had gone so far as to mock up how the setup would work, using artificial intelligence. He has been so passionate about the tram cars for so long that his mom even called him to inform him the island was starting to think of refurbishing them. “It’s very exciting,” he said. “I would love to be a part of it, if possible, just because of my past years of thinking about it.” Judith Berdy, the president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, rode the tram on that first night — May 17, 1976 — because she lived in Manhattan, not far from the tram station on East 60th Street. Two years later, Berdy moved to Roosevelt Island, drawn in part by the area’s fascinating history. As the decades passed, the island grew from a small neighborhood to a bustling community, but it stayed centered around the tram — its symbolic nucleus. “It’s sort of like the heart of Roosevelt Island,” she said. “And to see these cabins sitting in storage for the last 13 years or 14 years, it’s really sad.” Berdy and Daniels were both involved in planning a 50th anniversary celebration for the tram — a birthday party of sorts, set to take place next week. The plan was to celebrate the tram’s place in the history of the island, which has grown from farmland to prison to mental hospital to smallpox infirmary and is now home to over 12,000 residents and Cornell Tech. In a fitting nod to the festive occasion, a birthday cake will be served, decorated with — you guessed it — tram cars. WEATHER Expect partly sunny skies with temperatures near 65. 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