Imagine soaring above the New York City skyline in an aerial cable car every day to get to school. That’s how I spent my childhood growing up on Roosevelt Island: a two mile long and 800 foot wide sliver of land in the East River sandwiched between Manhattan from Queens.
The Roosevelt Island Tram Soars Above Manhattan's East Side
When it opened in 1976, the Tramway was the only way on or off Roosevelt Island without using a bridge. Cars could gain access from Queens and pedestrians could take an elevator down the supporting legs of the Queensboro Bridge, but a subway stop was still 13 years away from opening.
A shot of the Roosevelt Island Tram next to the Queensboro Bridge, shot from a rooftop in uptown Manhattan
Even after the Q subway line opened in 1989, Tram ridership remained steady for the three minute ride connecting Roosevelt Island with Manhattan’s East side (59th Street and Second Avenue, to be exact).
The Roosevelt Island Tram hangs above Manhattan Traffic on 2nd Avenue and 59th Street
The Tram arrives in the Roosevelt Island docking station
Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was when the Tram’s twin red cabins passed each other in mid-air halfway through the journey. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved snapping photos of the opposing gondola high above the river with Roosevelt Island or New York City in the distance. After years of attempts, I finally captured what I often consider to be my favorite picture of my life: at the very least, my most personal.
The Tram soars above Roosevelt Island, Manhattan and the East River
I was honored to discuss creating this image and my experiences as a travel photographer in an interview with the PhotoGrill Web Magazine. Below is an excerpt:
The original Tram over the East River image from my Nikon D80
Photogrill: Were you after this particular image, or were you photographing everything?
Past attempts taught me that pressing my camera against the angled corner window was the only way to avoid reflections and glare.
Furthermore, I had to be on the cabin closest to the Queensboro Bridge while heading away from Roosevelt Island with a lens wide enough to capture the island, river, oncoming Tram and tower in one shot. It was a photo years in the making.
PHOTOGRILL: It looks like it was against the light, how did you deal with that and get a full set of tones in the tram?
My best earlier attempt at capturing the Tram above Roosevelt Island
As the Tram approached, I quickly took a light reading from both the cabin and the sky behind it and went for something in the middle. When I looked at the results, I was very pleased with the composition but felt the images lacked a certain pop and relegated them to my archives.
It took another few years and teaching myself Photoshop before I revisited the photo.
The original image was captured using a Nikon D80 with a 12-24mm lens set at 14mm, 1/200s exposure, f/7.1 and ISO 100. Once in Photoshop, I used Hue/Saturation, Exposure, Curves, Levels and Brightness/Contrast layers and Smart Filters.
The Tram Lands on Roosevelt Island where the Red Buses wait to shuttle people around The Roc
I was also thrilled when the Tram image was selected by Local Social to be a part of their Vessels event. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and like meeting new people, cool art and awesome food, be sure to check Local Social out.
The Tram Lands on Roosevelt Island in front of Historical Society kiosk
For 34 years after it opened, each gondola left its station in Manhattan or Queens at the same time, every fifteen minutes, 20 hours a day. Up to 110 people could squeeze into a single cabin, though at times during rush hour pedestrians were left waiting for the next trip.
The Tram's brightly colored gears in the Manhattan station
Life with the Tram was not without its difficulties, as over the years it encountered its share of problems. Any sign of lightning or strong winds would shut it down for hours, a cabin was once hit by a construction crane working on the Queensboro Bridge and both gondolas have gotten stuck for varying amounts of time.
The Tram, Queensboro Bridge and Cherry Blossoms From the Downtown Side of Roosevelt Island
Perhaps the most famous of these incidents occurred in 2006, when entire Tram system lost all power while the cabins were dangling over the East River and 59th Street, respectively. Backup power sources failed and rescue workers had to manually crank a rescue cage up the cables to individually evacuate passengers. At one point, riders literally had cross over a gap dangling 250 feet above the river.
This cage was dangling hundreds of feet above the East River and passengers had to pass over a gap between the Tram windows and the cage to escape.
When the Tram finally reopened after five months of repairs and upgrades, the writing already was on the wall. Plans were drawn up for a complete replacement of the entire system and on March 1, 2010, the classic cabins were retired to their current resting place: gloomily getting dirtier under the Island’s parking garage.
The old Tram cabins sit decaying behind the Motorgate parking garage on Roosevelt Island
I have heard rumors of turning the old cabins into a welcome center to compliment the Roosevelt Island Historical Society’s current trolley kiosk. My childhood friends and I want to turn it into a sandwich shop. I also think one should go to the Smithsonian…but I’m biased.
Trams in solitude behind the Motorgate parking garage and in front of the Gristides supermarket
You also can check out uptake.com’s More Family Activities near Roosevelt Island
