The Roosevelt Island Tram is probably the most whimsical piece of public transit in NYC.
To understand why we even have the tram, you have to understand the history of Roosevelt Island itself.
For most of its history, the island held a mix of hospitals and prisons and not much else.
But by the 60s, Midtown Manhattan was experiencing an office building boom, and there was Roosevelt Island, less than one block width away.
Together, the city and the state came up with a novel approach for the island.
In 1969, the city leased the land for 99 years to what is now known as the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, a quasi-governmental state run public benefit corporation.
The RIOC's mission was to develop the island with a series of housing developments.
But the plan to develop the island rested on the planned 63rd st subway extension, which would ultimately bring the subway stop to the island.
Without that, it's actually a pretty hard place to get to.
The first "bridge" to the island was the Queensboro, which soars 125 feet over the island.
About ten years after the bridge was built, the city installed an elevator to allow people and cars to access Roosevelt Island.
This elevator was ultimately replaced by the Roosevelt Island Bridge, which allows cars to drive into Astoria.
But this wasn't the kind of easy access to Manhattan the RIOC was hoping for.
And so, faced with delays to the promised subway station, the development corporation pitched a new idea: a tram.
The tram first opened in 1976, pitched as a stopgap measure until the subway could be finished.
But when the subway station eventually opened in 1989, the RIOC kept the old tram running.
In fact, one of the biggest benefits of the tram, aside from its inherent uniqueness, was that it was handicap accessible, something that many subway stations still cannot claim to this day.
But after 40 years of running continuously, the tram was starting to have some issues.
In April of 2006, a power surge knocked out the tram, leaving it stuck with passengers inside for over 11 hours.
So, in 2010, the RIOC replaced the original tram with a new one, which has continued to happily soar over the east river ever since.
Do you like to take the tram? Do you think the city should build out more whimsical modes of transit?