Today's photo was taken on Roosevelt Island, beneath the Queensboro Bridge (known colloquially as the 59th Street Bridge....if you're feelin' groovy). High alongside the bridge is one of the two cable cars that make up the Roosevelt Island Tramway, a service that runs 115 times per day to and from Manhattan. If you don't have a head for heights the tramway can be a nerve wracking proposition, offering stunning views along 1st and 2nd Avenues as it moves off, before rising 230 feet above the East River, swaying and clunking as it goes. I've only ridden the RIT once before, about 25 years ago. Back then Roosevelt Island was a fairly bleak wasteland, a crumbling work in progress. Now somewhat gentrified, it's home to 12000 people and offers restaurants, parks and a welcome respite from the intensity of the city.
Thankfully I wasn't riding the Roosevelt Island Tramway at 5.22 pm on April 18th 2006, when both cable cars came to a sudden halt mid-crossing, trapping a total of 69 people high above the East River. The last of the passengers was rescued at 4.07 am, nearly 11 hours later.
