One of the best kept secrets of New Yorkers is that there is a tramway in the city, the Roosevelt Island Tram, with fantastic views of Manhattan.
The cable car connects Roosevelt Island, an island in the middle of the East River, with Manhattan, belongs to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC), was inaugurated in 1976 and makes its route attached to the Queensboro Bridge.
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What can we see from the cable car?
The cable car offers us some excellent views of the entire East River area, especially the Chrysler Building, the UN and the Queens and Uptown Manhattan area. The cable is hooked to the Queensboro Bridge, which connects the Queens borough with Manhattan, and makes the journey in just 5 minutes. During the New York marathon We can have a beautiful view of the marathon runners, for those who are running across the bridge to enter Manhattan and those who are already going up the First Avenue towards Harlem.
Things to do in Roosevelt Island
Once on Roosevelt Island, we can walk around it by a jetty that will offer us excellent views of Manhattan, especially the United Nations building, the Chrysler Building and the Weill Hospital of Cornell University.
Upon arrival at the cable car, we find a red bus stop, which takes us all over the island. In the north end we find a nice lighthouse, and on the south side of the island we find the new headquarters of Cornell University and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, dedicated to the memory of Roosevelt and his famous speech The four freedoms, where he proposed the four freedoms that every person should enjoy anywhere in the world: Freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, freedom to live without hardship and freedom to live without fear.
This speech was made as he was the president of the United States in 1941 and later these freedoms were included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the ONU. For me, it’s worth going to see this park and take the trip next to the promenade of Roosevelt Island enjoying the spectacular views of Manhattan that we get from there, although remember that the park is closed on Tuesdays.
In addition, the NYC Ferry has a stop on Roosevelt Island right next to the cable car cabin, for more information read our article a ride on the NYC Ferry, in which we counted a trip from Roosevelt island to Wall Street by ferry.
Roosevelt Island Tram Tour
This video is an appetizer of what you will find when you get on the Roosevelt Island cable car, I hope you like it:
Roosevelt Island Tram Schedule
The cable car runs from the 6 AM to 2 AM from Sunday to Thursday, and from 6 AM to 3: 30 AM on Fridays and Saturdays.
Rates (2019)
The trip on the Roosevelt Island tram is included in the 7 days Metrocard, costs $ 3 if you pay the single ticket and $ 2,75 if you pay with a rechargeable MetroCard.
How to get to the Roosevelt Island tram?
- To take the cable car, we will go to the corner of Second Avenue with the 60th.
- The nearest metro is the 59 St-Lexington Av. Stop, where the lines 4, 5, 6, N, R and W stop.
- The journey takes about 5 minutes and the cable car leaves approximately every 15 minutes.
- You can also go on the F line of Metro to Roosevelt Island and go back to Manhattan in the cable car, as you exit the subway you will see on the left where the cabins are located, next to the Queensboro bridge.
More information
For more information about the Roosevelt Island Tram, visit the oficial website of the cable car.
