Roosevelt Island Tram in New York City – Travel Guide
The Roosevelt Island Aerial Tram is an interesting way to use your MTA subway card — and it’s definitely an off-the-beaten path tourist attraction in New York City that’s fairy inexpensive. The Roosevelt Island Aerial tramway was the world’s first aerial commuter tramway and was built in the 1970s – at that time, the aerial tramway was the only way to access the island. Today, Roosevelt Island can be reached by the aerial tram, ferry and subway.
Theodore Roosevelt Island Tram – Location
Located at the Manhattan Tramway Plaza – address:
E 59th St & 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Roosevelt Island Aerial Tramway – Details
Cost: $2.75 one way. All passengers must exit the tram at each stop, and re-enter the subway system to pay the $2.75 fee again to get back to Manhattan.
Time commitment: The ride itself takes about 4 minutes, so it’s very short. Your time on Roosevelt Island will depend on what you want to do there, but honestly, we didn’t find a whole lot going on over there so we just snapped a few photos and went back to Manhattan. The tram runs continuously during rush hour, and outside of rush hour, every 15 minutes, so no matter what time of day you ride the Roosevelt Island Aerial Tramway, you’ll never be too far from a ride.
Riding the Roosevelt Island Tram
This tram isn’t solely for tourists and it isn’t a “touristy” ride, like those gondolas you can take in the summer at mountain ski resorts to go to the top and snap pics and go for nature hikes. This is meant for residents of the island to commute back and forth to Manhattan
The views you’ll get from inside the tram aren’t that great – the Queensboro bridge blocks most of your view. But, hey, I guess it’s kind of cool that you can get an aerial view of New York City that you can’t get anywhere else.
There is a bus that will take you around the island but we didn’t see it. We weren’t impressed enough with the island to make an effort to figure out the bus schedule.
The island itself isn’t all that interesting. It’s quiet and mostly residential. There’s a large park with tons of open green space, so if you’re looking for a spot to picnic, or go for a run, Roosevelt Island would be ideal for that. There’s an old smallpox hospital at the southern end of the island, but you cannot go into it, as it is fenced off. We didn’t walk down there, but if I were in the area again, I’d go check that out. Along the northern end, there is an old lighthouse, and again, I’d probably visit that if I ever ended up here again and couldn’t find anything else to do (would that ever happen in NYC??!) The best part of coming here is to get good views of the Manhattan skyline – but I found the views from Brooklyn Bridge Park to be better.
We got off the Theodore Roosevelt Island Tram and didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We walked around the park, snapped a few pics, shrugged our collective shoulders and headed back to the tram.
Roosevelt Island Aerial Tramway – Final Thoughts
If you’re going here for the “views” and “photo ops”, you might be let down. Sure, there’s a lot of green space, but for NYC photography, this island doesn’t provide a lot of compelling shots. Yes, you can get an unobstructed view of Manhattan but the views from Brooklyn Bridge Park are so much better.
The aerial tramway is fun to ride, but if it’s your first time in Manhattan, I’d definitely skip this. I’d only go here if you have seen everything else you want to see in Manhattan AND have an unlimited Metro Card. The round trip cost per person can really add up if you are traveling with a family.
