It was bound to happen my six year old son who lately has been zoooming everywhere ahead of his mother did so into the Roosevelt Island Tram two days ago and found out the hard way that rush hour on the Tram begins before 5:00 pm when the doors closed and he was unattended during the Tram's flight from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island. Obviously he was not exactly alone as the Tram was full.
As I stated at the top of this post it was bound to happen as my son, like most of the younger kids, zooms into the tram every time to claim the prize of the step stool seat behind the tram operator. He learned his lesson and so did we that this one needs to be held a little closer when approaching the Tram. Good thing it was not the subway that is all I have to say.
He was fine and after my wife realized what had happened, she had been walking our other child up the Manhattan Tram stairs, she notified the booth attendant that he was on board by himself. He certainly is the not the first child that this happened too and we can assume he will not be the last.
Over the course of several emails with the Director of Tram Operations (Armando Cordova), the Public Safety Director (Keith Guerra) and RIOC's President (Stephen Shane) I have learned what the protocol is for handling this type of event. Simply put once aware of the situation the Tram's operator or the booth attendant is supposed to contact PSD and an officer is dispatched to the Tram station to wait with the child until the parent makes the next trip to the station where the child is located.
As I stated at the top of this post it was bound to happen as my son, like most of the younger kids, zooms into the tram every time to claim the prize of the step stool seat behind the tram operator. He learned his lesson and so did we that this one needs to be held a little closer when approaching the Tram. Good thing it was not the subway that is all I have to say.If this happens to your kid, stay calm as the child is safe and simply let the Tram staff know what has occured and your child will be waiting for you, perhaps chastened by the presence of the PSD officer, when you arrive on the next tram.
Posts
Parents, please don't let your little ones play on the little blue stool in the tram. When my son was 5 and my daughter was 2 and in her stroller, my son was standing on the stool hanging onto the railing and he lost his balance , spun around, fell and hit the back of his head on the metal strip that runs around the tram conductor's platform, thus splitting the back of his head open. We were on the Manhattan side and took him in an ambulance to the pediatric emergency at Columbia presbyterian where he got 14 stitches, not a fun day. He's now 17 but it still makes me crazy to see kids playing on that stool.
ReplyDeletePennie C.
The stool is the most exciting place for a child to be. Of course you should not let your child hang from the metal bars. Common sense. Standing and looking outside is okay. Sitting there is okay. Starting to play circus acrobat is not cool. But then even just standing on the stool can lead to accidents but what am I supposed to do? I cannot protect my child from everything that can be remotely dangerous.
ReplyDelete