I have never walked much less run across the Queensboro / 59th Street Bridge but I have always wanted to experience this view of Roosevelt Island and the Tram. Like many of us I have rode across the bridge plenty of times by car but the glimpses caught are so fleeting it has never felt real. I do still remember being a kid from Long Island in the mid 1970s seeing the Tram for the first time from our school bus as we came into Manhattan for some class trip. We were all so excited and were waving madly but no one saw us.
I came across a runner's personal blog, Pigtails Flying, this evening who herself waved to the Tram and received a wave back. She has taken this to be a good sign of things to come in 2009 as she rarely receives a return wave. My kids always wave from the Tram to runners and riders below and occasionally are awarded by return waves. Being on the receiving end does always make me smile so I hope this runner receives many more waves this year.
I put up the above photo not only for the view of the Tram but also of the Circle Line. My kids always wave to these boats and rarely if ever do the tourists see us as they all only have eyes for Manhattan's East Side as the boats head up and down the East River. It does sometimes feel as if our little island is invisible when this happens. So if you are on a boat and see a child (or adult) waving make their day just as somebody did for this runner.
Picture on Flickr by jag9889
Posts
Hello! Thanks for the link, and this is a really great example of a neigborhood blog. Wish Sunnyside had one this comprehensive.
ReplyDeleteYou should totally take the walk over the 59th Street Bridge. Just take the Q102 off the island into Long Island City (the stop right by Silvercup, or the one right by Queens Plaza and the Dunkin' Doughnuts), and you can get on the foot path right there. The foot path of the bridge is where its old trolley used to run, and that trolley was one of the only ways off of Roosevelt island - there were elevators bringing cars up to the bridge and pedestrians up to the trolley platform. On the Manhattan end of the walkway, you can still sort of understand where the trolley cars went under the street to let out passengers, even if they did remove the above ground kiosk... jerks. Anyway, yeah, take the walk. Totally worth it, if only for the unique view of your little island! And if you don't want to walk back, well you will end up right at the Manhattan side of the Tram.
ReplyDelete