Roosevelt Island Tram: The Cheapest Skyline Ride in NYC

The Roosevelt Island Tram is the only aerial tramway in New York. It connects Manhattan with Roosevelt Island, and besides being a fun surprise for tourists, it's the best way for island residents to get around.

This 5-minute ride is both a one-of-a-kind experience and very cheap, because to ride the Tram all you need is your MetroCard, the same one you use on the subway or New York buses.

It's the closest you'll get to feeling like Superman, flying over buildings, highways and the East River itself, right alongside the Queensboro Bridge.

The photos you'll take are spectacular, which makes the Roosevelt Island Tram one of the best viewpoints in New York.

Riding the Roosevelt Island Tram

A lot of people wonder what's on Roosevelt Island that's interesting enough to justify the trip.

For starters, the thrilling ride on the Roosevelt Island Tramway, a form of transportation unlike anything else in this city of islands, opened in 1976. Those few minutes flying over New York are unforgettable.

Once you get to the island, you can visit two beautiful parks at either end of Roosevelt Island: Four Freedoms Park to the south and Lighthouse Park to the north.

Both parks give you fabulous views of Manhattan and Queens.

On the island you'll also find remnants of historic New York buildings, like the ruins of the SmallPox Hospital to the south, a former treatment center for smallpox patients.

At the southern tip of Roosevelt Island you'll see a restored lighthouse dating back to 1872, and The Octagon, once the entrance to the Blackwell Insane Asylum and now the lobby of a luxury building. It's this mix of past and future that keeps me coming back to New York 😜.

All of these spots are included on the New York Contrasts and Roosevelt Island tour. It works really well if you're short on time and want to see something beyond Manhattan.

As I always say, New York is made up of 5 boroughs, and Manhattan, even if it's the best known, is just one of them.

If you're exploring on your own and want to head back to Manhattan, you can take the Tram again, cross the river on the NYC Ferry, or hop on the subway, since the island has its own station: Roosevelt Island on the F line.

How to ride the Tram

The Roosevelt Island Tram is part of New York's Metropolitan Transportation system, so with your pay-per-ride or unlimited MetroCard you can board the tramway by swiping your card, just like you would at a subway entrance.

The tramway has two huge red cabins that hold 125 people each, travels at 25 kilometers per hour and rises 76 meters above the East River.

These trips connecting Manhattan (59th Street at Second Avenue) with Tramway Plaza on Roosevelt Island leave every 7 to 15 minutes depending on the time of day. They run from 6 am until 2:30 pm, and until 3:30 am on weekends.

As I mentioned, you can board with a MetroCard, but if you don't have one, don't worry: you can buy a ticket from the automatic machines at the entrance.

The Roosevelt Island Tram on screen

Since it opened in the mid-seventies, the Roosevelt Island Tram became the new toy of action movie directors, as Richard Alleman tells us in his film lover's guide to New York.

Take Nighthawks (1981), which features an action scene with Sylvester Stallone on the Tram, or Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), where Bruce Willis pulls off an impossible jump from the tram car onto the Queensboro Bridge.

The Tram also shows up in a scene from Spider-Man (2002), when the villain played by Willem Dafoe leaves a car full of children dangling over the East River until our web-slinging hero arrives to save the day.

Natalie Portman fans might remember the final scene of Léon: The Professional (1994), when the actress, just 12 at the time, leaves her life of crime behind and heads toward a more peaceful chapter at an orphanage on Roosevelt Island.

There you go, those scenes should be enough to convince you to book that flight to New York right now!

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Address

The Manhattan station for the Roosevelt Island Tram is at 1132 2nd Ave, between 59th and 60th Streets.

Nearest subway: lines 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R. Lexington Avenue / 59 St station

On Roosevelt Island the station is called Tramway Plaza, and it's easy to find since it sits at the base of the Queensboro Bridge.

Prices

You pay with a MetroCard (same price as a subway ride)

Hours

Sunday to Thursday 6 am to 2 am
Friday and Saturday 6 am to 3:30 am

You can check the official website for more details about the tramway.