Remembering Roosevelt Island
Copyright Len Harris 1983
Wednesday, January 20 & Thursday, January 21, 2021
As I was scanning away in a somewhat robotic fashion (a lot of slides appear to be either doubles or very similar to slides from yesterday), I happened upon a slide of the Roosevelt Island Tramway. This brought back a flood of memories. For those who do not know, I grew up on Roosevelt Island. Although I was officially born at Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital, which no longer exist, my parents moved to “the island” about four months later. We were lucky in that my dad knew someone who knew someone and so we got into the Eastwood Apartment complex. It was reserved for folks within the lowest income bracket but I don’t think my parents cared. We moved into apartment D1022. What I remembered was strange, to my child’s mind at least, was that the apartment building did not have a 13th floor. Superstition. The building had an AVAC system and there was a laundry room on the 3rd floor. And of course, there were the two red tramways we took all the time to get to and from the island of Manhattan.
I had a real love-hate relationship with the Roosevelt Island tramway. As I look at the picture Lenny took (from the other tram? from the bridge? from the sky it almost seems!) and peep the men on top of it, I get a bit dizzy and a bit more nervous. It is the same feeling I shake off when I drive over a long bridge. And it is the same feeling I got whenever the tramway had to stop, while hovering over the east river, due to high winds. The “conductor” would make a casual remark about the need to wait a few minutes and I would sit in my seat (or clasp the pole if I was standing), feeling as anxious…well, you know.
At other times, the ride was so smooth and so fast. It was over in a few blinks of my eyes, so it seemed. During those times, I loved the tramway. Within minutes, I was a couple of blocks from Alexander’s and fancy Bloomingdale’s. We got to visit the local pet shop and sometimes even dip into the “sheeshy” Betsey Johnson store. It was on 60th street, right off 2nd avenue. The clothes I saw there always reminded me of Cyndi Lauper, who I wanted to dress like. There was a wildness that was free and a celebration of life, of vibrancy, that I was so drawn to. And there was the rebelliousness too. I remember once buying a dress (on sale) from the store and then being treated to ice cream with all the toppings at Serependity, that was on the same block, right by the tramway station. I really felt that I lived the good life then. But I digress…
As I continued to scan slides, I began to realize that several of the tugboat shots taken from on land must have been taken on Roosevelt Island. Even though Lenny lived with us on Roosevelt Island for awhile, I have no memories of us hanging out, by the lighthouse, as he took pictures. I am trying to make some up though…
