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Roosevelt Island Tram Reopening Pushed Back to November

By DNAinfo Staff on September 27, 2010 6:09pm  | Updated on September 28, 2010 6:21am

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

ROOSEVELT ISLAND — Residents of Roosevelt Island will have to wait just a little longer for the $25 million renovation of the tram to finish.

After announcing that the long-awaited tram project connecting Manhattan and the island would be finished Oct. 15, officials at the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation said the cabs would now go into operation some time in November.

"There were a series of delays in the beginning of the project that now is shifting the schedule," said Fernando Martinez, vice president of operations for the corporation.

Administrators originally expected the new tram station at East 59th Street and new cabs to go into service Sept. 3, Martinez said.

Designers unveiled a sleek design for the station in early September that featured improved lighting, handicap-access restrooms and upgrades to the cable the trams run on.

Tram service was shut down in March in order to complete the project, leaving Roosevelt Island residents to use the F-Train, Q102 bus or RIOC Red Shuttle Buses for a $1 fee.

Officials were expected to have a tram raising ceremony later this week, Martinez said.