80 know how tram jam feels
BY CARRIE MELAGO
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU
The high-altitude ordeal on the Roosevelt Island Tramway last night was unimaginable for most New Yorkers - but not for more than 80 who went through the same thing last year.
Two gondolas were similarly trapped above the East River on Sept. 2 when a power outage shut down the system.
Passengers trapped that time now consider themselves lucky. They were rescued after only 90 harrowing minutes.
"When I heard, I thought, 'Good thing I'm not on it,'" said Brian Koenigsberg, 14, of Manhattan, who was trapped last year.
Back then, an engineer sped to the scene from upstate New York to start a backup generator. When he didn't make it to a tram station fast enough, an NYPD aviation unit helicopter picked him up in Westchester.
"Can't they just fly in the same man they flew in last time to flip the switch?" asked Cleveland Gaynor of Fayetteville, Ga., who was on a stranded car with her pregnant sister and their two kids.
That time, the supervisor was able to start the tram's backup generator. But last night, both the main and backup generators failed.
Gaynor, who was visiting family in New York at the time, couldn't fathom spending five hours so high up.
"Everybody was just sort of irritated," she said. "Luckily, no one had to go to the bathroom."
Hearing about yesterday's drama unnerved Brian, who almost took the tram to play tennis at the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club yesterday.
"I know how they feel," he said. "It's definitely annoying."
