Hanging, Harrowing, And The Hizzoner High-Five

The Roosevelt Island Tram stalled between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island, stranding passengers for like days:

A four-minute trip on the Roosevelt Island Tramway turned into a harrowing overnight ordeal as a series of power failures left about 70 people suspended hundreds of feet in the air, forcing a daring rescue over the East River that ended early this morning.

By 4:30 a.m. — nearly 12 hours after the trams first stalled — all the passengers were off the two trams, which had been moving in opposite directions, one towards Manhattan’s East Side and the other towards Roosevelt Island.

. . .

Cheers accompanied each successful rescue effort. Children from the first group, which had eight children and five adults, exchanged high-fives with Mayor Bloomberg after touching ground at the Roosevelt Island terminal about 11:30 p.m. Passengers were greeted with juice, cookies and, for several Hasidic Jews in the first group, matzo.

. . .

The ordeal was especially difficult for people who did not like heights. Mary Hirschhorn said her husband, Alan Hirschhorn, one of the stranded passengers, was among them. “He’s very nervous,” she said. “He’s upset. I’m never going to take it again.”

[Twelve-year-old] Dax [Maier], the young tennis player, agreed that he and the babysitter would be taking the subway from now on.

Can’t wait for that Calatrava tram!