The Island administration is still planning to eliminate Tramway service after 10:30 PM.

According to Al Weinstein, Chair of the Tramway Committee of the Residents Association (RIRA), Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) President Jerome Blue told him on Wednesday that the plan is still alive.

"I reminded him that he had considered a plan to cut night service, but that we assume he is not going to do it, he said 'Oh, no, we still intend to do that.' He said it's a question of money, that there is a terrible deficit." Weinstein spoke at a RIRA Planning Committee meeting Wednesday night. Blue's column in this issue of The WIRE appears to be laying the groundwork for major change in Island transportation services, despite recent resolutions by the RIRA Common Council and Community Board 8 opposing service cutbacks.

Weinstein also reported that Blue discussed a Tramway takeover by the MTA, another change opposed by the RIRA and CB8 resolutions. "I told him that the Tramway could become profitable when subway service is cut back for four or five years, starting next year, and that it would definitely be profitable when Southtown is built," Weinstein said. "Dr. Blue said 'Well, then we would take the Tramway back.'" Weinstein added, "We'd never get it back."

Weinstein took Blue to task Thursday morning in the public comments portion of the RIOC Board of Directors meeting, decrying the possibility of a service cutback or MTA takeover. Blue responded by saying "Mr. Weinstein and I did indeed spend a lot of time yesterday, and I look forward to working with him on that... to bring about further efficiencies. We must comply with the Comptroller's report and we would appreciate your suggestions."

After the meeting, Blue was asked "What is your date for a cutback in tramway service?" He responded by saying he hadn't mentioned a date. Asked "Then you don't have a date?" he said "I didn't say that, either," then added, "I'm not responding to that question." The CB8 resolution, passed May 21, points out that 65 to 75 percent of Tramway operating costs are paid by rider fares, making it the most self-supporting mass transit system in the State. Mass transit systems nationwide require government subsidies. According to a report to CB8 by Island resident Linda Heimer, comparable transit systems typically receive 70-90 percent of their operating costs from tax dollars. (Click for her report.)

Heimer, who spearheaded a safety drive to get cameras on Q-line subway platforms, told CB8 that reduced Tramway hours are a major economic and safety issue for elderly Islanders, who will be forced to take cabs or use the subway at late hours, or accept a de facto 10 PM curfew.

In other Q&A at Thursday's RIOC meeting, Blue was asked if the current Southpoint RFP retains a longstanding setaside of land for an FDR park. (See story this page.) He said it does not, and that past RFP's from RIOC have tended to be too restrictive to attract interest.