The Roosevelt Island Bridge got stuck in a lifted position two weeks ago - more than once - and then again this week, twice, late Thursday afternoon.

One resident described the August 12 event as part of a "perfect storm" in mass transportation: Each route of physical transportation to and from the Island was cut off, at least for a while.

. The Tram was down.

. The bridge was stuck.

. Electrical problems halted F-train service.

Because of the bridge problem, the Island was essentially without the services of the Fire Department (FDNY) for over an hour, and residents had no emergency ambulance access to off-Island hospitals.

While serious for the potential jeopardy, the situation also produced scenes bordering on the ludicrous.

In the August 12 incident, trying to dope out what caused bridge brakes to jam with the span up in the morning, troubleshooters from the City Department of Transportation (DOT) decided to test the bridge just before the 4:00 p.m. shift-change rush-hour for Coler-Goldwater Hospital. During the test, the bridge got stuck again. For an hour and twelve minutes, cars backed up along Main Street all the way back to the Tram station, and north toward the hospital's north campus. On the other side of the bridge, the backup snaked in both directions along Vernon Boulevard. And just before the subway went down, a group of firefighters took the F-train to the Island to stand by - without their emergency vehicles - just in case. Under a new plan to cover just such cases, subway transport for firefighters will be the norm. (See The RIOC Column, page 3.)

The event raised questions about responsibility for coordinating the Island's emergency preparedness. Firefighters, who were first directed to reach the Island by Tramway, were unaware that it was out of service. The City DOT undertook testing without first getting FDNY to station firefighting equipment and personnel here.

A plan has now been adopted for future periods of frequent bridge lifts: Firefighting equipment will be stationed on the Island, but in the event of a fire during a bridge failure, personnel will get to the Island via public transportation (see RIOC President's Column, page 3). That happened this week, during Thursday's outages.

DOT now stations an electrician at the bridge 24/7. In Thursday's first incident, during a routine opening which also happened to coincide with the hospital shift change, one end of the bridge went up too fast, triggering an automatic shutdown. Adjustments were made, the bridge lowered, and vehicle traffic resumed at about 4:30. The bridge then got stuck again shortly after 5:00, backing cars up the length of Main Street.

Coincidentally, the mid-August transportation cut-off occurred almost exactly a year after the Blackout of 2003, which also raised questions about just how much responsibility the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) has for making sure Roosevelt Island's emergency needs are covered and coordinated. In general, RIOC has suggested that others bear most of the responsibility, not just for actual emergency coverage, but also for coordination. RIOC President Herb Berman, asked how a heart attack might have been handled during the transportation outage, responded by e-mail, "Firstly, we obtained two defibrillators and a number of Public Safety officers [are] trained in [their] use. Also, I am advised that EMS and other emergency services are notified before the bridge is lifted." RIOC Board member Patrick Stewart upbraided current RIRA President Matthew Katz for a comment quoted in a WIRE e-mail bulletin in which Katz decried the lack of a "working dock" on the Island. Stewart pointed to the disused oil dock on the east shore of the Island under the Queensboro Bridge as a possible point of access for emergency vessels, suggesting it is "working" in at least the sense that a vessel can be boarded there when absolutely necessary. Another member of the RIRA Common Council urged fellow representatives to the Council not to be distracted, by the quibble over the meaning of "working," from the issue of emergency coordination and coverage raised in Katz's e-mail to Berman.

The bridge is being lifted because the Coast Guard, in a security measure, is banning pleasure-boat passage through the west channel. (Their speedy craft, equipped with guns, can also be seen escorting commercial vessels in the west channel.) Tall-masted sailboats must use the east channel, passing under the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

August 12 Specifics

Bridge: After the bridge got stuck during a morning lift, in what was at first thought to be an electrical problem, the bridge also got stuck open from 3:50 to 5:02 p.m. After that, DOT stopped traffic an additional six times for troubleshooting and tests, for three to seven minutes each time. (Source: DOT.)

Subway: At 6:16 p.m., Con Ed experienced a power failure at Elmhurst. The F train returned to service at 7:19 p.m.; other affected lines resumed trips at 7:58 p.m. (Source: MTA.)