Queensboro Trolley Kiosk

The tramway from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island is one of the most spectacular ways to travel in New York City. The gondola zips over the East River, leaving the city’s iconic skyline in its wake. But traveling to Roosevelt Island wasn’t always an aerial affair. A lone kiosk under the Queensboro Bridge is a forgotten reminder of the area’s shuttered street trolley system.

Top Places in New York

New York, New York

High Bridge

The oldest surviving bridge in New York City, which reopened to pedestrians in 2015.

40.8424, -73.9303

Added by NickKinling

New York, New York

Vintage Massimo Vignelli Subway Map

There's a piece of New York City transportation history hidden in plain sight at a Manhattan subway stop.

40.7638, -73.9772

Added by Ashawnta

New York, New York

St. Luke's Place Coal Hole Covers

These ornate manhole covers were used for a now-forgotten purpose.

40.7302, -74.0056

Added by Ike Allen

See more things to do in New York »

Starting in 1909, beautiful Beaux-Arts kiosks serviced a trolley line which ran from Second Avenue in Manhattan and from Queens on the other side of the East River. The trolleys would stop on the bridge, where riders could descend to Roosevelt Island by elevator, which back then was known as Welfare Island because it was mainly used for hospitals.

There were once five kiosks, ornately decorated with copper roofs and colored, glazed tiles. When the last street trolley left 59th street in 1957, three of the structures were sadly demolished. One was moved in the 1970s to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, where it also faced being destroyed. Saved by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, it was restored and transported back to the island, where it currently serves today as a visitor center.

Only one of the old kiosks can still be found in its original location on 59th Street, just underneath the bridge and tramway. The green and white structure is fenced in on a traffic island, where it sits empty, forlorn, and largely unnoticed amid the constant traffic crossing the bridge. The stairs no longer lead to the old trolley line, which was replaced by roads and the doors marked “Entrance” and “Exit” remain unused, no longer witnesses to a steady stream of pedestrians.