Proposal for aerial gondola linking Brooklyn to Manhattan
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The head of a New York City real estate data and listing site is set to propose Tuesday at the Massey Knakal Brooklyn Real Estate Summit an aerial gondola system that would run along the Brooklyn waterfront and into Manhattan.
“This would offer an incredible commute,” said Daniel Levy, head of CityRealty, of his East River Skyway proposal. “You would get the best view you could imagine and a comfortable environment while avoiding the mayhem of the L train in the morning.”
The proposed gondola system will be built in three phases.
The system would be built in phases: the first running from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Williamsburg, and then from Williamsburg to the Lower East Side. Subsequent phases would branch out to eventually connect Dumbo to the South Street Seaport, and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, Queens, to Roosevelt Island. There, the network would meet up with the existing gondola route between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan.
New waterfront developments are on track to bring thousands of additional units to Brooklyn and Queens, and the aerial gondola system would help alleviate congestion on the subway lines, according to Mr. Levy. He estimates each phase would cost between $75 million and $125 million to build.
In the presentation, Mr. Levy will point to cities around the world such as Santiago, Chile, and Rio de Janeiro that are using gondolas in various stages of construction to ease congestion for commuters.
The idea was first floated around about seven years ago by former Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who eyed a gondola system connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn to Governors Island.
