Group proposes “skyways” across the East River

A bold new proposal hopes to slash commute times by connecting Manhattan and the boroughs via “skyways.” The East River Skyway project hopes to someday build various trams over the East River, similar to the Roosevelt Island Tramway.

The current design proposal calls for a skyway between Williamsburg and the East Village, followed by extensions deeper into Brooklyn and, eventually, lines to Long Island City, according to Web Urbanist.

The East River Skyway project claims that building skyways would make travel between the boroughs “faster, cleaner, safer and cheaper, all while reducing the load on the subway system, already packed to more than capacity under the ground below.”

And obviously the views are much better in the air than in the subway.

Its designers point to other major international cities that have successfully used the system like Singapore, London and Rio de Janeiro. [Web Urbanist] – Christopher Cameron