With the L train potentially down for years, could this Williamsburg-to-Manhattan gondola come to the rescue?

Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc upon New York's subterranean infrastructure more than three years ago, and its effects have been long-lasting. Last week Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the city would be shuttering 30 different subways stations for months at a time to perform various repairs and upgrades, some related to Sandy.

The most time-intensive work of all will be spent repairing the Canarsie Tube, the tunnel that the L train uses to connect Manhattan with Williamsburg and Brooklyn beyond. Cuomo estimated that the project may take as long as three years, forcing the 300,000 New Yorkers who ride the train each weekday to find an alternate route across the East River. A bit of perspective: The similarly damaged Montague Tube carried just 65,000 riders on the R train each day, and was closed for 13 months to repair Sandy's damage.

With one of the city's worst public transportation nightmares rapidly approaching, an old idea is gaining new popularity; What if Williamsburg and Manhattan were connected by gondola?

The East River Skyway would take just 4 minutes to connect Delancey and Williamsburg stations. Subsequent lines would make Greenpoint and Long Island City stations traversable from Williamsburg in under five minutes, as well. From a financial perspective, the Skyway makes enormous sense. According to Gizmodo, it costs about $3 Million to run a mile of gondola line, while digging a mile of subway costs upwards of $400 Million. But would it be constructed in time? Details are slim, but probably not.

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Moving forward on the Skyway would certainly help to alleviate the world-class congestion that occurs even when the L train is running; 5,000 passengers could cross the river each hour in either direction, and while that number would add up to only a fraction of the L's 300,000 daily commuters, it's a pretty good place to start.