Dozens of people faced a harrowing evening yesterday after the Roosevelt Island tram stalled because of mechanical failure. Sixty-nine people in two gondola cars – 12 of which are children – were stranded above the East River for several hours without food, restrooms, or solid ground on which to rest their feet, police said.

The tram stalled at 5:22 p.m. yesterday. Early attempts to start the backup system and manually pull the tram cars back to the island were unsuccessful, so rescuers had to resort to using a cage, or “basket” system, to collect the passengers 10 at a time and bring them safely home, police said. The process was expected to take several hours because the rescuers were taking safety precautions, police said.

As of press time last night, no passengers had been rescued.

The Roosevelt Island tram last stalled on September 2, 2005, but passengers were only marooned in midair for about an hour and a half before power was restored.

Twenty one passengers were in one car over First Avenue and another 46 were hovering over the water in a car heading toward Roosevelt Avenue.

People inside the car were in constant contact with rescuers and the press. During interviews on the 10 p.m. news on Channel 7 WABC several people phoned in to talk about their predicament. One woman said the passengers were telling jokes to calm their nerves.

The trip across the 900-foot stretch from 59th Street and Second Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue should take about five minutes. The system was first installed in 1979 and has been known to stall occasionally, but never for as long as last night.