I’ve been to New York City many times before and I’m on a mission to experience new things instead of doing the same things over and over. One of the new things was Roosevelt Island which I adored.
Roosevelt Island is an island in the East River within the borough of Manhattan. It is between Manhattan Island and Long Island, about 3.2 km long and an area of 147 acres. The population is ~ 12,000. Everything is within walking distance and the island has a Red Bus which is free and stops around the island.
Roosevelt Island was initially called Minnehanonck by the Lenape people, Varken Eylandt (Hog Island) by the Dutch, then Blackwell’s Island. The Blackwell family owned the island from 1686. It was renamed Welfare Island in 1921 and changed to Roosevelt Island in 1973. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the island was used by hospitals and prisons. Today the island has residential apartment buildings along with designated landmarks. The island is accessible by numerous modes of transport, including a bridge, an aerial tram, and the city’s subway and ferry systems.
I really need my own drone! Here are some aeriel pictures I found online.
Roosevelt Island Tram
The Roosevelt Island Tram is NYC’s only cable car! The tramway crosses the East River from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island in four minutes. The views are spectacular ~ I highly recommend taking this next time you’re in the city!!
Smallpox Memorial Hospital
Opened in 1856, the 100 bed Smallpox Hospital was also called the Renwick Smallpox Hospital and later the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School. It was the first hospital in the USA to receive patients with smallpox and people with the disease were quarantined by law. The hospital closed in the late 1800s when a vaccine was created. Today, the Smallpox Hospital is an ivy-covered ruin that I found spooky!
New York City Lunatic Asylum
Opned in 1841, the New York City Lunatic Asylum was infamous for its horrific conditions, widespread mistreatment and overcrowding. It was one of the first institutions for the treatment of the mentally ill in the USA. It closed in 1894.
The five-story rotunda known as The Octagon was the main entrance to the asylum and is the only part of the original institution still standing and has been restored with new apartments built alongside it.
Blackwell Island Light
Built in 1872, the Blackwell Island Light is a 49-foot tall, gothic-style stone lighthouse that was built by inmates of the penitentiary on the island.
Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly is the coolest woman ever!! I would have been friends with her.
Nellie Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran (1864 – 1922) and was an American journalist. She is known for 2 key things:
- Her trip around the world in 72 days copying Jules Verne’s fictional character Phileas Fogg from “Around The World In 80 Days” (you all know I’m a huge Jules Verne fan and if you didn’t know now you do!)
- In 1887 she feigned insanity to get admitted to the New York City Lunatic Asylum and later writing a book “Ten Days in a Mad-House”
Her first published article in 1885 was called “The Girl Puzzle”. In 2021, The Girl Puzzle Monument opened in Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island honouring Bly and it consists of 5 bronze sculptures, 3 stainless steel spheres, a walkway and plaza with plaques offering audio links for descriptions of each sculpture.
Cornell Tech University Campus
Cornell Tech is a graduate campus and research center of Cornell University on Roosevelt Island.
Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is a four-acre memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt that celebrates the Four Freedoms he articulated in his 1941 State of the Union address. He described his vision for a world founded on four essential human freedoms ~ freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
Unfortunately it is closed on Tuesdays and well … I was there on a Tuesday.
Here is what I missed:
Here is what I saw:
There is a really nice memorial to FDR.
Out & About on Roosevelt Island
Pictures from my walk around the island!
Happy Travels!
More New York Adventures
A Journey Off The Beaten Path
Jackie is “Mom” to one amazing son, an IT professional and an obsessed traveller. She spends her time reading, golfing at Ladies League and implementing software projects. Jackie has travelled to 7 continents, 5 oceans and 103 countries and she is always planning the next destination and adventure!