Hello Pals,
It’s full name ‘Franklin D. Roosevelt Island’ is a bit too wordy so tends to be shortened to simply, Roosevelt. It’s held a lot of different names over the years – Minnahannock, Hog, Blackwell and Welfare. By the 1960’s the city and state saw an opportunity to redevelop the island into what it is today.
The island is a 6.5 km / 4.1 m loop, all paved taking around 1 hour and a half. This makes it a perfect half-day trip while in New York!
If you would like to know “How to spend a day on Roosevelt Island” click ‘read more’
In this article, you’ll find: (click to be taken there)
The Basics: How to get there.
Getting Around: Transport Options
My Top Choices: What you should see.
My Recommendations: Where to eat & drink, to listen to & read.
What I did: My diary entry.
Other Recommendations: Things missed.
All my posts have a key:
⏰ Opening Hours. 📍Location 🕒 Distance
💰Cost 🎫 Ticket 📝 To note. 🎒What to bring
♿ Accessibility 🌱Vegan / Veg Options. 🎧 Sensor
TO NOTE:
- Cherry Blossom season is in the Spring. They bloom for a week or two and April is the best time to see them.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park is closed on Tuesdays.
THE BASICS
Getting to Roosevelt Island.
🚆 TRAIN
💰$2.90 – OMNY Card / Contactless Card one way.
The [F] line Jamaica, Queens / Coney Island, Brooklyn stops in at Roosevelt Island Station.
** Be aware that weekends tend to have service changes where it may be running delayed services.
🚌 BUS
The Q102 bus from Queens circles Roosevelt Island.
Once on the island, you can take the Red Bus, which is free. There are multiple stops.
🚠 CABLE CAR
⏰ Sun – Thur: 6am – 2am | Fri – Sat: 6am – 3:30am
💰$2.90 – OMNY Card / Contactless Card one way.
The tramway runs every 10 – 20 minutes from 59th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan to Tramway Plaza on Roosevelt Island. There are 14,000 residents on the island, meaning you should avoid peak work hours (7am – 10am / 3pm – 8pm.)
GETTING AROUND
Getting Around:
🚌 RED BUS
⏰ Sun – Thur: 5:30 am – 2am | Fri – Sat: 5:30 am – 3:30am
💰 Free.
The Red Bus does a full circuit from the Octagon in which you can hop on and off anytime.
👟 WALK
🕒 6.5 km / 4.1 m loop = 1.5 hours.
View All Trails loop here.
Arriving to the middle of the island by Train / Cable Car, you can walk to the north and south giving you stunning views of the Manhatten skyline.
👟 BIKE
There are three Citi Bike locations on Roosevelt – Freedoms Park, The Cable Car and one at the Motorgate – which would give you access to the North.
TOP CHOICES!
Four Freedoms Park + The Room
⏰ 9am – 5pm | Closed Tuesdays.
📍South
💰 Free
📝 See upcoming events here.
♿ accessible.
———-
The park is named after the four pillars of freedom Roosevelt stated in 1941; speech and expression, worship, want and fear. Looking down, you’re met with a bronze bust of Roosevelt. The room itself is granite blocks with gaps, giving. you light coming through while standing in the space. You can view the skyline of Manhatten on one side, Queens on the other.
Smallpox Memorial Hospital
⏰ 24/7
📍South
💰 Free
♿ yes
Designed by architect James Renwick (the Smithosnian), it was America’s hospital dedicated to smallpox, later a nursing school. The gothic structure is unstable for visitors but you can walk around the site. It’s New York City’s only landmarked ruin. There’s a current plan to redevelop the structure into a memorial.
Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association (RIVAA)
⏰ Closed Mon + Tues. | Thurs, Sat, Sun: 11am – 5pm | Wed + Fri – 6pm – 9pm
📍527 Main Street, Roosevelt Island. (Middle)
💰 Free
📝 See upcoming events here.
♿ yes
“Group and solo exhibitions run continuously at both RIVAA Gallery and the Octagon Gallery throughout the year, featuring work of RIVAA members and international guest artists – painters, sculptors, photographers, computer artists, graphic designers, ceramists and installation artists”
Lighthouse Park + Roosevelt Island Lighthouse.
⏰ Closed Mon + Tues. | Thurs, Sat, Sun: 11am – 5pm | Wed + Fri – 6pm – 9pm
📍North
💰 Free
♿ The surrounds.
Designed by James Renwick, it was built in 1872 by inmates of the penitentiary. The rustic Gothic lighthouse was commissioned as part of a solution for New York City’s shipping ports. The isolation of the lighthouse works well with the city skyline.
The statue of Nellie Bly is an ode to Elizabeth Cochrane. “The Girl Puzzle honors Nellie Bly by presenting, on a monumental scale, faces of many women who have endured hardship, but are stronger for it.” You can read more about the four faces here.
MY RECOMMENDATIONS
☕ Anything At All
⏰ 8:00 – 22:00
📍 22 N Loop Rd, New York, NY 10044
🌱 non-dairy milk and vege/vegan food options avail.
Located in The Graduate Hotel lobby, you walk in and are greeted with shelves and shelves of books. While not a coffee house cafe – they do serve pretty decent coffee.
READ:
Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist by Brooke Kroeger
“A meticulously researched, consistently entertaining biography of the legendary turn-of-the-century journalist whose true adventures far outstripped the boundaries of myth. For this first full-scale treatment of Bly, former United Press International reporter Kroeger reaches through a web of half- truths (many courtesy of the subject herself) and scanty facts to uncover the complex path of “a life not so much lived as waged.’ – Kirkus Reviews
LISTEN:
Episode 198: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by American History Hit.
“The youngest President ever, Lieutenant Colonel of the Rough Rider Regiment, uncle to Eleanor Roosevelt, fifth cousin to FDR, and a keen huntsman; Theodore Roosevelt is consistently remembered as one of the United States’ top 5 Presidents. How did he reach the White House? In this first of two episodes on Theodore Roosevelt, we are looking at his rise from sickly child to tough President.’
WHAT I DID
Taking the L to the F subway, we arrived in the center of Roosevelt. Walking out of the station, we opted to go from south to north for no particular reason; we could have easily flipped a coin.
Walking along the east side, cherry blossoms were in full bloom (!!!) before getting caffeinated at Anything At All (which was a bit hard to find at first). Initially, we wanted to go to the Panorama Room, but it didn’t open until 5 PM and we didn’t think we would be here until then. Next time.
Heading for the Small Pox Museum and Four Freedoms Park, I may have ranted about how it makes no sense for a park to be closed on a Tuesday? The history of the island is pretty grim – New York simply being like “you’re poor, old, insane (language of the time), a criminal, have small pox? – off to Roosevelt island you go. Bye!!
We spent a bit of time walking around The Room (oh hi, Mark) before walking up via Strecker Labarator and Blackwell House (temporarily closed – view a blog post here) to visit the RIVAA Art Gallery. Continuing via Chapel of the Good Shepard and the Octagon until we reached the Lighthouse.
We took the cable car out of Roosevelt with Jordan only ever so slightly freaked out at the hight. You do feel a bit like a bunch of sardines in a tin tho.
We finished off our day with dinner from Hana Michi in Manhatten.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
- Panorama Room – “360° views over the Manhattan skyline, East River and the boroughs” – See ‘The Rooftop Guide’
- Blackwell House – temporarily closed. – See: The Incredible Restoration of Roosevelt Island’s Blackwell House by Untapped New York.
- GHOST TOUR: ISLAND OF LOST SOULS: MADNESS & MEDICINE ON ROOSEVELT ISLAND
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Have you been?
What did you see / eat / do?
Let me know below.
As always, stay cool.
– Sarah.
Sources + Articles.
- The Smallpox Hospital : A MEANINGFUL COVID-19 MEMORIAL
- The Washington Post: She went undercover to expose an insane asylum’s horrors. Now Nellie Bly is getting her due.
- The Marginalian: Ten Days at the Mad-House: How Nellie Bly Posed as Insane in 1887 in Her Brave Exposé of Asylum Abuse
SarahVation 