Roosevelt Island#Media

Roosevelt Island is located in the middle of the East River, between Manhattan Island to the west and Queens to the east.{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |date=October 4, 2017 |title=Roosevelt Island: Part of Manhattan, but Apart from It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/realestate/living-on-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The island's southern tip faces 47th Street on Manhattan Island, while its northern tip faces 86th Street on Manhattan Island. It is about {{convert|2|mi|km}} long,{{efn|A 1989 study gave a length of {{convert|1.97|mi}}.}} with a maximum width of {{convert|800|ft}}.{{cite web |last=Picht |first=Jennifer |date=June 23, 2016 |title=Guide to Roosevelt Island, NYC, including parks and attractions |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/manhattan/roosevelt-island-nyc |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Time Out New York}}{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=641}} The island was {{convert|107|acre}} prior to the 18th century but has been expanded to {{convert|147|acre|km2}}. Administratively, it is part of the New York City borough of Manhattan.{{cite web |date=January 25, 1979 |title=Roosevelt Island: Town Within a City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/25/archives/roosevelt-island-is-a-paradise-to-some-a-prison-to-others-the-talk.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Together with Mill Rock, Roosevelt Island constitutes Manhattan's Census Tract 238, which has a land area of {{convert|0.279|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/ |title=U.S. Census website |publisher=United States Census Bureau |website=census.gov |access-date=April 12, 2020 }}

The island is one of the southernmost locations in New York City where Fordham gneiss, a type of bedrock commonly found beneath the South Bronx,{{harvnb|ps=.|AKRF Inc.|2012|page=4}} can be seen above ground.{{harvnb|Barlow|1971|ps=.|page=123}} The gneiss outcropping was surrounded by dolomite, which was worn down by East River currents, creating the current island.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=4}} The layer of bedrock is shallow and is covered by glacial till, and a 2012 study found no evidence of ponds or streams on the island.{{harvnb|ps=.|AKRF Inc.|2012|page=5}} Since the 19th century, the island's natural topography has been modified drastically, and fill has been added to Roosevelt Island to increase its area.{{harvnb|ps=.|AKRF Inc.|2012|pages=4–5}} An ancient fault line, known as Cameron's Line, runs within the East River between Roosevelt Island and Queens.{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Walter |title=New Seismic Studies in City Increase Concern |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 5, 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/05/nyregion/new-seismic-studies-in-city-increase-concern.html |access-date=March 22, 2024}}

Roosevelt Island's street layout is based on a master plan designed in 1969 by the architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Main Street runs the length of the island, splitting into a loop around Southtown; it was the island's only road until 1989. The street is paved in red brick.{{Cite news |last=Zengota |first=Eric |date=July 22, 2005 |title=The oasis in the East River; Roosevelt Island: an in-city getaway |work=The Record |page=G30 |id={{ProQuest|425932028}}}} Main Street, along with the island's parks, was intended to be a communal area for the island's various ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes. The island's residences and businesses are largely clustered around Main Street. Roosevelt Island is surrounded by a seawall of Fordham gneiss, quarried from the island itself.

According to archaeological digs, the area around Roosevelt Island was settled by Paleo-Indians up to 12,000 years ago.{{harvnb|ps=.|AKRF Inc.|2012|page=7}} In particular, the area was the homeland of the Mareckawick, a group of Lenape Native Americans,{{harvnb|ps=.|John Milner Associates Inc.|2007|page=5}} who called it {{lang|umu|Minnehanonck}}. The name is variously translated as "long island" or "It's nice to be on the island". The historian Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes claimed that the {{lang|umu|Minnehanonck}} name referred to Randalls Island, but this claim has not been corroborated.

The Lenape may have visited the island. Archeological studies have found shell middens just opposite the island, along both the Queens and Manhattan shores, and the Lenape are known to have had settlements around waterways.{{harvnb|ps=.|Louis Berger & Associates Inc.|1998|pages=2–3}} However, the island likely did not have any Lenape settlements because of the lack of freshwater.{{harvnb|ps=.|Louis Berger & Associates Inc.|1998|page=2}} There is little evidence of Native American activities on the island from before the Archaic period (which ended around 1000 BCE).{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=5}}{{harvnb|ps=.|AKRF Inc.|2012|page=10}}

There are disputes over who owned the island after the European colonization of New Netherland in the 17th century.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=6}} According to several sources, Dutch Governor Wouter van Twiller was said to have purchased the island from the Lenape in 1637.{{harvnb|Barlow|1971|ps=.|page=127}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.nyc24.org/2003/islands/zone4/roosevelthistory.html |title=The Rise of a Healthy Community |first=Gabriel |last=Rodriguez-Nava |year=2003 |publisher=Columbia University School of Journalism |journal=NYC24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801130014/http://www.nyc24.org/2003/islands/zone4/roosevelthistory.html |archive-date=August 1, 2009 |postscript=none}}; {{cite gotham|page=29}} A study from 1988 found that Van Twiller's deed referred to what is now Randalls and Wards Islands further north, but a subsequent study said that Van Twiller acquired Randalls, Wards, Roosevelt, and Governors islands simultaneously.{{harvnb|ps=.|Louis Berger & Associates Inc.|1998|page=4}} In any case, Roosevelt Island was known in early modern Dutch as Varcken[s],{{Cite news |last=Hanson |first=Kitty |date=October 24, 1967 |title=Welfare Island Seeks New Life and New Name |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-welfare-island-seeks-new-life/143611517/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=192}} Varken,{{cite news |last=Pollak |first=Michael |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Name that Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/before-it-was-called-roosevelt-island.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711024450/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/before-it-was-called-roosevelt-island.html |archive-date=July 11, 2017 |access-date=December 16, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} or Verckens Eylandt, all of which are translated in modern English as Hog Island ({{lang|nl|Varkens eiland}}).{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Frank N. |date=June 11, 1966 |title=Topics: A Backward Glance at Welfare Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/06/11/archives/topics-a-backward-glance-at-welfare-island.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}{{Efn|name=varken-eiland}}

By 1639, Jan Claessen Alteras was known to have farmed Hog Island.{{cite book | title=The iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909 : compiled from original sources and illustrated by photo-intaglio reproductions of important maps, plans, views, and documents in public and private collections |last= Stokes |first=Isaac Newton Phelps), 1867–1944 |via=Internet Archive |volume=2 |date=1915 | url=https://archive.org/details/iconographyofma_02stok/page/206/mode/2up | access-date=April 7, 2024 |page=207}} Reports indicate that Alteras had made improvements to the island by 1642, though the nature of the work is not known.{{harvnb|ps=.|John Milner Associates Inc.|2007|page=6}} New Netherland director-general Peter Stuyvesant took over the island in 1642. The following year, it was leased to Francois Fyn. Fyn, in turn, leased the island to Laurens Duyts, who developed further structures on the island. Duyts defaulted on his lease in 1658 and was deported for "gross immoralities", and Fyn's lawyer took back the island.

After the Dutch surrendered to the British in 1664, a British military captain named John Manning acquired the island in 1668.{{Efn|Another source gives 1666 as the year of Manning's takeover.}} In 1673, Manning surrendered to Dutch forces who had wanted to retake New Netherland; as punishment, he had to live on the island in exile.{{harvnb|Barlow|1971|ps=.|pages=127–129}} After Manning's banishment, the isle became known as Manning's Island.{{Cite magazine |last=The New Yorker |first= |date=January 13, 1928 |title="Captain Manning's Island" |language=en-US |pages=13 |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1928/01/21/captain-mannings-island |access-date=December 7, 2023 |issn=0028-792X }}{{Cite news |date=July 27, 1908 |title=Origin of the Name Blackwell's Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-origin-of-the-name-blackwell/144742953/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=8}} Manning had a mansion near the island's southern tip, where he served rum punch to visitors.{{harvnb|Barlow|1971|ps=.|page=129}} The island was then conveyed to Manning's stepdaughter Mary in 1676 or 1685.{{harvnb|ps=.|John Milner Associates Inc.|2007|page=7}} Mary was married to Robert Blackwell,{{Cite news |last=Conn |first=Stephen R. |date=April 23, 1989 |title=Roosevelt Island: A Tram Ride, A World Apart |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1989/04/23/roosevelt-island-a-tram-ride-a-world-apart/9888641c-deea-4e25-b56e-cb040d1648f3/ |access-date=November 18, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |page=E1 |id={{ProQuest|140041265}}}} who became the island's new owner and namesake.{{cite web |url=http://nyc10044.com/timeln/timeline.html |title=Timeline of Island History |work=The Main Street Wire |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901184604/http://nyc10044.com/timeln/timeline.html |archive-date=September 1, 2010}} The Brooklyn Times-Union wrote that the island had gained the Blackwell name "by a mere chance, or the result of a marriage".

The Blackwell family settled the island over four generations. At the beginning of the 18th century, Blackwell built his farmhouse, the Blackwell House, on the island. Blackwell's Island was not a major battleground in the American Revolutionary War, though British troops tried to take the island after the 1776 Battle of Long Island. The British briefly seized control on September 2–4, 1776, after which the American troops took over. A British prison inspector proposed using the island as a prison in the early 1780s, but it is not known whether this happened.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|pages=6–7}} Blackwell's sons took over the island in 1780 and tried to sell it, at which point Blackwell's Island had several buildings and was several miles removed from New York City.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=7}}{{harvnb|Barlow|1971|ps=.|pages=129–130}} By the mid-1780s, the island included two houses, orchards, a cider mill, and other farm structures. Contemporary sources do not mention any structures on the northern half of the island. A public auction was held in 1785, but no one bought the island. In 1796, Blackwell's great-grandson Jacob Blackwell constructed the Blackwell House, one of Manhattan's oldest houses. James L. Bell paid the Blackwells $30,000 for the island in 1823, but Blackwell took back control two years later, upon Bell's death.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|pages=7–8}} One source indicated that Bell never fulfilled the terms of the sale.

File:Blackwell's Island prison.jpg

By 1826, the city almshouse at Bellevue Hospital was overcrowded, prompting city officials to consider moving that facility to Blackwell's Island. The city government purchased the island for $32,000 ({{Inflation |US|32000|1828|fmt=eq}}){{cite magazine |date=November 21, 1994 |title=Et Cetera |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA131 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |magazine=New York Magazine |publisher=New York Media, LLC |page=131 |language=en |issn=0028-7369}} on July 19, 1828.{{harvnb|ps=.|John Milner Associates Inc.|2007|page=8}} Ownership of the island remained unresolved for another 16 years while Bell's widow sued the city.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=8}} Through the 19th century, the island housed several hospitals and a prison. At one point there were 26 institutions on the island.

The city government erected a penitentiary on the island, which opened August 3, 1830. There were proposals to construct a canal to split male and female prisoners; though the canal was not built, an unknown architect did build a separate building for female prisoners.{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=February 9, 2012 |title=Streetscapes-The Penitentiary on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/realestate/streetscapes-the-penitentiary-on-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The island's prison population already numbered in the hundreds by 1838, whereas there were only 24 staff members (including those not assigned to guard duties). By 1839, the New York City Lunatic Asylum opened, including the Octagon Tower.{{cite book |last1=Brockmann |first1=Jorg |last2=Harris |first2=Bill |title=One Thousand New York Buildings |year=2002 |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal |location=New York |isbn=978-1-57912-237-9 |page=268}} The asylum, with two wings made of locally quarried Fordham gneiss,{{harvnb|Horn|2018|ps=.|p=6}}{{Cite magazine |title=The Lunatic Asylum, at Blackwell's Island. |magazine=Gleason's Pictorial Drawing – Room Companion |volume=4 |issue=8 |date=February 19, 1853 |page=113 |id={{ProQuest|124063735}}}} at one point held 1,700 inmates, twice its designed capacity. Prisoners frequently tried to swim away from the island. Almshouses, or housing for the poor, were constructed in 1847. Other hospitals were soon developed on the island, including a 600-bed prison hospital that was finished in 1849. Thomas Story Kirkbride, who oversaw some of the island's hospitals, described the island as having fallen into "degradation and neglect" by 1848.{{cite web |last=McGrath |first=Patrick |title=A Dumping Ground for the Poor, the Criminal and the Mad |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 28, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/books/review/damnation-island-stacy-horn.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}}

A workhouse was built on the island in 1852, followed by the Smallpox Hospital in 1856. The Asylum burned down in 1858 and was rebuilt on the same site, and the prison hospital was destroyed in the same fire. Two pipes provided fresh water from the Croton Aqueduct to the island by 1860, and maps indicate that Blackwell's Island had two reservoirs as well.{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=11}} The prison hospital was replaced with City Hospital (later known as Charity Hospital), which was completed in 1861 and served both prisoners and New York City's poorer population. A "hospital for incurables" followed in 1866.

Prisoners built the Blackwell Island Light on the island's northern tip in 1872.{{cite web |title=Blackwell's Island (Roosevelt Island), New York City (U.S. National Park Service) |website=NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service) |date=March 16, 1972 |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/blackwell-s-island-new-york-city.htm |access-date=March 28, 2024}} In 1877, the hospital opened a School of Nursing, the fourth such training institution in the nation.{{Cite news |url=http://womenatthecenter.nyhistory.org/new-york-city-nurses/ |title=Finding Women in the Archives: Student Nurses |date=January 9, 2018 |work=Women at the Center |publisher=New-York Historical Society |access-date=July 31, 2018 |language=en-US }}

File:Blackwells Island, East River. From Eighty Sixth Street, New York (NYPL Hades-1803582-1659256).tiff

Late-19th-century editions of the Appleton's Dictionary of New York described Blackwell's Island's penitentiary as having a "feudal character".{{cite web |date=1879 |title=Appleton's dictionary of New York and its vicinity |url=https://archive.org/details/appletonsdiction5188unse/page/30/mode/2up |access-date=March 27, 2024 |publisher=D. Appleton & Co. |pages=31–32 |via=Internet Archive |volume=5}} Conditions in some of the hospitals declined significantly enough that the island as a whole gained a poor reputation. The women's hospital on the island was completed in 1881. Inmates from the Smallpox Hospital were moved to North Brother Island in 1885, and the Smallpox Hospital building became a nurses' training school and dormitory. In addition, a male nurse's training school opened in 1887 and operated for 16 years.{{harvnb|ps=.|Louis Berger & Associates Inc.|1998|pages=5–7}} The Chapel of the Good Shepherd opened on the island in 1889.

The Strecker Memorial Laboratory was constructed in 1892 for the City Hospital.{{harvnb|ps=.|John Milner Associates Inc.|2007|page=9}} The next year, the city began sending typhus patients to the island.{{cite web | title=To Care for Typhus Patients; Blackwell's Island Maternity Hospitals Will Be Used. | website=The New York Times | date=February 2, 1893 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/02/02/archives/to-care-for-typhus-patients-blackwells-island-maternity-hospitals.html | access-date=April 18, 2024}} During the decade, city officials found the almshouse and City Hospital dilapidated and overcrowded,{{cite web | title=City's Hapless Wards; Money Needed that There be Decent Charity Administered | website=The New York Times | date=November 10, 1895 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/11/10/archives/citys-hapless-wards-money-needed-that-there-be-decent-charity.html | access-date=April 18, 2024}} and a grand jury declared the women's asylum a "disgrace" to New York City.{{cite web | title=Is a Disgrace to the City; So Declares the Grand Jury of the Blackwell's Island Asylum for Female Lunatics. | website=The New York Times | date=June 2, 1893 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/06/02/archives/is-a-disgrace-to-the-city-so-declares-the-grand-jury-of-the.html | access-date=April 18, 2024}} The asylum's inmates were transferred to Wards Island in the mid-1890s, and Wards Island's Homeopathic Hospital relocated to Blackwell's Island, becoming the Metropolitan Hospital.{{cite book |last=Haller |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4trFN_jCvNMC&pg=PA134 |title=The History of American Homeopathy: The Academic Years, 1820–1935 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7890-2660-6 |series=Pharmaceutical Products Press Pharmaceutical Heritage |page=134}} A proposal to build a power plant on the island in 1895 was unsuccessful,{{harvnb|Horn|2018|ps=.|page=257}} and the city began planning to expand the island's prisons the next year.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|574226923}} |title=To Enlarge City Prisons: Plans for Additions to the Tombs and the Blackwell's Island Penitentiary |date= October 28, 1896 |page= 1 |work=New-York Tribune|issn=1941-0646|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news|date=October 25, 1896|title=Mayor William L. Strong|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-mayor-william-l-stro/145608856/|access-date=April 18, 2024|work=The New York Times|pages=10}} Work began on new structures for the City Hospital and the almshouse in early 1897,{{cite web |date=February 15, 1897 |title=Improvements for Charities; Work on New Buildings on Blackwell's Island Begins To-day. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/02/15/archives/improvements-for-charities-work-on-new-buildings-on-blackwells.html |access-date=April 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times|postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|574296265}} |title=For the City's Wards: Improvements Planned by the Commissioners of Charities |date= April 18, 1897 |page= 8 |work=New-York Tribune|issn=1941-0646}} and eleven new almshouse buildings opened that October.{{cite web |date=October 29, 1897 |title=New Almshouse Buildings; Opened on Blackwell's Island by the Mayor and Commissioners of Charity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/10/29/archives/new-almshouse-buildings-opened-on-blackwells-island-by-the-mayor.html |access-date=April 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 29, 1897 |title=Comforts for Paupers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-world-comforts-for-paupers/145599467/ |access-date=April 18, 2024 |work=The World |pages=9}} There were also plans to add eight pavilions to the island's infants' hospital.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|574337124}} |title=Blackwell's Island Improvements |date= August 19, 1897 |page= 4 |work=New-York Tribune|issn=1941-0646}} The prison's hospital burned down in 1899.{{cite web | title=Blackwell's Island Fire; Prison Hospital, Erected in 1828, Completely Destroyed | website=The New York Times | date=April 21, 1899 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/04/21/archives/blackwells-island-fire-prison-hospital-erected-in-1828-completely.html | access-date=April 18, 2024|postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|574594467}} |title=Patients Saved From Fire: Brave Conduct of Convicts on Blackwell's Island |date= April 21, 1899 |page= 14 |work=New-York Tribune|issn=1941-0646}} At the end of the century, the island housed 7,000 people across seven institutions.

File:Panorama of Blackwell's Island, N.Y. (1903).webm]]

By the 20th century, Blackwell's Island had received the nickname of "Farewell Island" because of its connotations with fear and despair,{{Cite news |last=Hanson |first=Kitty |date=October 23, 1967 |title=Welfare Island: Stepchild With Sordid Past |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-welfare-island-stepchild-wit/143612369/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=413}} and it was also known as simply "The Island".{{Cite news |title=From Blackwell's Island, Where Abe Hummel is Confined, It is Almost Impossible for a Prisoner to Escape: at One Time During Early Years Criminals Were Treated So Inhumanly as to Make the Place a Horror—tales of Attempts to Break Away. |work=Detroit Free Press |date=June 9, 1907 |page=6 |id={{ProQuest|563947513}}}} At the time, the island contained a poorhouse, the city jail, and several hospitals. The United States Department of the Navy proposed a drill ground and training facility at Blackwell's Island's northern end in 1901,{{cite web |title=The Navy is After Blackwell's Island; Secretary Long's Suggestion for a Park and Parade Ground. Capt. Taylor and Chaplain Chidwick Lay the Proposition Before Mayor Van Wyck. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 26, 1901 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/01/26/archives/the-navy-is-after-blackwells-island-secretary-longs-suggestion-for.html |access-date=April 3, 2024}} although city officials opposed it.{{cite web |title=Opposed to Navy Plan; City Officials Do Not Want a Drill Ground on Blackwell's Island. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 27, 1901 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/01/27/archives/opposed-to-navy-plan-city-officials-do-not-want-a-drill-ground-on.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|570899212}} |title=Would Use It as a Hospital: Controller Opposed to Suggestion to Turn Blackwell's Island Over to Navy Department |date=January 27, 1901 |page=6 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} The following year, there was a proposal to turn the island over to the federal government{{cite web |title=Would Sell Blackwell's Island for Navy Yard; Plan Approved by City Authorities Provides for Public Park Maintained by Federal Government. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 12, 1902 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/03/12/archives/would-sell-blackwells-island-for-navy-yard-plan-approved-by-city.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=March 12, 1902 |title=Cantor Defends His Action in Matter of Proposed Blackwells Island Change |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-cantor-defends-his-ac/144712588/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Standard Union |pages=12}} and raze many of the existing structures;{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1902 |title=Blackwell's Island Plan Will Cost City $10,000,000 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-blackwells-isl/144712262/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=20}} the city's controller was also against this plan.{{cite web |title=Blackwell's Island Bill; Controller Grout and President Cantor Disagree About It. The Controller Urges Amendment Designed to Insure a Big Price – Federal Government's Plan for Naval Station. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 14, 1902 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/03/14/archives/blackwells-island-bill-controller-grout-and-president-cantor.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|571176679}} |title=Grout Opposes Cantor: Controversy Over the Blackwell's Island Park Bill |date=March 14, 1902 |page=6 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} Other proposals for the island in the first decade of the 20th century included new tuberculosis (consumptive) hospitals,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|571046262}} |title=Consumptive Home Plan: Commissioner Folks Would Use Blackwell's Island |date=January 19, 1902 |page=7 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=February 9, 1902 |title=For the City's Consumptive Poor |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-for-the-citys-consum/144713714/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Standard Union |pages=3}} additional almshouses,{{Cite news |date=September 18, 1902 |title=Mayor Low Discusses City's Charity System |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-mayor-low-discusses/144713560/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |pages=3}} an electric power plant,{{cite web |title=City Lighting Plant Bill; Proposal to Locate the Power House on Blackwell's Island Will Be Opposed at Albany. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 18, 1903 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/03/18/archives/city-lighting-plant-bill-proposal-to-locate-the-power-house-on.html |access-date=April 3, 2024}} and general hospitals.{{cite web |title=Need More Hospitals Investigators Say; State Charities Aid Committee Would Establish Emergency Wards at Once |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 28, 1908 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/06/28/archives/need-more-hospitals-investigators-say-state-charities-aid-committee.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}} A tuberculosis ward at Metropolitan Hospital opened on the island in 1902,{{Cite news |date=February 1, 1902 |title=To Isolate Consumptives |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-to-isolate-consumptives/144714370/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |pages=7 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=February 1, 1902 |title=Consumptives Isolated |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-commercial-consumptives-isol/144714416/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Buffalo Commercial |pages=1}} followed by an expanded nurses' school the next year.{{cite web |title=Nurses' School Opened; Ceremonies at the New Buildings on Blackwell's Island. Houses Named After Women Who Have Been Active in Encouraging the Work – Letter from President Roosevelt. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 3, 1903 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/12/03/archives/nurses-school-opened-ceremonies-at-the-new-buildings-on-blackwells.html |access-date=April 3, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=December 2, 1903 |title=Nurses' Training School Opens New Buildings |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-nurses-training-scho/144714558/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=The Standard Union |pages=2}} By the mid-1900s, the Louisville Courier-Journal called the island "the world's best guarded prison",{{Cite news |title=Blackwell's Island the World's Best Guarded Prison: Whirlpool Currents Drown Prisoners Who Try To Escape |work=Courier-Journal |date=December 18, 1904 |page=D2 |id={{ProQuest|1012387435}}}} and the New-York Tribune described the island as unsanitary.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|571781871}} |title=Health Protective at Work: Finds Sanitary Conditions on Blackwell's Island Bad |date=December 6, 1905 |page=4 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} The city's controller recommended the construction of a new hospital to alleviate the poor conditions.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|572086457}} |title=Metz Visits Blackwell's Island |date=April 1, 1908 |page=4 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}

A proposal to convert the island into a park resurfaced in 1907. By the end of the decade, thousands of elderly residents voluntarily traveled to the island for "vacations" every year.{{Cite news |title=Vacation: for the Homeless of Greater New York Women in Hard Luck Seek Blackwell's Island Curious Summer Resort for Poor of Metropolis Pennies to Buy "Luxuries." |work=Courier-Journal |date=August 21, 1908 |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|1035302457}}}} The island's prisoners manufactured goods for the city, such as beds, brushes, and clothes,{{cite web |title=Blackwell's Island Prisoners Save City $150,000 a Year; Over $20,000 Will Be Saved This Year on Street Cleaning Brooms Manufactured by Them – Varied Trades at Which Prisoners Work. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 15, 1911 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/10/15/archives/blackwells-island-prisoners-save-city-150000-a-year-over-20000-will.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}} and the Russell Sage Foundation set up a short-lived pathology institute on the island in 1907.{{cite web |title=Threatens to Oust the Sage Institute; Charities Commissioner Drummond Says Its Directors Have Evaded the City's Control. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 5, 1911 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/01/05/archives/threatens-to-oust-the-sage-institute-charities-commissioner.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}} The Queensboro Bridge, crossing Blackwell's Island, opened in 1909,{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=November 24, 2002 |title=Streetscapes/The Queensboro Bridge; Spanning the East River, With a Sense of Drama |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/24/realestate/streetscapes-the-queensboro-bridge-spanning-the-east-river-with-a-sense-of-drama.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} but it did not provide direct access to the island until the late 1910s. In addition, in the early 1910s, several buildings were added at the island's City and Metropolitan hospitals,{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1909 |title=Great City's Charities Tell Wonderful Story |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-great-citys-charit/144745209/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |pages=22}} and a Catholic chapel was developed on the island.{{Cite news |date=November 28, 1910 |title=To a Friend of City's Poor |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-to-a-friend-of-citys/144744647/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=11 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=November 28, 1910 |title=Memorial for Priest |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-memorial-for-priest/144744579/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=New-York Tribune |pages=7}} City corrections commissioner Katharine Davis announced plans to construct a prison hospital on the island in 1915; there was very little vacant land on the island by then.{{cite web |title=Dr. Davis Picks Site of Prison Hospital; Selects Also a Place for New "Disciplinary" Quarters on Blackwell's Island. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 3, 1914 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/04/03/archives/dr-davis-picks-site-of-prison-hospital-selects-also-a-place-for-new.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}}

By the 1910s, twenty-five thousand prisoners passed through the island's jail annually,{{cite web |title=Urging Colony Plan to Cure New York's Inebriates; Former Judge Julius M. Mayer and B.B. Burritt Favor a Project Tried with Success in Other States. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 27, 1910 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/11/27/archives/urging-colony-plan-to-cure-new-yorks-inebriates-former-judge-julius.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}} and Mayor William Jay Gaynor proposed shutting the jail.{{Cite news |date=September 6, 1911 |title=Text of New Charter Proposed for N. Y. City |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-text-of-new-charter-proposed/144746972/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=6}} There were also proposals to move the penitentiary to Hart Island, freeing up Blackwell's Island for hospitals and charitable institutions.{{cite web |title=Better Prisons for City Urged; State Commission Points Out Evils of Overcrowding and Presents Building Programme |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 6, 1914 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/09/06/archives/better-prisons-for-city-urged-state-commission-points-out-evils-of.html |access-date=April 4, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=November 6, 1914 |title=Outlines Plan for Wage to Prisoners |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-outlines-plan-f/144750980/ |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=16}} The city's deputy correction correctioner called the island's penitentiary "unfit for pigs" in a 1914 report criticizing the unsanitary and overcrowded conditions,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|556081726}} |title=Vile Conditions on Blackwell's Island: Cells for Insane Prisoners Unfit for Pigs |date=March 27, 1914 |page=19 |work=The Hartford Courant |issn=1047-4153 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Blackwell's Island a Prison Terrible; Treatment of Convicts There Is Vile and Inhuman, Commissioner Davis Reports. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 27, 1914 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/03/27/archives/blackwells-island-a-prison-terrible-treatment-of-convicts-there-is.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}} and a grand jury investigation the same year found that the jail was severely mismanaged.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|556053346}} |title=Prisoners Ill-treated on Blackwell's Island: Indictments Expected to Follow Secret Inquiry |date=December 16, 1913 |page=1 |work=The Hartford Courant |issn=1047-4153 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Investigates Penitentiary; Whitman Looking Into Charges of Cruelty on Blackwell's Island. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 16, 1913 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/12/16/archives/investigates-penitentiary-whitman-looking-into-charges-of-cruelty.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}} Blackwell's Island Penitentiary was negatively affecting the reputation of the island's other facilities, to the point where a renaming of the island was under discussion.{{cite web |last=Berdy |first=Judith |date=June 13, 2015 |title=The Rocky History of Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/hillary-clinton-roosevelt-island-history-118970/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=POLITICO Magazine}} The women's penitentiary underwent reforms during the mid-1910s,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|575556509}} |title=Women on Island See Better Days: Reforms Change Inmates From Sullen Mob to Friendly Family |date=April 17, 1916 |page=5 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} and some prisoners were sent off the island to other jails.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|575616398}} |title=Shift Under Way at Blackwell's: Twenty Prisoners Transferred Under New System to City Farm |date=September 19, 1916 |page=7 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} Bird S. Coler ordered that the island's buildings be refurbished after he became the city's public welfare commissioner in 1918.{{Cite news |date=January 28, 1923 |title=Welfare Island Improvements |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-welfare-island/126506407/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=25}}

In 1921, the city began using Blackwell's Penitentiary to detain women who were awaiting trial.{{cite web |date=July 2, 1921 |title=Jail for Women Prisoners; Mayor Hylan Forbids New Order to Send Them to Blackwell's Island. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/07/02/archives/jail-for-women-prisoners-mayor-hylan-forbids-new-order-to-send-them.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=July 2, 1921 |title=Hylan Forced To Give Women Prisoners Aid |work=New-York Tribune |page=1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|576434547}}}} The island's prison hospital was severely understaffed, and the prison was described as "a disgrace to the City of New York".{{cite web |title=Prison Hospital Seen as Pest House; Commissioners Say Diseased, Criminal and Voluntary Patients Mingle in Blackwell Cells |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 19, 1921 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/01/19/archives/prison-hospital-seen-as-pest-house-commissioners-say-diseased.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}} That April, the New York City Board of Aldermen renamed Blackwell's Island to Welfare Island.{{cite web |title=Want Black Well's Island Name Back; Historians Resent Change by Mayor and Aldermen to Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 1, 1921 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/05/01/archives/want-black-wells-island-name-back-historians-resent-change-by-mayor.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}}{{Cite news |date=April 19, 1921 |title=Question Renaming Blackwells Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-question-renaming-bla/144304177/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=The Standard Union |pages=8 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=April 19, 1921 |title=Blackwell's Is Name of Horror |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-blackwells-is-name/144304259/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |pages=5}} The aldermen hoped the new name would improve the island's reputation, though the United States Board on Geographic Names did not recognize the name change for four decades.{{Cite news |date=January 3, 1965 |title=Blackwell's Island Renamed Welfare |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/01/03/archives/blackwells-island-renamed-welfare.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=January 3, 1965 |title=It's Welfare Island Again |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-its-welfare-island-again/143609580/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=46}} The state's prison commission recommended converting the island to a park in 1924,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1221769286}} |title=Site for an Art Center: Welfare Island Suggested as a Suitable Location for Civic Museums and Monuments |date=January 6, 1924 |page=A5 |first=H. O. |last=Milliken |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Plan to Make a Park of Welfare Island; Suggestion in Albany to Abandon Penitentiary and Make a Playground There. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 11, 1924 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/01/11/archives/plan-to-make-a-park-of-welfare-island-suggestion-in-albany-to.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}} and the city began planning to move Welfare Island's inmates to a new jail complex on Rikers Island further north.{{cite web |title=Island Playground Favored by Walker; But Sees Many Obstacles to Plan to Transform Welfare Area, He Says After Tour |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 18, 1926 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/09/18/archives/island-playground-favored-by-walker-but-sees-many-obstacles-to-plan.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1112616271}} |title=Mayor Considers Penitentiary on Riker's Island |date=September 18, 1926 |page=28 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} By then, the Welfare Island penitentiary lacked plumbing, had rat infestations, and was susceptible to fire.{{cite web |title=New Corrective Colony Projected by the City; Estimate Board Working Out Plans for Abandoning Penitentiary of Blackwell's Island and Making a Self-Supporting Institution on Riker's Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 24, 1925 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/05/24/archives/new-corrective-colony-projected-by-the-city-estimate-board-working.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}} The prison's hospital was so overcrowded that ill inmates had to be treated in their cells.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1112658277}} |title=Welfare Island Fire Peril Hit By Prison Board |date=December 1, 1926 |page=5 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} Prison staff were poorly compensated, and the prison received little to no maintenance.{{cite web |title=Welfare Island Hit by State Commission; Conditions at Old Penitentiary Condemned in Report, Which Criticizes the City. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 4, 1927 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/12/04/archives/welfare-island-hit-by-state-commission-conditions-at-old.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1132218837}} |title=Welfare Island Scored in State Board's Report: Commission of Correction Assails Lack of Keepers, Poor Pay, Bad Ventilation; Makes Recommendations |date=December 4, 1927 |page=10 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}

A chapel was dedicated on the island in 1925,{{cite web |date=June 5, 1925 |title=Chapel is Consecrated; Bishop Manning Presides at Ceremonies on Welfare Island. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/06/05/archives/chapel-is-consecrated-bishop-manning-presides-at-ceremonies-on.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=June 5, 1925 |title=Manning Blesses Welfare Island Hospital Chapel |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=17 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112918191}}}} followed by a synagogue in 1926.{{cite web |date=December 13, 1926 |title=Synagogue for the City; Mayor Accepts New Building for Jewish Inmates on Welfare Island. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/13/archives/synagogue-for-the-city-mayor-accepts-new-building-for-jewish.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=December 13, 1926 |title=Walker at Dedication Riles: Mayor Lauds New Synagogue on Welfare Island Site |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=12 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112666664}}}} The city government also expanded the island's Cancer Institute in the 1920s.{{cite news |date=May 21, 1925 |title=Cancer Institute Begun: City Lays Cornerstone on Welfare Island |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=15 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112960743}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=May 24, 1925 |title=Cancer Institute Gets New Pavilion; Cornerstone Laid on Welfare Island by Commissioner Coler and City Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/05/24/archives/cancer-institute-gets-new-pavilion-cornerstone-laid-on-welfare.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The State Department of Correction described the island in the early 1930s as "absolutely unsuitable for the purpose for which it is now used".{{cite news |date=October 29, 1931 |title=Welfare Island Hospital Called Too Old to Use: Report to Albany Also Condemns Continuation of Riker's Island Dumping |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=36 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114261489}}}} The Board of Estimate rezoned the island in 1933 to allow redevelopment.{{cite web |date=May 20, 1933 |title=Welfare Island Rezoned; Loses Residential Classification and Becomes Unrestricted Area. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/05/20/archives/welfare-island-rezoned-loses-residential-classification-and-becomes.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} At the time, officials were planning a children's hospital and nurses' dormitory on the island.{{cite news |date=January 5, 1932 |title=Children's Hospital for Welfare Island: $870,000 Nine-story Structure Will Be Added to East River Institutional Group |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=47 |id={{ProQuest|99743480}}}} Municipal prison commissioner Austin MacCormick reformed the island's prison in 1934 following a series of uprisings.{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Lamoyne |date=April 29, 1934 |title=Welfare Island's Whole System Modernized and Reformed as Sequel to Raid by MacCormick |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=A4 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114818008}}}} By then, the old almshouse (the City Home) was so overcrowded that patients were being housed in abandoned portions of the Lunatic Asylum.{{harvnb|Horn|2018|ps=.|loc=Epilogue}} Welfare Island's jail was scheduled to be relocated, and city parks commissioner Robert Moses proposed converting the jail site to a public park.{{cite web |date=October 1, 1934 |title=Huge Sports Field to Replace Prison; Moses Announces Plan to Use 35 Acres on Welfare Island for 'Intensive Play' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/10/01/archives/huge-sports-field-to-replace-prison-moses-announces-plan-to-use-35.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=October 1, 1934 |title=Moses Speeds Welfare Island Park Project |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=7 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1242997122}}}} A city committee instead recommended a plan by city hospital commissioner S. S. Goldwater, who proposed expanding the island's hospital facilities.{{cite web |date=March 4, 1935 |title=Goldwater's Plan for Island Upheld; City Planning Committee Will Declare Against Moses in Report to Mayor Today |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/03/04/archives/goldwaters-plan-for-island-upheld-city-planning-committee-will.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=March 4, 1935 |title=Report Backs Welfare Island Hospitals Plan: Mayor's Committee Asks All of Land Be Used for Care of Indigent Sick |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=12 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1243097382}}}}

After the Rikers Island jail complex opened,{{harvnb|ps=.|Seitz|Miller|2011|page=203}}{{cite book |last=Phelps |first=S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izwvAQAAIAAJ |title=World of Criminal Justice |publisher=Gale Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7876-5072-8 |page=634 |issue=v. 2}} workers demolished the Welfare Island jail,{{cite news |date=December 25, 1935 |title=New York's Island 'Pen' Is Passing: Health Center Will Replace Century-Old Forbidding Penitentiary in East River |work=The Hartford Courant |page=27 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|558664374}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 21, 1935 |title=Prison Demolition Starts Next Week; Welfare Island Penitentiary to Make Way for a Health Center for Chronic Sick |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/12/21/archives/prison-demolition-starts-next-week-welfare-island-penitentiary-to.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and all inmates had been relocated by February 1936.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1237375087}} |title=Welfare Island Prison Is Just a Bad Memory |date=February 8, 1936 |page=3A |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} The city announced plans for a chronic care hospital complex in 1936.{{cite web |date=May 23, 1936 |title=City Outlines Plans for New Hospital; Series of Four-Story Buildings Will Stretch Almost Across Welfare Island. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/23/archives/city-outlines-plans-for-new-hospital-series-of-fourstory-buildings.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1330807502}} |title=City Lends a Hand to Medicine: Chronic Disease Research Unit Joins Welfare Island Center |date=May 31, 1936 |page=B3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} When the Welfare Island Hospital for Chronic Diseases, later Goldwater Memorial Hospital, opened in July 1939,{{cite web |title=New Hospital Gets First City Patients; Two Veteran Inmates of Old Institution on Welfare Island Transferred |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=July 7, 1939 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/07/07/archives/new-hospital-gets-first-city-patients-two-veteran-inmates-of-old.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}} the Central and Neurological Hospital closed.{{cite web |title=Hospital to Open July 6; Central and Neurological Unit on Welfare Island to Close |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 25, 1939 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/06/25/archives/hospital-to-open-july-6-central-and-neurological-unit-on-welfare.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1243018312}} |title=Welfare Island Health Plants Ready to Open |date=June 25, 1939 |page=A1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} An eight-building camp also opened in 1939.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1260920748}} |title=City Day Camp Is Reopened for Convalescents: Welfare Island Institution Begins Second Season With Only 20 Patients |date=May 2, 1940 |page=40 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}

During the mid-1940s, plans were filed for a combined laundry, garage, and firehouse building;{{cite web |title=Welfare Island to Get Large Garage, Laundry |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 12, 1944 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/10/12/archives/welfare-island-to-get-large-garage-laundry.html |access-date=March 28, 2024}} a hospital at Welfare Island's northern tip;{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1267833957}} |title=New Hospital To Replace City Home for Aged: Welfare Island Project Will House 1,800 Now Living in Century-Old Buildings No. 1 Post-War Project of the Department of Hospitals |date=January 14, 1945 |page=29 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Hospital on Welfare Is, Will Cost $6,000,000 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 13, 1945 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/01/13/archives/hospital-on-welfare-is-will-cost-6000000.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} a nurses' training school;{{cite web |title=Architects File Building Plans; Projects Include Training School for Nurses on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 8, 1945 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/12/08/archives/architects-file-building-plans-projects-include-training-school-for.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} and a chronic-disease ward at the Metropolitan Hospital.{{cite web |title=Backs Hospital Unit Here; Expediter Approves $1,250,000 Welfare island Project |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 27, 1947 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/05/27/archives/backs-hospital-unit-here-expediter-approves-1250000-welfare-island.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} A girls' shelter on the island opened in late 1945.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1313530455}} |title=Wayward Girls To Be Housed at Welfare Island: Mayor Reveals Plan to Use Cottages; Assails Stand of Borough S. P. C. C.s |date=October 1, 1945 |page=26A |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Shelter for Girls Due to Open Today; City Department to Administer Welfare Island Camp, La Guardia Announces |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 1, 1945 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/10/01/archives/shelter-for-girls-due-to-open-today-city-department-to-administer.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} By the late 1940s, mayor William O'Dwyer described conditions at some of the island's hospitals as "frightful",{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1319867205}} |title=O'Dwyer Tours Welfare Island, Calls Old Hospitals Frightful': Mayor and Board of Estimate Inspect Hospital Buildings on Welfare Island |first=Don |last=Irwin |date=August 21, 1947 |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=O'Dwyer in Tour of Old Hospitals; Observes 'Frightful' Conditions in Some of the Buildings on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 21, 1947 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/08/21/archives/odwyer-in-tour-of-old-hospitals-observes-frightful-conditions-in.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} mainly because of their age.{{cite web |title=Mayor Clarifies Views; Welfare Island Buildings Not Filthy Inside, He Says |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 24, 1947 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/08/24/archives/mayor-clarifies-views-welfare-island-buildings-not-filthy-inside-he.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} A chronic-care hospital and a laundry building were developed on Welfare Island during that era. The laundry building began construction in 1948{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1335288991}} |title=Welfare Island Laundry Cornerstone Is Laid |date=October 15, 1948 |page=25 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Stone Laid for Unit on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 15, 1948 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/10/15/archives/stone-laid-for-unit-on-welfare-island.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} and was completed the next year.{{cite web |title=Facilities Dedicated on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 24, 1949 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/09/24/archives/facilities-dedicated-on-welfare-island.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} Work on a 2,000-bed facility, later known as the Bird S. Coler Hospital,{{cite web |title=Hospital Expense Upheld by O'Dwyer; Cornerstone for $17,000,000 Bird S. Coler Memorial Laid on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 11, 1949 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/10/11/archives/hospital-expense-upheld-by-odwyer-cornerstone-for-17000000-bird-s.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1327502948}} |title=Coler Hospital Is Dedicated on Welfare Island: Mayor Talks at Ceremony; 2,000-Bed Unit, Largest in City, Ready Next Year |date=October 11, 1949 |page=16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} also began in 1948.{{cite web |title=Big City Hospital Gets Under Way |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 3, 1948 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/03/03/archives/big-city-hospital-gets-under-way-excavation-work-is-started-for.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} Further projects were proposed in the late 1940s, including the Welfare Island Bridge to Queens,{{cite web |title=City Urges Bridge to Welfare Island; $3,000,000 Project Advanced as Best Aid to Traffic on Queensboro Span |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 11, 1949 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/02/11/archives/city-urges-bridge-to-welfare-island-3000000-project-advanced-as.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} a laboratory for Goldwater Hospital,{{cite web |title=City Speeds Work on New Hospitals; Buildings and Facilities That Will Cost $41,936,000 Are Being Added to System |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 4, 1949 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/06/04/archives/city-speeds-work-on-new-hospitals-buildings-and-facilities-that.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} and two hospitals with a combined 1,500 beds.{{Cite news |date=March 6, 1949 |title=New Projects Shaping Up on Welfare Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-new-projects-shaping-up-on-we/144556836/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=131}}{{Cite news |date=August 30, 1949 |title=Kogel Pleads for $150,000,000 Hospital Construction Program |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-kogel-pleads-fo/144558355/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=20}} The bridge was intended to relieve traffic caused by the island's new hospitals,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1322063141}} |title=Welfare Island Bridge Slated By' 53 to Queens: City Receives Low Bid of $6,434,900 for 3-Lane 418-Foot Highway Link |date=December 13, 1951 |page=35 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=City Speeds Welfare Island Bridge Plans; Hopes to Begin Building by First of Year |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 24, 1951 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/09/24/archives/city-speeds-welfare-island-bridge-plans-hopes-to-begin-building-by.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} while the additional hospitals would serve the city's growing elderly population.{{Cite news |date=June 15, 1950 |title=Welfare I. Builds Aged Sick Haven |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-welfare-i-builds-aged-sick-h/144561247/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |first=Robert |last=Dwyer |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=680}}

During the early 1950s, the city planned a 1,500-bed hospital on the island{{cite web |title=City Orders Plans for Tb Hospital; Proposed $21,300,000 Hospital for Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 15, 1950 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/10/15/archives/city-orders-plans-for-tb-hospital-proposed-21300000-hospital-for.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} and wished to convert the island's Cancer Institute into a tuberculosis hospital.{{cite web |title=City Hospital for Cancer Dedicated And Merged With Memorial Center |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 24, 1950 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/24/archives/city-hospital-for-cancer-dedicated-and-merged-with-memorial-center.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} After Coler Hospital opened in 1952,{{cite web |date=July 16, 1952 |title=City Shifts Women to Coler Hospital; $20,000,000 Unit for Aged and III on Welfare Island Gets First Patients, 42 to 95 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/07/16/archives/city-shifts-women-to-coler-hospital-20000000-unit-for-aged-and-iii.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1322253719}} |title=City Transfers 36 Aged Women To a New Home: They Quit Dingy Quarters for Bird Coler Hospital; 1,600 Will Move in Year Coronation Mug |date=July 16, 1952 |page=34 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}{{cite web | title=History | website=NYC Health + Hospitals | date=June 25, 2022 | url=https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/coler/about/history/ | access-date=April 5, 2024}} patients were relocated there from the City Home for Dependents.{{cite web |title=City's Bleak House is Ending Its Days; Welfare Island Home Dickens Assailed Will Be Replaced by a Modern Hospital |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 18, 1952 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/06/18/archives/citys-bleak-house-is-ending-its-days-welfare-island-home-dickens.html |access-date=April 1, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1319913684}} |title=City Is Closing Welfare Island's Old Almshouse: 218 -Year- Old Institution Will Begin Moving I-ts 1.500 Patients on July 1 |date=June 18, 1952 |page=23 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}} City Home was emptied out by 1953.{{cite web |title=Aged Completing City Home Exodus; Ward 1 Closes as Last 25 Men Ride to New Coler Hospital, Also on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 13, 1953 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/05/13/archives/aged-completing-city-home-exodus-ward-1-closes-as-last-25-men-ride.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} The Welfare Island Bridge opened in May 1955,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1327021020}} |title=Welfare Island to Queens Bridge Is Opened by City |first=Robert A. |last=Poteete |date=May 19, 1955 |page=25 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=May 19, 1955 |title=Welfare Island Gets Own Bridge; $6,500,000 Link With Long Island City Is Opened by Jack and Lundy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/05/19/archives/welfare-island-gets-own-bridge-6500000-link-with-long-island-city.html |access-date=August 15, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=33}} and a bus began serving the island.{{Cite news |last=Hofmann |first=Paul |date=June 5, 1966 |title=City Moves to Restore Desolate Welfare Island; City Moves to Restore Desolate Welfare Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/06/05/archives/city-moves-to-restore-desolate-welfare-island-city-moves-to-restore.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} The Metropolitan Hospital moved to mainland Manhattan later that year,{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Hospital Dedicated On New Site in Upper Manhattan |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 29, 1955 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/10/29/archives/metropolitan-hospital-dedicated-on-new-site-in-upper-manhattan.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} while the City Hospital was replaced in 1957 by Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens.{{harvnb|ps=.|Louis Berger & Associates Inc.|1998|page=7}}{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1336872761}} |title=Elmhurst Hospital to Open Soon |date=March 15, 1957 |page=A1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=City Completing Queens Hospital; Elmhurst General, Costing $26,000,000, Will Replace Welfare Island Center Staff of 1,000 Also Shifting |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 8, 1957 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/03/08/archives/city-completing-queens-hospital-elmhurst-general-costing-26000000.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} Several medical facilities on the island opened during the mid-1950s, including an elderly rehabilitation center at Goldwater Hospital,{{cite web |title=Health Door Open for 100 Oldsters; Rehabilitation Service for Those Over 60 Operating on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 16, 1954 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/06/16/archives/health-door-open-for-100-oldsters-rehabilitation-service-for-those.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} a polio treatment center at Goldwater,{{Cite news |date=June 30, 1954 |title=Matzkin Hails New Post-Polio Center on Welfare Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-matzkin-hails-n/144562037/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=11}} and a children's rehabilitation center at Coler Hospital.{{cite web |title=Palsy Unit to Open; 84-Bed Center in Operation Tuesday at Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 19, 1955 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/19/archives/palsy-unit-to-open-84bed-center-in-operation-tuesday-at-welfare.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} There were also proposals to establish a "fire college"{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1327308712}} |title=Fire College Seen Ready At End of '58: Cavanagh Sees Money Saving |date=December 9, 1957 |page=14 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=New Site Sought for Fire College; Cavanagh Plans to Replace Three Schools With One on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 25, 1957 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/11/25/archives/new-site-sought-for-fire-college-cavanagh-plans-to-replace-three.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} and a women's jail on the island.{{cite web |title=City Acts to Move Women's Prison; Would Shift Village Facility to North Brother Island and Addicts to Welfare Island Women's Court Proposed |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 30, 1956 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/30/archives/city-acts-to-move-womens-prison-would-shift-village-facility-to.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} Another medical facility for chronically ill and elderly patients opened on Welfare Island in 1958.{{cite web |title=City Patients Get Bright New Home; Dedication Held at Welfare Island Unit for the Aged -Decor Is Loewy's Work |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 15, 1958 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/03/15/archives/city-patients-get-bright-new-home-dedication-held-at-welfare-island.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}}

By 1960, half of Welfare Island was abandoned,{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Don |date=July 4, 1960 |title=Welfare Island Only Half Used: Weeds and Shells of Buildings Cover Invaluable Land |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=4 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1337903204}}}} and the Goldwater and Bird S. Coler hospitals were the only remaining institutions there.{{Cite news |last=Huxtable |first=Ada Louise |date=October 10, 1969 |title=A Plan for Welfare Island Is Unveiled |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/10/10/archives/a-plan-for-welfare-island-is-unveiled.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} The city government had been trying since 1957, without success, to obtain $1 million to demolish the abandoned buildings. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) opened a training school in 1962,{{harvnb|Kearns|Kirkorian|Schaefer|1989|ps=.|page=12}}{{cite news |date=October 3, 1962 |title=Training Tower Dedicated on Welfare Island |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=29 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1325813729}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Devlin |first=John C. |date=October 3, 1962 |title=Fire College Site Dedicated by City; Giant 'Blaze' and Rescue Shown on Welfare Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/10/03/archives/fire-college-site-dedicated-by-city-giant-blaze-and-rescue-shown-on.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} using 90 abandoned buildings for training purposes. One reporter in 1967 called Welfare Island a "ghost town, vacant lot, woodland and mausoleum for unhappy memories".

The businessman and politician Frederick W. Richmond announced a proposal in 1961 to redevelop the island with residences for 70,000 people. The plan would have cost $450 million and would have included a two-level platform supporting buildings as tall as 50 stories.{{cite news |date=May 17, 1961 |title=Housing Development Planned on City-Owned Island Near Manhattan: Project on Welfare Island, Would Have 20,000 Units and Involve $455 Million of Construction |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=9 |id={{ProQuest|132695641}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Ross |first=Don |date=May 17, 1961 |title=Welfare Island Plan Would House 70,000 |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=17 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326994001}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Sibley |first=John |date=May 17, 1961 |title=Welfare Island Town of 70,000 Proposed at 450 Million Cost |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/05/17/archives/welfare-island-town-of-70000-proposed-at-450-million-cost-welfare.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|pp=641–642}} The American Institute of Architects' New York chapter proposed that the island instead become a park,{{Cite news |date=July 17, 1961 |title=Welfare Island Sought as Park; Architects Here Attack a Plan for Housing Project |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/07/17/archives/welfare-island-sought-as-park-architects-here-attack-a-plan-for.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=August 22, 1961 |title=Bitterly Opposing Housing, Top Architects Endorse East River Recreation Isles |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/kings-county-chronicle-bitterly-opposing/143617146/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Kings County Chronicle |pages=5}} while yet another plan called for the island to become housing for United Nations staff.{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Don |date=December 12, 1961 |title=A Refuge in Time of World Tension: Welfare Island Proposed as Home for UN Staff |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=6 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326183217}}}}{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=642}} Other plans included those for a college campus or a smaller-scale residential area.{{Cite news |last=Sibley |first=John |date=June 28, 1961 |title=Welfare Island Awaits Its Fate; Families That Remain Amid the Quiet and Weeds Fear Plan for Huge Project |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/06/28/archives/welfare-island-awaits-its-fate-families-that-remain-amid-the-quiet.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} A New York City Subway station on Welfare Island was announced in February 1965 as part of the new 63rd Street lines under the East River;{{cite news |date=February 17, 1965 |title=$3.3 Million Subway Station To Link Welfare Island to City |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |page=27 |id={{ProQuest|914427515}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Perlmutter |first=Emanuel |date=February 17, 1965 |title=Welfare Island to Be on Subway; Station to Be Built in New 63d St. Tunnel to Queens |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/17/archives/welfare-island-to-be-on-subway-station-to-be-built-in-new-63d-st.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} the subway announcement spurred additional plans for the island's redevelopment.{{Cite news |last=Bobbins |first=Villia |date=February 21, 1965 |title=Proposed Subway on Welfare Island Revives a Dream; Industrialist Hopes Plan tor Sub. City Will Be Realized |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/21/archives/proposed-subway-on-welfare-island-revives-a-dream-industrialist.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} There were plans to rename Welfare Island because the public generally associated the name negatively with the island's hospitals, and even the hospital's patients wanted the island to be renamed.{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1964 |title=Hospital Patients Say Welfare Island Is Degrading Name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/04/archives/hospital-patients-say-welfare-island-is-degrading-name.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}

The city government ordered the demolition of six dilapidated buildings on the island in 1965.{{Cite news |date=August 11, 1965 |title=Doom 6 Buildings on Welfare Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-doom-6-buildings-on-welfare-i/143610354/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=89}} The city took over another 45 abandoned hospital buildings via condemnation in June 1966, and the New York City Board of Estimate applied for $250,000 in federal funds for a feasibility study on the island's redevelopment later that year.{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=November 6, 1966 |title=City's No. 1 Welfare Case: That Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-citys-no-1-welfare-case-th/143608303/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=856}} The New York state government proposed in December 1967 to convert most of the island into a public park, except for senior citizens' housing at the north end.{{Cite news |last=Witkin |first=Richard |date=December 18, 1967 |title=6 Sites Proposed by State For Its First Parks in City; Transport Key Factor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/18/archives/6-sites-proposed-by-state-for-its-first-parks-in-city-transport-key.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} The United Nations International School considered developing a campus at the island's southern end,{{Cite news |last=Teltsch |first=Kathleen |date=April 2, 1965 |title=Southern Tip of Welfare Island Proposed as Site of U.N. School; 17-Acre Tract Would Be Used Instead of 48th St. Park – Mayor Backs Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/04/02/archives/southern-tip-of-welfare-island-proposed-as-site-of-un-school-17acre.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} and the New York Board of Trade pushed to redevelop the island as a city park.{{Cite news |date=March 11, 1965 |title=Trade Board Fights For Welfare Island As City Park Land |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/03/11/archives/trade-board-fights-for-welfare-island-as-city-park-land.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} Other plans included a mix of recreational facilities and low-density housing;{{Cite news |last=Kempner |first=Mary Jean |date=August 6, 1967 |title=A New Life For the River That Isn't a River; The River That Isn't (Cont.) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/06/archives/a-new-life-for-the-river-that-isnt-a-river-the-river-that-isnt-cont.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} an amusement park similar to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen;{{Cite news |last1=Weinbrenner |first1=Donald |last2=Murphy |first2=John |date=April 2, 1969 |title=City to Build Houses on Sewerless Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-city-to-build-houses-on-sewer/143616390/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=5}} an underground nuclear power plant;{{Cite news |last=Bird |first=David |date=October 7, 1968 |title=Nuclear Plant Proposed Beneath Welfare Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/10/07/archives/nuclear-plant-proposed-beneath-welfare-island-a-nuclear-plant.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 8, 1968 |title=Con Ed A-Plant Seen Far in Future |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-con-ed-a-plant-seen-far-in-fu/143614189/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=16 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=October 7, 1968 |title=Con Ed Proposes A-Plant in City |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-con-ed-propose/143613402/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=21}} a cemetery;{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=645}} and a "city of the future".{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Sylvan |date=July 10, 1969 |title=' Think Tank' Director Proposes $2-Billion Plan to Develop Welfare Island as 'City of the Future' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/07/10/archives/-think-tank-director-proposes-2billion-plan-to-develop-welfare.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}

In February 1968, mayor John V. Lindsay named a committee to make recommendations for the island's development,{{cite magazine |date=February 14, 1968 |title=Welfare Island's Future Studied |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=8 |volume=116 |issue=32 |id={{ProQuest|1565012497}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=February 11, 1968 |title=Welfare Island to be Restudied |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/02/11/91220608.pdf |access-date=November 24, 2012 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} at which point one newspaper called it "the most expensive wasteland in the world".{{cite news |last=Fulton |first=William |date=January 16, 1968 |title=Report From New York: Bleak East River Island May Be in for a Sprucing Up |work=Chicago Tribune |page=19 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|170396471}}}} The state government established the Welfare Island Development Corporation (WIDC; later the Roosevelt Island Development Corporation or RIDC) that April.{{cite news |last=Goldman |first=John J. |date=July 29, 1971 |title=Welfare Island's New City Begins to Rise |work=Los Angeles Times |page=17 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|156826842}}}} Early the next year, the state government canceled plans for a state park encompassing Welfare Island,{{Cite news |last=Fraser |first=C. Gerald |date=January 12, 1969 |title=State Vetoes 4 of 6 Proposed Parks in the City as Unsuitable |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/12/archives/state-vetoes-4-of-6-proposed-parks-in-the-city-as-unsuitable.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} and Lindsay's committee recommended renaming the island and developing housing units and recreational facilities there.{{Cite news |last=King |first=Seth S. |date=February 13, 1969 |title=Mayor Discloses Welfare is. Plan; Public Agency Will Develop Parks and Housing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/02/13/archives/mayor-discloses-welfare-is-plan-public-agency-will-develop-parks.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=February 13, 1969 |title=Park and Housing Eyed in Welfare Island Plan |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-item-park-and-housing-eyed-in/143615658/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The Daily Item |pages=13}} Land clearing began that April,{{Cite news |date=April 24, 1969 |title=Mayor Wide-Eyed As Razing Begins On Welfare Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/24/archives/mayor-wideeyed-as-razing-begins-on-welfare-island.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} and Lindsay asked the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to help redevelop the island in May.{{Cite news |date=May 22, 1969 |title=Urban Agreement Reached; State Urban Agency Is Invited To Join in Eight City Projects |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/05/22/archives/urban-agreement-reached-state-urban-agency-is-invited-to-join-in.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=May 22, 1969 |title=City and State to Build 11,000 Housing Units |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-city-and-state-to-build-1100/143615907/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=14}} The city and state governments formally presented their proposal for Welfare Island in October 1969.{{Cite news |last=Miele |first=Alfred |date=October 10, 1969 |title=Parks, Pedestrians 1st in Welfare Isle Plan |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-parks-pedestrians-1st-in-wel/143615465/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=3 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=October 10, 1969 |title=City to Develop Welfare Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-city-to-develo/143615491/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=23}} After the Board of Estimate approved the plan later that month,{{cite magazine |date=November 3, 1969 |title=Welfare Island Lease Approved |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=19 |volume=119 |issue=86 |id={{ProQuest|1523584024}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=October 30, 1969 |title=Board Votes Plan for Welfare Isle; Critics Charge Undue Haste on Plan to Construct 5,000 Housing Units There Board Votes Plan for Welfare Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/10/30/archives/board-votes-plan-for-welfare-isle-critics-charge-undue-haste-on.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} the UDC signed a 99-year lease with the city that December.{{Cite news |date=December 25, 1969 |title=City Turns Over Welfare Island For State to Build Apartments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/12/25/archives/city-turns-over-welfare-island-for-state-to-build-apartments.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=December 25, 1969 |title=Minority Group Hails Welfare Island Lease |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-minority-group-hails-welfare/143615375/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=60}} The city could pay either two percent of the development cost or 40 percent of any profits.{{cite web |date=January 11, 1970 |title=Cost to City of Welfare Island Project May Lessen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/11/archives/cost-to-city-of-welfare-island-project-may-lessen.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The UDC issued $250 million in bonds to help finance the project. The state hoped to finish the project within eight years.

The architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed the master plan for Welfare Island, which called for two neighborhoods named Northtown and Southtown, separated by a common area.{{cite news |last=Dennis |first=Landt |date=January 2, 1970 |title=River town for 20,000 families?: Optimism voiced Plan explained Landmarks to stay |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=17 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|511204190}}}}{{Cite news |last=Bruning |first=Fred |date=June 15, 1973 |title=The Big Town is Getting a New Town |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-the-big-town-is/135650685/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=148, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-the-big-town-is/135650766/ 163]}} The island was to become a car-free area with apartments, stores, community centers, and a waterfront promenade.{{cite news |last=Von Eckardt |first=Wolf |date=October 26, 1969 |title=A New Town on Welfare Island |work=The Washington Post, Times Herald |page=170 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|143628766}}}} The apartments ranged in size from studios to four-bedroom units and were a mixture of rental and cooperative units.{{Cite news |last=Bruning |first=Fred |date=June 15, 1973 |title=The Big Town Is Getting a New Town |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-the-big-town-i/143782603/ |access-date=March 20, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=148, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-the-big-town-i/143782645/ 163]}} There would be a hotel, public schools, stores, and office space, and several existing buildings would be retained. Services such as parks and schools were near every residence, and there was a pneumatic trash collection system.{{Cite news |last=Von Eckardt |first=Wolf |date=July 14, 1974 |title=2,100 Families Awaited at New York Island Town |work=The Atlanta Constitution |page=16H |id={{ProQuest|1615900941}}}}{{cite news |date=December 6, 1974 |title='Utopian' island next door to Manhattan: Isolation valued Some nearly complete |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=9 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|511743504}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 3, 1974 |title=Island 'Utopia' Rises Off Manhattan |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-island-utopia-rises-o/143816243/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=The Buffalo News |pages=71}} The first apartment buildings banned dogs,{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=June 3, 1974 |title=There'll Be No Dogs in City of the Future on Roosevelt Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-therell-be-no-dogs-in-city-o/143783935/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=215 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=June 10, 1974 |title=Barring a friend |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-news-barring-a-friend/143816506/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=The Journal News |pages=16}} but this prohibition was not applied to buildings developed later.{{cite web |last=Stone |first=David |title=Dogs: Another Roosevelt Island Battle That Shouldn't Be |website=Roosevelt Island, New York, Daily News |date=May 23, 2022 |url=https://rooseveltislanddaily.news/2022/05/23/dogs-another-roosevelt-island-battle-that-shouldnt-be/ |access-date=March 21, 2024}}{{cite web |last=Sacks |first=Amy |date=November 16, 2002 |title=Dogs Voted Off This Island |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2002/11/16/dogs-voted-off-this-island/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} Additionally, the hospitals on the island still needed vehicular access,{{Cite news |last=Anekwe |first=Simon |date=November 13, 1982 |title=Workers oppose parking limits |work=New York Amsterdam News |page=1 |id={{proQuest|226485033}}}} so the car ban was ultimately repealed.{{cite news |last=Paletta |first=Anthony |date=October 29, 2015 |title=Roosevelt Island Nears Completion |url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/roosevelt-island-nears-completion-1446081649 |access-date=March 27, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=A.22 |language=en-US}}

By the early 1970s, the families of Welfare Island's three chaplains were the only people living on the island, excluding hospital patients.{{cite web |last=Lichtenstein |first=Grace |date=February 24, 1970 |title=For 3 Families, Welfare Island Is Haven |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/24/archives/for-3-families-welfare-island-is-haven.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Models of Johnson and Burgee's proposal were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in late 1970.{{cite web |date=October 7, 1970 |title=Drawings and Models Put On Display at Metropolitan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/07/archives/drawings-and-models-put-on-display-at-metropolitan.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=646}} The UDC modified some of Johnson and Burgee's designs after they were publicized; for example, it added more buildings on the waterfront.{{cite news |last=Weisman |first=Steven R. |date=June 4, 1972 |title=Doubts Linger, but Welfare Island Venture Moves Ahead |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=R1 |id={{ProQuest|119409313}}}} The redevelopment attracted residents who wanted a better quality of life. Critics expressed concerns about the fact that lower- and upper-income residents were placed on opposite sides of Main Street,{{Cite news |date=January 7, 1975 |title=Island Awaits New Chapter in History |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-island-awaits/143820823/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=36}} and they also questioned whether the project's $400 million construction budget could have been spent on other projects.{{cite web |last=Asbury |first=Edith Evans |date=November 16, 1974 |title=Soon-to-Be Residents of Roosevelt Is. (Nee Welfare Is.) Inspect Their Homes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/16/archives/soontobe-residents-of-roosevelt-is-nee-welfare-is-inspect-their.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

File:Roosevelt Island-1889 Chapel.jpg in modern surroundings]]

The first phase of the development, Northtown, was to accommodate about 2,100 families. The law professor Adam Yarmolinsky was hired to lead the WIDC in late 1970,{{cite web |date=August 13, 1970 |title=Yarmolinsky Named to Head Welfare Island Development |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/13/archives/yarmolinsky-named-to-head-welfare-island-development.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=August 14, 1970 |title=Professor Has Top Post in U.S. Project |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-record-professor-has-top-post/143622621/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The Times Record |pages=15}} but he resigned after just over a year.{{cite web |last=Asbury |first=Edith Evans |date=February 16, 1972 |title=Welfare Is.: A Problem For Housing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/16/archives/welfare-is-a-problem-for-housing-welfare-island-project-woes-mount.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Work formally began in mid-1971, and the state approved the construction of the first buildings the same year.{{cite news |date=December 23, 1971 |title=Building Systems Inc. Unit |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=2 |id={{ProQuest|133557567}}}} The UDC hired at least 17 architectural and engineering companies to design the structures, though many of the architects resigned during construction. The WIDC approved a proposal for 1,100 middle-income and luxury apartments in April 1972;{{cite web |date=April 28, 1972 |title=Welfare Island Will Get Co-ops |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/28/archives/welfare-island-will-get-coops-40-of-housing-planned-for-completion.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=April 28, 1972 |title=Promise for '74: 1,100 New Co-ops on Welfare Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-promise-for-74-1100-new-co/143625720/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=33}} the UDC decided to build the residences as housing cooperatives after unsuccessfully looking for a private developer. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development formally designated Welfare Island as a "new town" in December 1972, making it eligible for additional funds.{{cite web |last=Asbury |first=Edith Evans |date=December 29, 1972 |title=Housing Project Gets U.S. Priority |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/29/archives/housing-project-gets-us-priority-welfare-island-development-to.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=December 29, 1972 |title=E. River Frontier Dream Is Real |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-e-river-frontier-dream-is-re/135457842/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=33}}

UDC considered renaming the island to attract new residents;{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=March 5, 1973 |title=New Deal on Welfare Isle: They'd Call It FDR |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-new-deal-on-welfare-isle-the/143627155/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=119}} the Four Freedoms Foundation proposed renaming it for U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt.{{cite news |date=April 13, 1972 |title=Roosevelt Memorial Set for Welfare I. |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=31 |id={{ProQuest|119456117}}}} The City Council approved the name change in July 1973,{{cite web |last=Siegel |first=Max H. |date=July 18, 1973 |title=Welfare Island to Be Renamed Roosevelt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/18/archives/welfare-island-to-be-renamed-roosevelt.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and Welfare Island was renamed Roosevelt Island on August 20, 1973.{{cite web |title=Welfare Island Name Changed to Roosevelt |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 21, 1973 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/21/archives/welfare-island-name-changed-to-roosevelt.html |access-date=November 19, 2023 }} Officials began planning the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park as well;{{cite web |date=September 25, 1973 |title=Plans for Memorial at Roosevelt Island Announced During Dedication Ceremony at Site |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/25/archives/plans-for-memorial-at-roosevelt-island-announced-during-dedication.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=September 25, 1973 |title=Welfare Island Taken in the Name of FDR |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-welfare-island-taken-in-the-n/143626902/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=111}} although the island had been renamed in anticipation of the park's construction, the project was delayed for the next several decades.{{cite web |title=Plans revived to dedicate NYC memorial to FDR |website=NBC News |date=November 25, 2007 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21964103 |access-date=March 25, 2024}} By the middle of 1973, one building had topped out, and the island had been expanded by {{Convert|4|acre}} using dirt from the 63rd Street Tunnel's construction.{{cite web |last=Buckley |first=Tom |date=August 22, 1973 |title=Roosevelt Island: Town in Making |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/22/archives/roosevelt-island-town-in-making-substantial-problems-encountered.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} UDC head Edward J. Logue and project manager Robert Litke convinced multiple developers to sign 40-year leases for buildings on the island. Parts of the project were delayed by disputes over the relocation of a laundry building.{{cite web |last=Darnton |first=John |date=June 10, 1974 |title=Beame Assistants Unsure of Duties |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/10/archives/beame-assistants-unsure-of-duties-no-supercommissioners.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Toscano |first=John |date=November 20, 1974 |title=Island Laundry's in a Wringer |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-island-laundrys-in-a-wringer/143811730/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=7}} By the end of the year, an advisory group recommended that the state legislature halt all UDC financing for the unbuilt phases of the Roosevelt Island development, citing the state's financial shortfalls.{{cite web |last=Montgomery |first=Paul L. |date=December 27, 1974 |title=Wilson Unit Asks Halt in New Financing by U.D.C. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/27/archives/wilson-unit-asks-halt-in-new-financing-by-udc.html |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} At least one of the residential structures' builders had also gone bankrupt.{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=George Jr. |date=April 18, 1982 |title='Bungled' Roosevelt I. Housing to Be Repaired |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/nyregion/bungled-roosevelt-i-housing-to-be-repaired.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=39 |id={{ProQuest|121905797}}}} Construction proceeded steadily through 1974, and renting began that October.{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=649}}{{cite magazine |url=https://usmodernist.org/PA/PA-1974-10.PDF |title='Frightening track' meets UDC schedule |date=Oct 1974 |magazine=Progressive Architecture |volume=55 |pages=32–33}} In addition, the existing Blackwell House and Chapel of the Good Shepherd were renovated.

After Logue was fired in early 1975, there was uncertainty over whether additional buildings would ever be built,{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=January 12, 1975 |title=A Dream Project's Awakening |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-a-dream-projects-awakening/143817659/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=239}} especially given the UDC's financial troubles.{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Michael T. |title=A Backwash of Worry Rolls Over Roosevelt I. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 27, 1975 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/27/archives/a-backwash-of-worry-rolls-over-roosevelt-i.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Bruning |first=Fred |date=April 7, 1975 |title=Another Island, Another Life |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-another-island/143817897/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=68, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-another-island/143817987/ 69]}} The UDC decided to complete the first phase of the island's development, on which it had already spent $180 million,{{cite news |last=Claiborne |first=William |date=June 25, 1975 |title=Money Woes Threaten N. Y.'s 'Other Island' |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A5 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|146226799}}}} and the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal took over the UDC's residential developments, including Roosevelt Island.{{cite news |last=Peterson |first=Iver |date=October 16, 1988 |title=For Roosevelt Island, a New Residential Complex: The approaching addition of 1,500 new residents to the 5,200 already on the island stirs concern. |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=R9 |id={{ProQuest|110467699}}}} Following an architectural design competition,{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=655}} the UDC hired four architecture firms to design the second phase of Northtown that year.{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=April 29, 1975 |title=4 Architects Win U.D.C. Competition For Housing Designs for Roosevelt I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/29/archives/4-architects-win-udc-competition-for-housing-designs-for-roosevelt.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=656}} Residents began moving into Roosevelt Island's first building in April 1975.{{Cite magazine |last1=Young |first1=Lynn |last2=Malamud |first2=Phyllis |date=July 14, 1975 |title=O Pioneers! |magazine=Newsweek |pages=55–56 |volume=86 |issue=2 |id={{ProQuest|1882516706}}}}{{cite web |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=November 26, 1975 |title=About New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/26/archives/about-newyork-roosevelt-island-pilgrims-give-thanks.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Initially, there were no stores on the island,{{Cite news |last=Schuman |first=Wendy |date=May 2, 1976 |title=Roosevelt Island Becoming a Reality |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/02/archives/roosevelt-island-becoming-a-reality-town-becoming-reality-on.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123180141/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/02/archives/roosevelt-island-becoming-a-reality-town-becoming-reality-on.html |archive-date=November 23, 2023 |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} and residents had to pass through Queens to go anywhere else.{{Cite news |last=Fried |first=Joseph P. |date=June 24, 1975 |title=Roosevelt Island Hailed By First New Residents |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/24/archives/roosevelt-island-hailed-by-first-new-residents.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120164046/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/24/archives/roosevelt-island-hailed-by-first-new-residents.html |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |access-date=November 20, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}{{Cite news |last=King |first=Martin |date=October 17, 1975 |title=Strikes Leave Tram Up in Air |pages=7 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-strikes-leave-tram-up-in-air/135493487/ |access-date=November 20, 2023 }} Although people were not incentivized to move to Roosevelt Island because of the lack of public transportation, the island was home to 170 families by the end of 1975. The first four buildings in Northtown were all completed by mid-1976, while the storefronts were slowly being rented.

No new buildings were completed between 1976 and 1989,{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=April 8, 1990 |title=Architecture View; an Island of Idealism in a Sea of Disdain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/08/arts/architecture-view-an-island-of-idealism-in-a-sea-of-disdain.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123023659/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/08/arts/architecture-view-an-island-of-idealism-in-a-sea-of-disdain.html |archive-date=November 23, 2023 |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} due to delays in the subway line's opening and the city's financial troubles.{{Cite news |last=Yarrow |first=Andrew L. |date=October 27, 1989 |title=Metropolitan Baedeker; Getting to Know A Quirky Island Off Manhattan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/27/arts/metropolitan-baedeker-getting-to-know-a-quirky-island-off-manhattan.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123180142/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/27/arts/metropolitan-baedeker-getting-to-know-a-quirky-island-off-manhattan.html |archive-date=November 23, 2023 |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} The Roosevelt Island Tramway to Manhattan opened in May 1976, and the U.S. government provided a grant the same year to fund the construction of parks on the island.{{cite web |date=January 2, 1976 |title=Metropolitan Briefs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/01/02/archives/metropolitan-briefs-subway-and-bus-ridership-declines-connecticut.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Rivercross, the only cooperative apartment building in Northtown, generally attracted upper-class families because of its high monthly fees, while the other buildings attracted middle-class residents.{{cite web |date=May 15, 1977 |title=Roosevelt I. Co-op Buyers Eager for Utopia to Begin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/15/archives/roosevelt-i-coop-buyers-eager-for-utopia-to-begin-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The FDNY training school moved to Randalls Island in 1977, and the old Roosevelt Island campus was razed. There were over 3,000 residents by early 1977{{Cite news |date=January 22, 1977 |title=Island Apartments Going Fast |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-island-apartments-going-fast/143829566/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=183}}{{cite web |last=Johnston |first=Laurie |date=May 20, 1977 |title=First Anniversary of Tramway Finds Real Community on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/20/archives/first-anniversary-of-tramway-finds-real-community-on-roosevelt.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and 5,500 residents by 1978. Two-thirds of the island's storefronts were still empty by the end of 1977, even as almost all of the rental apartments and most of the cooperative apartments were occupied.{{cite web |last=Wald |first=Matthew L. |date=December 25, 1977 |title=Many Roosevelt I. Shops Still Empty |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/25/archives/many-roosevelt-i-shops-still-empty-many-roosevelt-i-shops-are-still.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The UDC leased some land in late 1977 to the Starrett Corporation, which planned to erect three additional buildings with a combined 1,000 apartments.{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |title=A Broader Horizon Is in the Offing for Roosevelt Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 26, 1977 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/26/archives/a-broader-horizon-is-in-the-offing-for-roosevelt-island-new.html |access-date=March 21, 2024}} Starrett and the UDC signed an agreement in June 1979, in which Starrett agreed to build the three buildings, collectively known as Northtown II, for $82 million.{{cite web |date=June 5, 1979 |title=Roosevelt I. Developer to Enlarge Project by 1,000 Housing Units |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/05/archives/roosevelt-i-developer-to-enlarge-project-by-1000-housing-units.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=June 5, 1979 |title=New units okayed on Roosevelt |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-new-units-okayed-on-roosevelt/143832615/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=15}}

New York state comptroller Edward V. Regan published a report in 1980, saying that the Roosevelt Island redevelopment suffered from severe cost overruns and was losing money.{{cite web |last=Goldman |first=Ari L. |date=March 21, 1980 |title=Audit Says Roosevelt Island Is a Burden to the Taxpayer; $86 Million Cost Overruns |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/03/21/archives/audit-says-roosevelt-island-is-a-burden-to-the-taxpayer-86-milllion.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Howell |first=Ron |date=March 21, 1980 |title=Roosevelt Is. a likely net loss to city |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-roosevelt-is-a-likely-net-lo/143834904/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=673}} Starrett continued to modify its plans for Northtown II,{{cite web |last=Noble |first=Kenneth B. |date=November 22, 1981 |title=Roosevelt Island to Add New Units |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/22/realestate/roosevelt-island-to-add-new-units.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and, by 1982, the New York state government planned to begin developing Northtown II.{{cite web |last=Gaiter |first=Dorothy J. |date=November 8, 1982 |title=State Renews Push for Growth on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/08/nyregion/state-renews-push-for-growth-on-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The opening of the subway, which would support the island's increasing population, had been repeatedly delayed, even as residents expressed concerns that the subway would cause the island's low crime rate to increase.{{cite news |last=Goldman |first=John J. |date=February 2, 1982 |title=New York's 'Little Apple': Problems Ahead in Paradise?: Growth May Change Cozy Roosevelt Island |work=The Hartford Courant |page=A8 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|546607111}}}}{{cite web |last=Specter |first=Michael |date=July 11, 1982 |title=If You're Thinking of Living in; Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/11/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-of-living-in-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} By then, the island had 5,000 residents and 1,800 hospital patients, but relatively few businesses. The state legislature created the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) to operate the island in 1984.{{harvnb|ps=.|Seitz|Miller|2011|page=163}}

The UDC re-approved the Northtown II plan in July 1984,{{cite news |last=Gottlieb |first=Martin |date=July 20, 1984 |title=U. D. C. Backs $162 Million Housing Development Plan for Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/20/nyregion/udc-backs-162-million-housing-development-plan-for-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=B.1 |id={{ProQuest|425137283}}}} and RIOC approved it in 1986.{{cite web |last=Chavez |first=Lydia |date=May 23, 1986 |title=1,108 More Apartments for Roosevelt I. Voted |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/23/nyregion/1108-more-apartments-for-roosevelt-i-voted.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The revised plans called for five buildings,{{cite news |last=Blair |first=William G. |date=December 22, 1985 |title=New Cluster Planned for Roosevelt I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/22/nyregion/new-cluster-planned-for-roosevelt-i.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=A.34 |id={{ProQuest|425721428}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=December 18, 1985 |title=Roosevelt I. complex shown |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-roosevelt-i-complex-shown/143882480/ |access-date=March 22, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=7}} containing a total of 1,100 apartments.{{cite web |last=Oser |first=Alan S. |date=March 17, 1985 |title=A New Way of Creating Mixed-income Developments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/17/realestate/a-new-way-of-creating-mixed-income-developments.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=November 21, 1985 |title=More apartments for Roosevelt Isle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-more-apartments-for-roosevelt/143884093/ |access-date=March 22, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=12}} Opponents of the Northtown II project wanted to maintain the island's character and expressed concerns about the lack of mass transit options;{{Cite news |last=Ladd |first=Scott |date=December 4, 1987 |title=Roosevelt Island Sheds Its Image |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-roosevelt-island-sheds-its-image/143887456/ |access-date=March 22, 2024 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=35}}{{cite web |last=Applebome |first=Peter |date=January 2, 1986 |title=Trying to Preserve a Village in the Middle of the East River |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/02/nyregion/trying-to-preserve-a-village-in-the-middle-of-the-east-river.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} following a lawsuit to block Northtown II, a judge approved it in late 1986.{{cite web |date=December 30, 1986 |title=Metro Datelines; Roosevelt I. Housing Approved by Judge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/30/nyregion/metro-datelines-roosevelt-i-housing-approved-by-judge.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Work on Northtown II commenced at the end of 1987, financed by a $176 million mortgage loan from the city. The Northtown II towers, known as Manhattan Park, opened in 1989. While the new apartments initially sold at a slower-than-expected pace,{{cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Peter |date=May 15, 1989 |title=Unshackled, Starrett Raises New Hopes |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=3 |volume=5 |issue=20 |id={{ProQuest|219109860}}}} Northtown II was 70 percent occupied by early 1990.{{cite web |last=Finder |first=Alan |date=April 26, 1990 |title=Roosevelt Island: A 'Wonderful' Experiment Still Building |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/26/nyregion/roosevelt-island-a-wonderful-experiment-still-building.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

The opening of the Roosevelt Island subway station, in late 1989,{{cite news |last=Lorch |first=Donatella |date=October 29, 1989 |title=The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/the-subway-to-nowhere-now-goes-somewhere.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319210859/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/the-subway-to-nowhere-now-goes-somewhere.html |archive-date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} allowed further development to proceed. Officials announced the Southtown development in October 1989.{{Cite news |last=Peterson |first=Iver |date=October 12, 1989 |title=A Mix of Roosevelt Island Housing Planned |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/12/nyregion/a-mix-of-roosevelt-island-housing-planned.html |access-date=November 23, 2023 |archive-date=November 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123180142/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/12/nyregion/a-mix-of-roosevelt-island-housing-planned.html |url-status=live}} Designed by Raquel Ramati Associates,{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=March 4, 1991 |title=Big Developments Stalled in New York's Real-Estate Slump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/nyregion/big-developments-stalled-in-new-york-s-real-estate-slump.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425012409/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/nyregion/big-developments-stalled-in-new-york-s-real-estate-slump.html |archive-date=April 25, 2022 |access-date=April 25, 2022 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}{{cite news |last=Lebow |first=Joan |date=August 21, 1989 |title=Developer of Project on Roosevelt Island Off Manhattan Faces Unusual Challenge |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|398098510}}}} it was to consist of 1,956 apartments, split evenly between market-rate and affordable apartments. The development would span {{convert|19|acre}} and house up to 5,000 people. The New York City Board of Estimate approved plans for Southtown in August 1990,{{Cite news |last=Foran |first=Katherine |date=August 19, 1990 |title=Board OKs Roosevelt I. Plan |pages=35 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-board-oks-roosevelt-i-plan/135650521/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 }} but the project had been placed on hold by 1991 because RIOC had not been able to secure a developer. For much of the 1990s, no large buildings were completed on Roosevelt Island.{{cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |date=February 4, 1996 |title=Neighborhood Report;Roosevelt Islanders Fear Pataki Will Pull Plug |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-islanders-fear-pataki-will-pull-plug.html |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

In part because of the lack of development, the island's population remained lower than expected, requiring it to be subsidized.{{cite web |last=Stamler |first=Bernard |date=March 7, 1999 |title=Tempest on the River; It Was Supposed to Be an Urban Utopia. Today, Roosevelt Island Is a Battleground. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/07/nyregion/tempest-river-it-was-supposed-be-urban-utopia-today-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} By the mid-1990s, the island had 8,200 residents, less than half the 20,000 that the state government had originally envisioned, and there were around 20 small stores.{{cite web |last=Goldman |first=John J. |date=June 23, 1998 |title=Roosevelt Island Residents Wage Battle Against Development |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jun-23-mn-62699-story.html |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times}} To attract visitors, RIOC developed several recreational facilities and parks and sought to restore the island's oldest buildings.{{cite news |last=Bazzi |first=Mohamad |date=February 19, 1993 |title=Closeup They're Good Sports for Redevelopment Roosevelt Island Officials Tout Attractions |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |page=27 |id={{ProQuest|278581237}}}} RIOC also planned to remove about {{convert|1|acre}} of land to make way for a seawall.{{cite web |last=Lambert |first=Bruce |date=January 29, 1995 |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; Returning a Bit of the City to Nature |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/29/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-returning-a-bit-of-the-city-to-nature.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The architect Santiago Calatrava was hired to design a visitor center in the 1990s,{{Cite magazine |title=Calatrava's American works in progress |last=Sullivan |first=Ann C. |magazine= Architecture: The AIA Journal |volume=84 |issue=12 |date=Dec 1995 |page=22 |id={{ProQuest|227854235}}}} but this was never built.{{cite web |date=March 24, 2020 |title=The Delacorte Fountain was here, The Calatrava Artpiece was not here |url=https://rihs.us/2020/03/24/tuesday-march-24-the-delacorte-fountain-was-here-the-calatrava-artpiece-was-not-here/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Historical Society}}

RIOC proposed selling off the Southtown site in 1997,{{cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; After 26 Years, Turbulence for an Urban Experiment |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 2, 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-after-26-years-turbulence-for-urban.html |access-date=March 23, 2024}} and the Related Companies and Hudson Companies signed an agreement to develop Southtown.{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|2923429272}} |title=Embattled Roosevelt Island leader put on leave from state post while allegations are reviewed |last=Garber |first=Nick |volume=40 |issue=5 |date=February 5, 2024 |page=11 |magazine=Crain's New York Business}} The plans for Southtown were subsequently redrawn; the revised plan called for three buildings to the east of Main Street, six buildings to the west, and new recreational fields. Southtown's development also entailed reducing the size of the existing Blackwell Park, which prompted opposition from Northtown residents who used the park. A 26-story hotel with a convention center was proposed on the island in 1998, though this plan was controversial. There was also growing discontent with RIOC. As a result, mayor Rudy Giuliani proposed having the city take over the island in 1999,{{cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |date=May 21, 1999 |title=Giuliani Plans to See if City Can Control Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/21/nyregion/giuliani-plans-to-see-if-city-can-control-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and state legislator Pete Grannis also proposed legislation to allow the island to govern itself.{{cite web |last=Friedman |first=Andrew |date=January 14, 2001 |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; Roosevelt Island Report: A Cry for Independence . . . |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/14/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-roosevelt-island-report-cry-for.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} A contractor was hired to build the first section of Southtown in May 1999,{{Cite magazine |date=May 31, 1999 |title=New York |magazine=Engineering News-Record |page=167 |volume=242 |issue=21 |id={{ProQuest|235667299}}}} and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center indicated that it would build a tower in Southtown to house its staff.{{cite news |last=Sandler |first=Linda |date=December 15, 1999 |title=For Hospitals, the Emergency Is Housing --- Rise in Residential Prices Prompts Rush to Build Homes for Medical Staff |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=B18:1 |id={{ProQuest|398688398}}}}

File:Roosevelt Island td (2019-11-03) 016 - Riverwalk Place (455 Main Street).jpg

By the 2000 United States census, Roosevelt Island had a population of 9,520.{{cite web |url=http://www.rioc.com/community.htm |title=Community |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation |access-date=June 16, 2006 |archive-date=October 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031121822/http://www.rioc.com/community.htm |url-status=dead}} Some of the island's original buildings, which were part of the Mitchell–Lama affordable housing program, were planned to be converted to market-rate housing during the time.{{cite web |last=McDowell |first=Edwin |date=April 29, 2001 |title=Tenants and Owners Battle Over Defecting From Mitchell-Lama |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/29/realestate/tenants-and-owners-battle-over-defecting-from-mitchell-lama.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Southtown's first buildings, including two structures for medical workers were announced in early 2001.{{cite web |date=February 7, 2001 |title=Roosevelt I.'s Southtown will provide 2,000 new apartments. |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Roosevelt+I.%27s+Southtown+will+provide+2%2C000+new+apartments-a071018273 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=Real Estate Weekly |via=Free Online Library}}{{cite web |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |title=An Island With a History of Change Awaits Its Latest Transformation |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 14, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/14/nyregion/an-island-with-a-history-of-change-awaits-its-latest-transformation.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}} The first two Southtown buildings were completed in 2002,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|305715880}} |title=Homes Grow on Roosevelt Isle |first=Brian |last=Eckhouse |date=June 26, 2002 |page=4 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Garbarine |first=Rachelle |date=June 30, 2002 |title=Posting: As 2 on Roosevelt I. Near Completion; 2 Residences Planned for Southtown |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/realestate/posting-as-2-on-roosevelt-i-near-completion-2-residences-planned-for-southtown.html |access-date=November 23, 2023 |archive-date=November 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123180142/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/realestate/posting-as-2-on-roosevelt-i-near-completion-2-residences-planned-for-southtown.html |url-status=live}} and a proposal to redevelop the Octagon tower as an apartment building was announced that year.{{cite web |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; Unsavory Past, Great Design and a Makeover Looms |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 3, 2002 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-unsavory-past-great-design-makeover-looms.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}} The largely inaccessible Southpoint Park was opened year-round in 2003, a year after Governor George Pataki signed legislation designating several parks on the island.{{cite web |last=Kinetz |first=Erika |date=May 11, 2003 |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; The Gate Swings Open On a Mostly Locked Park |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-gate-swings-open-mostly-locked-park.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The island's first two condominium buildings, both in Southtown, and the Octagon were developed next.{{Cite news |date=December 12, 2005 |title=Rentals rise on Roosevelt |first=Lore |last=Croghan |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-rentals-rise-on-roosevelt/144106628/ |access-date=March 25, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=45}}{{cite web |last=Brozan |first=Nadine |date=December 4, 2005 |title=The Changing Landscape of Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/realestate/the-changing-landscape-of-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} All three structures had been completed by 2007, increasing the island's population to around 12,000.{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |title=An Island Joins the Mainstream |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 2, 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/realestate/02livi.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}} Southtown's fifth and sixth buildings were completed by 2008.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|306162548}} |title=Roosevelt Island. Is This the Start of a New Look for the Neighborhood? |first=Jason |last=Sheftell |date=January 25, 2008 |page=4 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 }} By the late 2000s, there were long waiting lists for residences on the island, and people quickly moved into the new residential buildings.{{cite magazine |last=Fung |first=Amanda |date=May 23, 2011 |title=Life's a new deal on Roosevelt Island |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=16 |volume=27 |issue=21 |id={{ProQuest|871792674}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|894801063}} |title=Property – Block Party: Roosevelt Island Shops for More Stores |first=Pervaiz |last=Shallwani |date=September 30, 2011 |page=A.20 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 }} Although the Roosevelt Island Residents Association expressed concerns that the new developments would cause gentrification, the island largely retained its middle-class housing stock.{{cite web |last=Bellafante |first=Ginia |date=June 20, 2014 |title=Roosevelt Island Maintains Its Mix |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/nyregion/roosevelt-island-maintains-its-mix.html |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Work commenced on Four Freedoms Park in 2009,{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |title=Work to Begin on Long-Delayed Louis Kahn Park |website=Architectural Record |date=June 25, 2009 |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/5033-work-to-begin-on-long-delayed-louis-kahn-park |access-date=March 25, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Lee |first=Felicia R. |title=Phase 1 Approved for Roosevelt Park |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 25, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/arts/26arts-PHASE1APPROV_BRF.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}} along with a redesign of Southpoint Park.{{cite news |date=May 29, 2009 |title=Plans move forward for Roosevelt Island park |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/poughkeepsie-journal-plans-move-forward/144112988/ |access-date=March 25, 2024 |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |pages=8}} Southpoint Park reopened in 2011,{{cite news |last=Babin |first=Janet |title=Park Reopens on Roosevelt Island |url=http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/aug/02/park-reopens-roosevelt-island/ |access-date=November 23, 2012 |newspaper=WNYC |date=August 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808121332/http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/aug/02/park-reopens-roosevelt-island/ |archive-date=August 8, 2011}} and Four Freedoms Park was finished the next year. A RIOC survey from 2010 found that only 12 percent of residents shopped on the island, and RIOC leased the island's largely vacant retail space to the Related Companies and Hudson Companies the next year.{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Joyce |title=Roosevelt Island to Upgrade Shopping Strip |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 1, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/realestate/commercial/roosevelt-island-to-upgrade-shopping-strip.html |access-date=March 27, 2024}} Related and Hudson renovated 33 storefronts,{{cite web |last=Kusisto |first=Laura |date=April 18, 2012 |title=Roosevelt Island Stores Set |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577352052118084884.html |access-date=March 27, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |language=en-US}} while RIOC waived food-truck permit fees to entice food vendors.{{cite web |last=Palmer |first=Chris |date=July 24, 2012 |title=On Roosevelt Island, Food Options Roll In |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/food-trucks-get-a-taste-of-roosevelt-island/ |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=City Room |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Leighton |first=Hannah |date=June 27, 2012 |title=Food Trucks |url=https://ny.eater.com/2012/6/27/6570209/food-trucks |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=Eater NY}} The city government selected Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Cornell University in late 2011 to develop the Cornell Tech research center on the island;{{cite news |last=Pérez-Peña |first=Richard |date=December 19, 2011 |title=Cornell Bid Formally Chosen for Science School in City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/nyregion/cornell-and-technion-israel-chosen-to-build-science-school-in-new-york-city.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219031933/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/nyregion/cornell-and-technion-israel-chosen-to-build-science-school-in-new-york-city.html |archive-date=December 19, 2014 |access-date=February 12, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Henely |first=Rebecca |title=Cornell, Technion win bid for Roosevelt Island campus: Mayor |website=QNS.com |date=December 19, 2011 |url=https://qns.com/2011/12/cornell-technion-win-bid-for-roosevelt-island-campus-mayor/ |access-date=March 25, 2024}} the proposal included three towers, a hotel, and a conference center.{{cite magazine |last=Christensen |first=Ken M. |date=June 18, 2012 |title=New York's Silicon Subway line |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=12 |volume=28 |issue=25 |id={{ProQuest|1022004371}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Chaban |first=Matt |date=October 15, 2012 |title=For Its Roosevelt Island Tech Campus, Cornell Pursues Some Cutting-Edge Designs by Thom Mayne and SOM |url=https://observer.com/2012/10/cornell-nyc-tech-roosevelt-island-som-thom-mayne-morphosis-ulurp/ |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=Observer}} The campus replaced the outmoded Goldwater Memorial Hospital,{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Amy |date=May 3, 2012 |title=Hospital patients forced out as Roosevelt Island tech campus moves in |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120503/roosevelt-island/tech-campus-leaves-hospital-patients-worried-about-future |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704024141/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120503/roosevelt-island/tech-campus-leaves-hospital-patients-worried-about-future |archive-date=July 4, 2015 |access-date=May 24, 2018 |website=dnainfo.com}} which closed in 2013.{{cite web |last=Dzhambazova |first=Boryana |date=November 22, 2013 |title=As a Specialty Care Hospital Prepares to Close, Patients Wonder What's Next |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/as-a-specialty-care-hospital-prepares-to-close-patients-wonder-whats-next/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=City Room |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Mays |first=Jeff |date=December 17, 2013 |title=Former Goldwater Hospital Patients Arrive at $285M East Harlem Facility |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131217/east-harlem/former-goldwater-hospital-patients-arrive-at-285m-east-harlem-facility/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016043817/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131217/east-harlem/former-goldwater-hospital-patients-arrive-at-285m-east-harlem-facility/ |url-status=dead}} Work on Cornell Tech itself began in 2015,{{cite web |last=Pereira |first=Ivan |date=November 17, 2015 |title=Cornell Tech campus construction on pace for 2017 phase 1 opening |url=https://www.amny.com/news/cornell-tech-roosevelt-island-campus-construction-on-pace-for-2017-1.11135781 |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=amNewYork |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=McKnight |first=Jenna |date=June 18, 2015 |title=New Cornell Tech campus breaks ground on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2015/06/18/new-york-city-cornell-tech-campus-morphosis-and-weiss-manfredi-handel-university-usa-breaks-ground/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=Dezeen}} and the campus opened two years later.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/nyregion/cornell-high-tech-opens-roosevelt-island.html |title=High Tech and High Design, Cornell's Roosevelt Island Campus Opens |last=Harris |first=Elizabeth A. |date=September 13, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=September 13, 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913043317/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/nyregion/cornell-high-tech-opens-roosevelt-island.html |url-status=live}} Graduate students moved to the island after Cornell Tech opened.{{cite web |last=Krueger |first=Alyson |date=June 17, 2021 |title=Why Roosevelt Island Wants Tourists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/nyregion/roosevelt-island-tourism.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Meanwhile, the island's population had grown to 11,661 by the 2010 United States census.{{cite web |last=Ganeeva |first=Anastasiya |date=May 30, 2013 |url=http://www.stewardshipreport.com/diversity-on-roosevelt-island/ |title=Economic, Racial & Religious Diversity on Roosevelt Island |website=The Stewardship Report |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101053840/http://www.stewardshipreport.com/diversity-on-roosevelt-island/ |archive-date=November 1, 2014}} Some of the Mitchell–Lama apartments were converted to market-rate housing in the 2010s, while development of additional residential structures continued.{{cite news |last=Laterman |first=Kaya |title=Roosevelt Island Gets a Makeover |url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/roosevelt-island-gets-a-makeover-1430523757 |language=en-US |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |date=May 2, 2015 |page=A17}} The seventh Riverwalk building was finished in 2015, followed by the eighth in 2019.{{cite web |title=Related and Hudson top out $135.8 million Riverwalk Park project; 21-story, 340-unit building on Roosevelt Island designed by Handel Architects |url=https://nyrej.com/related-and-hudson-top-out-135-8-million-riverwalk |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=NYREJ}} Firefighters Field was renovated with the development of the eighth Riverwalk building.{{cite web |last=Diduch |first=Mary |title=Hudson, Related land 'complex' financing package for next Riverwalk building |website=The Real Deal |date=January 16, 2019 |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2019/01/16/hudson-related-land-complex-financing-package-to-construct-next-riverwalk-building/ |access-date=March 25, 2024}} To attract visitors, RIOC announced in 2018 that it would create an "art trail" around the island.{{cite web |last=Weaver |first=Shaye |date=June 6, 2018 |title=Roosevelt Island officials plan 'art trail' in an effort to boost tourism and business |url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/things-to-do/roosevelt-island-things-to-do-1-19009597/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=amNewYork}} RIOC began soliciting plans for a memorial to the journalist Nellie Bly in 2019;{{cite web |title=Nellie Bly Memorial Call for Artists |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2371/Nellie-Bly-Memorial-Call-for-Artsts?bidId= |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of New York |access-date=March 2, 2021 }} it ultimately commissioned The Girl Puzzle monument by Amanda Matthews,{{cite press release |date=October 16, 2019 |title=Amanda Matthews of Prometheus Art Selected to Create Monument to Journalist Nelly Bly on Roosevelt Island |url=http://rioc.ny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2902/Amanda-Matthews-of-Prometheus-Art-Selected-to-Create-Nellie-Bly-Monument---10-16-19 |publisher=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of New York |access-date=March 2, 2021 }} which was dedicated in December 2021.{{cite web |last=Rahmanan |first=Anna |date=December 16, 2021 |title=A new monument honoring journalist Nellie Bly is now on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/a-new-monument-honoring-journalist-nellie-bly-is-now-on-roosevelt-island-121621 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Time Out New York |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 11, 2021 |title=Monument honoring journalist Nellie Bly opens: "This installation is spiritual" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nellie-bly-monument-opens/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=CBS News}} There was an additional influx of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, particularly among those looking for open space. The final building in Southtown, Riverwalk 9, began construction in November 2022{{cite web |last=Johnston |first=Charis |date=November 15, 2022 |title=Final building of Roosevelt Island's Riverwalk neighborhood closed on by two companies |url=https://www.amny.com/real-estate/final-building-roosevelt-islands-riverwalk-neighborhood-closed-on-by-two-companies/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=amNewYork |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Garber |first=Nick |date=November 21, 2022 |title=New 28-Story Roosevelt Island Tower To Complete Decades-Long Project |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/new-28-story-roosevelt-island-tower-complete-decades-long-project |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Upper East Side, NY Patch}} and topped out the next year.{{cite web |date=December 5, 2023 |title=430 Main Street Tops Out on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.bldup.com/posts/430-main-street-tops-out-on-roosevelt-island |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=BLDUP}} In March 2024, plans were announced for a {{convert|adj=on|2700|ft2}} "healing forest" at the southern end of the island.{{cite web |last=Buckley |first=Cara |title=Coming Soon to Manhattan, a Brand-New Tiny Forest |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 11, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/climate/tiny-forest-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 12, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Rahmanan |first=Anna |title=A "mini forest" is opening on Roosevelt Island this spring |website=Time Out New York |date=March 15, 2024 |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/a-mini-forest-is-opening-on-roosevelt-island-this-spring-031524 |access-date=March 28, 2024}} The last building in the Riverwalk development, Riverwalk Heights, was completed in 2024, adding 357 units to Roosevelt Island.{{cite web | last=Ginsburg | first=Aaron | title=Leasing launches at Roosevelt Island luxury rental, from $3,085/month | website=6sqft | date=June 24, 2024 | url=https://www.6sqft.com/leasing-launches-at-roosevelt-island-luxury-rental-from-3085-month/ | access-date=March 6, 2025}}{{Cite web |last=Cuozzo |first=Steve |date=2024-09-15 |title=New Riverwalk tower on Roosevelt Island is just what doctors ordered |url=https://nypost.com/2024/09/15/business/new-riverwalk-tower-on-roosevelt-island-is-just-what-doctors-ordered/ |access-date=2025-03-06 |language=en-US}}

When the first residential buildings opened, Roosevelt Island's amenities and wheelchair accessibility made it attractive to disabled residents and families with children.{{cite web |last=Herman |first=Robin |date=January 25, 1979 |title=Roosevelt Island: Town Within a City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/25/archives/roosevelt-island-is-a-paradise-to-some-a-prison-to-others-the-talk.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Many of the first residents were white, middle-income families, and disabled patients from the island's hospitals moved into the apartments as well.{{cite web |last=Clines |first=Francis X. |date=July 5, 1977 |title=About Newyork |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/05/archives/about-new-york-an-island-world-for-quadriplegics.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The island also attracted residents who wanted to live in a racially integrated neighborhood, as well as those who wanted to avoid housing discrimination in other areas.

Due to its proximity to the headquarters of the United Nations, Roosevelt Island attracted UN employees almost as soon as the first building opened. A New York Times article from 1999 described Roosevelt Island's diverse demographics as being another factor in its popularity among diplomatic staff.{{cite web |last=Hall |first=Trish |date=November 14, 1999 |title=Habitats/Roosevelt Island; An Apartment in the City, But a Little Bit Out of It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/14/realestate/habitats-roosevelt-island-an-apartment-in-the-city-but-a-little-bit-out-of-it.html |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The island has been home to many diplomatic staff over the years, including Kofi Annan when he was United Nations Secretary General.{{cite news |last1=Janet |first1=Spencer King |date=March 15, 2012 |title=A life on Roosevelt Island |url=http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2012/03/life-roosevelt-island |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010090607/http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2012/03/life-roosevelt-island |archive-date=October 10, 2014 |access-date=May 25, 2019 |newspaper=Cornell Chronicle}} One of every three Roosevelt Island residents was foreign-born by 2000.

The 2020 United States census showed that Roosevelt Island had a population of 11,722,{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Populations%20and%20People&g=1400000US36061023802,36061023803,36061023804&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1 |title=U.S. Census website |publisher=United States Census Bureau |website=census.gov |access-date=January 26, 2022 }} across three census tracts. The racial makeup of Roosevelt Island's three census tracts was 36.3% (4,251) White, 10.6% (1,237) African American, 33.2% (3,897) Asian, 2.8% (333) from other races, and 4.8% (564) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 12.3% (1,440) of the population.{{cite web |title=NYC Planning Population FactFinder |website=NYC Population FactFinder |url=https://popfactfinder.planning.nyc.gov/explorer/selection/5d6732b25012792e218757c80b213c99f7c8694a?source=decennial-change |access-date=December 21, 2023}} In the 2020 census data from the New York City Department of City Planning, Roosevelt Island is grouped as part of the Upper East Side-Lenox Hill-Roosevelt Island neighborhood tabulation area.{{Cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/nyc-population/census2020/dcp_2020-census-briefing-booklet-1.pdf |title=Key Population & Housing Characteristics; 2020 Census Results for New York City |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning |date=August 2021 |access-date=November 7, 2021 |pages=21, 25, 29, 33}}{{cite web |title=Map: Race and ethnicity across the US |website=CNN |last1=Keefe |first1=John |last2=Wolfe |first2=Daniel |last3=Hernandez |first3=Sergio |date=August 14, 2021 |url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/us/census-race-ethnicity-map/ |access-date=November 7, 2021}} The neighborhood tabulation area had 59,200 residents.

File:United Nations Headquarters in New York City, view from Roosevelt Island.jpg as seen from Roosevelt Island]]

Roosevelt Island's redevelopment in the 1970s spurred the creation of a community distinct from the rest of Manhattan.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|277910428}} |title=Roosevelt Island: a Small Town in the Urban Mainstream |first=Beth |last=Sherman |date=March 10, 1988 |page=1 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 }} Following Northtown's completion, an architectural critic wrote for Architectural Design that Roosevelt Island "seems to be more of a hermetically sealed suburb than an integral part of New York City".{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=659}} One newspaper from 1989 described the island as a "small, self-contained, family-oriented community", with its own Little League Baseball team, newspaper, and library. A Washington Post article from the same year described the island as having the feel of a small town but with a closer connection to Manhattan. A New York Times article from 1999 said the island had the feel of "a postwar suburb of some European city", distinct from the rest of New York City. In 2008, the New York Daily News described the island as a "fantastic and peaceful place to live", albeit with many disputes among residents.

Over the years, several dozen volunteer groups have been developed on the island. These include the Roosevelt Island Garden Club, which consists of 120 plots tended by members.{{cite web |last=Yee |first=Vivian |title=Turmoil at the Roosevelt Island Garden Club |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 13, 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/nyregion/turmoil-at-the-roosevelt-island-garden-club.html |access-date=March 20, 2024}} There is also a farmer's market. in addition to organizations such as the Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association{{cite web |last=Weaver |first=Shaye |title=Roosevelt Island Can Be 'Mini-Chelsea' With New Art Gallery, Founder Says |website=DNAinfo New York |date=September 22, 2016 |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160922/roosevelt-island/paul-calendrillo-art-gallery-roosevelt-island-chelsea/ |access-date=March 28, 2024 |archive-date=December 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208164205/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160922/roosevelt-island/paul-calendrillo-art-gallery-roosevelt-island-chelsea/ |url-status=dead}} and the Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance.{{harvnb|ps=.|U.S. Government Printing Office|1998|page=88}} A historical society, the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, has archival material about the island's history.{{cite web |last=Antos |first=Jason D. |date=January 3, 2018 |title=The Roosevelt Island Historical Society Is Rich With Archival Material |url=https://www.qgazette.com/articles/the-roosevelt-island-historical-society-is-rich-with-archival-material/ |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=Queens Gazette}} The island has a biweekly newspaper, The Main Street Wire,{{harvnb|ps=.|U.S. Government Printing Office|1998|page=87}}{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|279839082}} |title=Small town life in the big city, With family feel, many parks and affordable housing, it's hard to believe Roosevelt Island is part of Manhattan |first=Robert |last=Polner |date=September 10, 2004 |page=D07 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 }} which was founded in 1981;{{cite news |last=Lazar |first=Louie |title=News for and From Roosevelt Island |date=September 16, 2015 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/news-for-and-from-roosevelt-island-1442366103 |access-date=March 27, 2024 |language=en-US}} it originally had a column with pieces about the history of Roosevelt Island.{{cite web |last=Dunning |first=Jennifer |title=New York's Sidewalks: a Choice of Tours |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 9, 1983 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/09/arts/new-york-s-sidewalks-a-choice-of-tours.html |access-date=March 22, 2024}}

There have been community traditions on Roosevelt Island, such as Halloween parades, Black History Month events, and Lunar New Year celebrations.{{cite web |last=Segall |first=Rebecca |title=Close Up On: Roosevelt Island |website=The Village Voice |date=July 30, 2002 |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/close-up-on-roosevelt-island/ |access-date=March 25, 2024}} Various activities take place on the island throughout the year, such as picnics and concerts, in addition to annual Roosevelt Island Day celebrations since 1995.{{Cite news |first=Brendan |last=Brosh |date=June 8, 2007 |title=Roosevelt Isle's day to shine |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-roosevelt-isles-day-to-shine/144112755/ |access-date=March 25, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=137}} The island has also hosted events like the Roosevelt Island Table Tennis Tournament{{Cite news |last=Trapasso |first=Clare |date=February 4, 2011 |title=Table tennis titan brings tournament to Roosevelt Island |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-table-tennis-titan-brings-tou/144201193/ |access-date=March 27, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=36}} and the Figment NYC festival.{{cite web |last=Stapinski |first=Helene |title=Art Festival Is Welcome, but Not the Huge Crowds |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 31, 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/arts/design/art-festival-is-welcome-but-not-the-huge-crowds.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=Roosevelt Island lost FIGMENT, but you can still see it –... |website=Roosevelt Island, New York, Daily News |date=May 27, 2022 |url=https://rooseveltislanddaily.news/2022/05/27/roosevelt-island-lost-figment-but-you-can-still-see-it/ |access-date=March 28, 2024}} Every summer since 2015, the Manhattan Park Pool Club has commissioned a mural for the Manhattan Park development's pool deck.{{cite web |first1=Elizabeth |last1=Stamp |first2=Max |last2=Touhey |title=This Vibrant Public Swimming Pool Gives NYC's Concrete Jungle Some Much-Needed Color |website=Architectural Digest |date=June 11, 2019 |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/vibrant-public-swimming-pool-nyc-concrete-jungle-much-needed-color |access-date=March 28, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Gannon |first=Devin |title=Roosevelt Island's colorful Manhattan Park Pool Club is back and open to the public |website=6sqft |date=August 11, 2020 |url=https://www.6sqft.com/roosevelt-islands-colorful-manhattan-park-pool-club-is-back-and-open-to-the-public/ |access-date=March 28, 2024}} Roosevelt Island has sometimes been used as a filming location, such as for the films Spider-Man (2002){{cite news |last=Anderson |first=John |date=May 3, 2002 |title='Spider-Man' Is Just Marvel-ous / A fun spin on action, humor, romance |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |page=B11 |id={{ProQuest|279530720}}}} and Dark Water (2005).{{Cite news |last=Gill |first=John Freeman |date=July 17, 2005 |title=... And on Roosevelt Island, Being Afraid, Really Afraid |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/nyregion/thecity/and-on-roosevelt-island-being-afraid-really-afraid.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118222603/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/nyregion/thecity/and-on-roosevelt-island-being-afraid-really-afraid.html |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |access-date=November 18, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}

File:INTERIOR, SECOND FLOOR, SPIRAL STAIRCASE AND CENTRAL STAIRWELL - Welfare Island, Insane Asylum, New York, New York County, NY HABS NY,31-WELFI,6-5.tif interior, mid 20th century]]

The 1969 master plan divided the island into two residential communities: Northtown and Southtown. The plan received mixed reviews. A writer for New York magazine wrote that the Johnson–Burgee design was "a nice plan for a very nice community", while an Architectural Forum reviewer called it "purposefully schematic and architecturally nonspecific". The Wall Street Journal wrote of the buildings on the island: "Their physical surfaces are harsh but the streetscapes aren't." In 1977, the City Club of New York gave Roosevelt Island's buildings a special honor award for the quality of their designs.{{cite web |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=June 16, 1977 |title=Architecture Award Honors 8 Projects |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/16/archives/architecture-award-honors-8-projects-new-york-city-club-singles-out.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Although most of the residential structures contain rental apartments, there are also condominiums and cooperative housing. Roosevelt Island generally has more wheelchair-accessible housing than other neighborhoods, in part because of its past use as a hospital island.{{cite news |last=Lagnado |first=Lucette |date=January 22, 2003 |title=Calling a Hospital Home: Some Patients Stay for Years At New York's Coler-Goldwater; Many Have Nowhere Else to Go |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=B1 |id={{ProQuest|2436457063}}}}

The first phase of Roosevelt Island's development was called Northtown, with about 2,140 apartments.{{cite news |date=June 20, 1976 |title=New Town Rising On N.Y. Island |work=The Atlanta Constitution |page=4H |id={{ProQuest|1557748290}}}} Northtown consists of four housing complexes: Westview, Island House, Rivercross, and Eastwood.{{cite web |title=Tour North 5: UDC Housing |url=https://rihs.us/riwalk/Tour_North_5__UDC_Housing.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Historical Society}} The architectural firm of Sert, Jackson & Associates designed the Island House and Rivercross buildings east of Main Street, while John Johansen and Ashok Bhavnani designed the Eastwood and Westfield buildings on the west side.{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=651}}{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |title=New Urban Environment |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 18, 1976 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/18/archives/new-urban-environment-roosevelt-island-is-exhilarating-now-but.html |access-date=March 21, 2024}} All four structures are U-shaped buildings, which measure up to 20 stories high and are faced in concrete or corrugated brick. Three of the buildings were rental apartment complexes: Island House, Westview, and Eastwood (the latter of which had affordable housing). Rivercross was structured as a housing cooperative.{{cite web |last=Oser |first=Alan S. |title=About Real Estate |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 11, 1976 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/11/archives/about-real-estate-a-profile-of-first-roosevelt-island-settlers.html |access-date=March 21, 2024}} All of these buildings, except Rivercross, were originally subsidized under the state's Mitchell–Lama Housing Program. The first apartments included built-in heating and air-conditioning units,{{cite web |date=February 20, 1972 |title=Electric Heat Units Planned in Projects Being Built by City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/20/archives/electric-heat-units-planned-in-projects-being-built-by-city.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} while the buildings themselves included health clubs. Westview and Eastwood also had skip-stop elevators that stopped at three-floor intervals; this allowed for more flexible apartment layouts on floors that were not served by elevators.{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|pp=651–652}}

Northtown II (also known as Manhattan Park), located north of Northtown and on the west side of Main Street, was developed by the Starrett Corporation and designed by the firm Gruzen Samton.{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Andree |date=December 18, 1987 |title=About Real Estate; A Rental Complex for Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/18/business/about-real-estate-a-rental-complex-for-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Completed in 1989, it occupies {{convert|8.5|acre}} and consists of five buildings. The complex comprises around 1,100 rental apartments, split into about 220 affordable apartments and about 880 market-rate apartments. The affordable apartments are clustered within one building. In all five structures, the apartments range from one to three bedrooms. There are also a garden, picnic space, community center, playgrounds, and daycare center. Near the north end of the island is a 500-unit apartment building known as the Octagon, which is centered around a remaining portion of the Lunatic Asylum.

File:Roosevelt Island-Main Street.jpg

In addition to the apartment buildings, the northern part of Roosevelt Island contains the Metropolitan Hospital's former church, which was built in the 1920s and became a wedding venue in 2021.{{cite web |last=Vadukul |first=Alex |date=May 20, 2023 |title=New York's Hottest Destination Wedding Is Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/20/style/the-sanctuary-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} A stone structure, Chapel of St. Dennis, was built near the Octagon around 1935–1940; little else is known about this chapel.{{cite web |date=April 14, 1996 |title=F.Y.I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/nyregion/fyi-080500.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Southtown (also referred to as Riverwalk) was developed starting in 2001. When complete, Southtown will have 2,000 units in nine buildings.{{cite web |url=http://www.hudsoninc.com/riverwalk-roosevelt-island/ |title=Riverwalk on Roosevelt Island |publisher=Hudson, Inc. |work=hudsoninc.com |access-date=May 28, 2015 |archive-date=June 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601042746/http://hudsoninc.com/riverwalk-roosevelt-island/ |url-status=dead}} {{As of|2022}}, eight of Southtown's nine planned buildings had been completed, while the last structure was under construction. Some of the buildings house medical staff who work in Manhattan. The structures contain a total of over 2,000 apartments, of which 40 percent are affordable housing.{{cite web |last=Small |first=Eddie |date=June 21, 2023 |title=Exclusive: Related, Hudson ink $63M refi for Roosevelt Island complex |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/related-hudson-ink-63m-refinancing-riverwalk-roosevelt-island-complex |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business}} Some of the buildings in Southtown are condominiums, including Riverwalk Place and Riverwalk Court. In contrast to the older Northtown buildings, which were developed in groups, the Riverwalk structures were constructed as standalone buildings; the Wall Street Journal regarded Southtown as lacking the "coherent streetscapes" of Northtown.

The southern end of the island also contains four buildings, which are part of the Cornell Tech graduate-school campus and research center.{{cite web |last=McKnight |first=Jenna |date=September 25, 2017 |title=Cornell Tech campus opens on New York's Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/25/cornell-tech-campus-opens-new-york-roosevelt-island/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Dezeen |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Weinstein |first=Matt |date=September 13, 2017 |title=CORNELL TECH: Cornell University opens New York City campus |url=https://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2017/09/13/cornell-tech-stunning-new-york-city-campus-opens/661824001/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Ithaca}} The $2 billion facility includes 2 million square feet of space on an {{convert|11|acre|adj=on}} site.{{cite news |last1=Warerkar |first1=Tanay |date=June 5, 2017 |title=Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus readies for its September debut |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/5/15741774/cornell-tech-roosevelt-island-construction-photos |access-date=May 25, 2019 |publisher=Curbed New York}} The first phase of the campus includes a main academic building, a graduate housing tower, and an innovation hub/tech incubator. The 26-story Cornell Tech residential tower has 350 apartments and was intended as the world's largest passive house residential tower when it was built.{{cite web |last=Gregor |first=Alison |date=June 12, 2015 |title=World's Tallest Passive House Breaks Ground on Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/realestate/worlds-tallest-passive-house-breaks-ground-on-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Warerkar |first=Tanay |date=June 21, 2016 |title=Tour Cornell Tech's residential building, the world's tallest passive house |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2016/6/21/11990416/cornell-tech-passive-house-roosevelt-island-tour |access-date=March 28, 2024 |website=Curbed NY}} Cornell Tech's first phase also includes a conference center and a hotel.{{cite news |last1=Nonko |first1=Emily |date=March 12, 2018 |title=Construction begins on Snøhetta-designed hotel on Roosevelt Island |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2018/3/12/17110632/roosevelt-island-cornell-tech-snohetta-graduate-hotels-construction |access-date=May 25, 2019 |publisher=Curbed New York}} The hotel is 18 stories high, with 224 rooms, and is known as the Graduate Roosevelt Island; it opened in 2021 as the island's first hotel.{{cite web |last=Leasca |first=Stacey |date=June 1, 2021 |title=The First Hotel on NYC's Roosevelt Island Is Now Open |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/hotels-resorts/hotel-openings/graduate-hotel-roosevelt-island-opening |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Travel + Leisure |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last1=Bair |first1=Diane |last2=Wright |first2=Pamela |title=New hotel offers unique NYC escape; no smallpox or criminal record necessary |website=Boston Globe |date=October 14, 2021 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/14/lifestyle/new-hotel-offers-unique-nyc-escape-no-smallpox-or-criminal-record-necessary/ |access-date=March 28, 2024}}

File:Welfare Island, Lighthouse, New York (New York County, New York).jpg in 1970]]

Roosevelt Island has six buildings and structures that are New York City designated landmarks,{{harvnb|White|Willensky|Leadon|2010|ps=.|pp=952–954}} all of which are also on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).{{cite web |title=Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS) |publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation |date=November 7, 2014 |url=https://cris.parks.ny.gov/ |access-date=July 20, 2023 }}{{efn|The Queensboro Bridge, which crosses the island, is als a city landmark and iso listed on the NRHP.}} The Blackwell House at Main Street, one of the city's few remaining farmhouses,{{harvnb|Diamonstein-Spielvogel|2011|ps=.|page=84}}{{cite web |date=December 12, 2022 |title=Blackwell House |url=https://nylandmarks.org/celebrate-50-at-50/blackwell-house/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=New York Landmarks Conservancy}} was built between 1796 and 1804 for James Blackwell.{{harvnb|White|Willensky|Leadon|2010|ps=.|p=953}} Also along Main Street is the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, an Episcopal church from 1889.{{harvnb|Diamonstein-Spielvogel|2011|ps=.|pages=84–85}} Blackwell Island Light, an octagonal Gothic-style lighthouse at the northern end of the island, was built in 1872;{{harvnb|Diamonstein-Spielvogel|2011|ps=.|page=85}}{{harvnb|White|Willensky|Leadon|2010|ps=.|p=954}} it measures {{convert|50|ft|m}} tall and was designed by Renwick.

The remaining three official city landmarks are former hospitals. At the island's southern tip are the Smallpox Hospital, a Gothic-style ruin built in 1857 as the first smallpox hospital in the U.S., and the Strecker Laboratory, a Romanesque Revival-style electrical substation built in 1892 as a laboratory. At the northern end is the Octagon, the sole remaining structure from the 1839 Lunatic Asylum. The ruins of the City Hospital, a mid-19th-century building on the southern tip of the island, had been listed on the NRHP,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|110867298}} |title=Historic Roosevelt I. Building Faces Demolition as a Hazard |first=David W. |last=Dunlap |date=July 14, 1986 |page=B1 |access-date=March 22, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/14/nyregion/historic-roosevelt-i-building-faces-demolition-as-a-hazard.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 }} but were razed in 1994 due to extreme neglect.{{cite news |title=Streetscapes/Charity Hospital on Roosevelt Island; Piles of Rubble Where Grim Gray Walls Once Stood |first=Christopher |last=Gray |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 16, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/16/realestate/streetscapes-charity-hospital-roosevelt-island-piles-rubble-where-grim-gray.html |access-date=December 4, 2009}}

{{clear}}

File:Roosevelt Island buildings.jpg

The neighborhood is part of Manhattan Community District 8. In the 1970s, when the city's community districts were being redrawn, there were disputes over whether the island should be served by a district in Manhattan or Queens.{{Cite news |date=June 15, 1976 |title=Roosevelt Isle: Unattached & Needing a Connection |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-roosevelt-isle-unattached/143825890/ |first=Dick |last=Brass |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=386}} While the island was ultimately placed within a Manhattan community district, it received emergency services from Queens.{{Cite news |date=December 20, 1976 |title=See Delay in Voting on Community Lines |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-see-delay-in-voting-on-commun/143827118/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=7 |first=John |last=Toscano}} The island's other services come from Manhattan; for example, it was still assigned a ZIP Code and an area code from Manhattan. The island has a ZIP Code of 10044, and residents are assigned area codes 212, 332, 646,{{Efn|The area codes 646 and 332 are overlays of the original 212 area code, which serves Manhattan.{{cite web |last=Levine |first=Alexandra S. |title=New York Today: Welcoming a New Area Code |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 9, 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/nyregion/new-york-today-332-area-code-belmont-stakes.html |access-date=March 22, 2024}}}} and 917.{{cite book |last=Finnegan |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJJ5AEMd2HsC&pg=PA14 |title=Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in New York City: Including Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Northern New Jersey |publisher=First Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-912301-72-3 |series=Newcomer's Handbook Series |page=14}} The United States Postal Service operates the Roosevelt Island Station at 694 Main Street;{{cite web |title=Find Locations: Roosevelt Island |url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input?longitude=-73.946472&tollFree=800-ASK-USPS%26reg%3B%26nbsp%3B(800-275-8777)&locationName=ROOSEVELT+ISLAND&locationTypeQ=all&locationID=1379826&radius=20&zip5=10044&latitude=40.7654136&locationType=po&zip4=9998&address=11416 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525133215/https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input?longitude=-73.946472&tollFree=800-ASK-USPS%26reg%3B%26nbsp%3B(800-275-8777)&locationName=ROOSEVELT+ISLAND&locationTypeQ=all&locationID=1379826&radius=20&zip5=10044&latitude=40.7654136&locationType=po&zip4=9998&address=11416 |archive-date=May 25, 2018 |access-date=May 24, 2018 |website=usps.com |publisher=United States Postal Service}} the island's post office opened in October 1976. The firm of Kallman and McKinnell designed the post office, along with a small fire station and a set of stores.

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, a state public-benefit corporation, operates the island's infrastructure and oversees its development.{{cite web |last=Lambert |first=Bruce |date=June 19, 1994 |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; In Search of Democracy for Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/19/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-in-search-of-democracy-for-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} RIOC manages transportation and private security on the island, and it is also responsible for leasing out stores, developing apartments, and preserving the island's landmarked buildings. Although RIOC is a state agency, its members are appointed rather than elected,{{cite web |last=Poblete |first=Gabriel |title=Roosevelt Island Revolt: Residents Call for Governance Changes Amid Corporation Chaos |website=THE CITY – NYC News |date=March 5, 2024 |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/03/05/roosevelt-island-operating-corporation-revolt/ |access-date=March 22, 2024}} though straw polls for positions on RIOC's board were hosted starting in 2008. By law, five of RIOC's nine members must be island residents,{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|306173289}} |title=The People Vote, but for What, on Roosevelt Island? |first=Brendan |last=Brosh |date=February 10, 2008 |page=38 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 }} but not RIOC's CEO.{{cite web |last=Garber |first=Nick |title=Claims of 'chaos,' corruption engulf Roosevelt Island governing body |website=Crain's New York Business |date=April 3, 2023 |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/claims-chaos-corruption-engulf-roosevelt-island-governing-body |access-date=March 28, 2024}} Much of RIOC's income comes from fees collected from private developers.

Parts of New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, which provides fresh water to much of New York City, pass underneath the island; the section under Roosevelt Island opened in 1998{{Cite magazine |last=Armistead |first=Thomas F. |date=July 13, 1998 |title=New Route for New York Water Will Be Opened This Month |magazine=Engineering News-Record |page=16 |volume=241 |issue=2 |id={{ProQuest|235769376}}}}{{cite web |date=August 21, 1998 |title=New York opens first segment of 3rd water tunnel 60-mile, $6 billion project will be done in about 20 years |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1998/08/21/new-york-opens-first-segment-of-3rd-water-tunnel-60-mile-6-billion-project-will-be-done-in-about-20-years/ |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=Baltimore Sun}} and travels as much as {{convert|780|ft}} under the island. Roosevelt Island also had its own steam plant behind the Roosevelt Island Tramway's terminal until 2013.{{cite web |last=Young |first=Michelle |date=October 22, 2013 |title=Community Group Hopes to Turn Roosevelt Island's Steam Plant Into a Museum for Technology, Art and Science |url=https://untappedcities.com/2013/10/22/community-group-hopes-to-turn-roosevelt-islands-steam-plant-into-a-museum-for-technology-art-and-science/ |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=Untapped New York}} In addition, Verdant Power installed tidal turbines under the East River's eastern channel in the 2000s as part of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project;{{cite web |last=Urbina |first=Ian |date=July 10, 2004 |title=In Search of New Power Source, City Looks Underwater |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/nyregion/in-search-of-new-power-source-city-looks-underwater.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Frangoul |first=Anmar |date=November 24, 2020 |title=In New York's East River, a tidal power project takes shape |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/24/in-new-yorks-east-river-a-tidal-power-project-takes-shape.html |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=CNBC}} The turbines powered small parts of the island.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|306103455}} |title=That's Flower Power. Roosevelt Island Gets Green Light as Turbines Harness East River Current |first=Brendan |last=Brosh |date=May 1, 2007 |page=1 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 }} Three new turbines were installed in the 2020s.{{cite news |last=Kadet |first=Anne |title=The East River Becomes a New Energy Source for New York City |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-east-river-becomes-a-new-energy-source-for-new-york-city-11600178401 |language=en-US |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |date=September 15, 2020 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=May 4, 2021 |title=Experimental Tidal Turbines In East River To Be Replaced As Part Of Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/roosevelt-island-tidal-energy-project/ |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=CBS New York}}

Before the 1970s, raw waste from Roosevelt Island was dumped directly into the East River. Garbage on Roosevelt Island is collected by an automated vacuum collection (AVAC) system, which consists of pneumatic tubes measuring either {{convert|20|in}},{{cite magazine |last=Mason |first=Betsy |date=August 16, 2010 |title=New York City's Trash-Sucking Island |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/08/trash-sucking-island/ |access-date=March 7, 2023 |magazine=WIRED}} {{convert|22|in|cm}},{{cite news |last=Chaban |first=Matt A.V. |date=August 3, 2015 |title=Garbage Collection, Without the Noise or the Smell |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/nyregion/garbage-collection-without-the-noise-or-the-smell.html?_r=0 |access-date=July 28, 2017 |quote=While vehicles still found their way onto the island, garbage trucks were largely banished, thanks to the pneumatic tube system, one of the largest in the world. It sucks up roughly 10 tons of trash from the island's 12,000 residents each day.... After they drop garbage down chutes in their buildings, it collects at the bottom until a trapdoor is activated, releasing the waste into 22-inch-wide red steel tubes that run underground. |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729023054/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/nyregion/garbage-collection-without-the-noise-or-the-smell.html?_r=0 |url-status=live}} or {{convert|24|in|cm}} wide.{{cite web |first=George |last=Bodarky |title=How New York's Roosevelt Island Sucks Away Summer Trash Stink |website=NPR |date=July 26, 2017 |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/26/539304811/how-new-york-s-roosevelt-island-sucks-away-summer-trash-stink |access-date=February 27, 2023 }} Manufactured by Swedish firm Envac and installed in 1975, it was the second AVAC system in the U.S. at the time of its installation, after the Disney utilidor system. It is one of the world's largest AVAC systems, collecting trash from 16 residential towers. Trash from each tower is transported to the Central Collections and Compaction Plant at up to {{Convert|60|mph}}. The collection facility contains three turbines that spin the garbage; the trash is then compacted and sent to a landfill. The pneumatic tube system collects {{convert|6|ST}} or {{convert|10|ST}} of trash each day. On several occasions, tenants have damaged the system by throwing large objects, such as strollers and Christmas trees, into the tubes.

File:Ruins of the Smallpox Hospital 2007.jpg, 2007]]

NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler is located in the northern portion of the island and has been Roosevelt Island's only public hospital since 2013, when Goldwater Memorial Hospital closed.{{cite web |last=Gartland |first=Michael |date=November 23, 2018 |title=Exclusive: Last public hospital on NYC's Roosevelt Island could be closed |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2018/11/23/exclusive-last-public-hospital-on-nycs-roosevelt-island-could-be-closed/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} Although the 1969 plan for Roosevelt Island called for dedicated fire and police stations, {{As of|2024|lc=y}} the island receives all of its emergency services from Queens.{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=Emergency Response |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/250/Emergency-Response |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York}} Roosevelt Island is patrolled by the 114th Precinct of the New York City Police Department,{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=Is there a NYPD precinct on Roosevelt Island? |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/FAQ.aspx?QID=65 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York}} located at 34{{hyphen}}16 Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, Queens.{{Cite web |title=NYPD – 114th Precinct |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/114th-precinct.page |access-date=October 3, 2016 |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Police Department}} The Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department also patrols the island; its officers can make arrests but do not carry weapons.{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Michael |date=December 10, 2011 |title=On Roosevelt Island, Burglaries Bring a Sense of Unease |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/nyregion/on-roosevelt-island-burglaries-bring-a-sense-of-unease.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Roosevelt Island has no firehouse.{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=William |date=August 14, 2004 |title=Roosevelt Island, Stuck Bridge Fuels Fire Fears, After Losing Access, FDNY to Employ Full-time Engine Company on Island Until After Convention |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |page=A04 |id={{ProQuest|279811446}}}} Fire protection services are provided by Engine Company 260 of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY),{{cite web |last=Chung |first=Christine |date=August 21, 2019 |title=Discussions for reviving a long-shuttered engine company stall, despite FDNY acknowledgment the booming area needs more emergency responders. |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2019/08/21/cold-water-on-queens-firehouse-reopening-hopes-after-amazon-breakup/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=THE CITY – NYC News}} located at 11{{hyphen}}15 37th Avenue in Astoria.{{cite web |title=Engine Company 260 |url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/queens/e260.htm |access-date=March 7, 2019 |website=FDNYtrucks.com}} The FDNY maintains its Special Operations Command facility at 750 Main Street on the island.{{cite web |title=Special Operations Command |url=https://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/specialunits/soc.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222211041/http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/specialunits/soc.htm |archive-date=February 22, 2020 |access-date=April 18, 2020 |website=www.FDNYtrucks.com}} Engine Company 261, in Long Island City, served the island until it closed in 2003.{{Cite news |last=Cooper |first=Michael |date=May 22, 2003 |title=Six Firehouses Receive Order to Close by Sunday Morning, as Lawsuit to Save Them Proceeds |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/22/nyregion/six-firehouses-receive-order-close-sunday-morning-lawsuit-save-them-proceeds.html |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=January 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125155956/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/22/nyregion/six-firehouses-receive-order-close-sunday-morning-lawsuit-save-them-proceeds.html |url-status=live}} There was controversy over the firehouse's closure,{{Cite news |last=Cardwell |first=Diane |date=May 29, 2003 |title=Metro Briefing | New York: Brooklyn: Judge Rules On Firehouse |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/nyregion/metro-briefing-new-york-brooklyn-judge-rules-on-firehouse.html |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406152821/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/nyregion/metro-briefing-new-york-brooklyn-judge-rules-on-firehouse.html |url-status=live}} and a New York Supreme Court judge subsequently ruled that the closure was illegal.{{Cite news |last=Archibold |first=Randal C. |date=July 3, 2003 |title=Judge Says Closing of Queens Firehouse Is Illegal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/03/nyregion/judge-says-closing-of-queens-firehouse-is-illegal.html |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406152821/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/03/nyregion/judge-says-closing-of-queens-firehouse-is-illegal.html |url-status=live}} In 2019, mayor Bill de Blasio's office told reporters that the firehouse would not reopen because the island already had additional emergency services.{{cite web |title=Locals, lawmakers push to reopen Long Island City firehouse |website=FOX 5 New York |date=August 23, 2019 |url=https://www.fox5ny.com/news/locals-lawmakers-push-to-reopen-long-island-city-firehouse |access-date=April 6, 2022 }}

File:FDR Four Freedoms Park.jpg

When Roosevelt Island was redeveloped in the 1970s, about a quarter of the land area was set aside for parks. The island has four primary parks: Lighthouse, Octagon, Southpoint, and Four Freedoms parks. At the northern tip of Roosevelt Island is Lighthouse Park, named after the Blackwell Island Light.{{Cite web |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/344/BBQ-in-Lighthouse-Park |title=BBQ in Lighthouse Park {{!}} Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York |website=rioc.ny.gov |access-date=July 15, 2019}} Octagon Park, a {{convert|15|acre|adj=on}} green space, contains a prow-shaped performance stage facing the East River's west channel;{{cite web |date=March 5, 2000 |title=F.Y.I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/05/nyregion/fyi-069752.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} it was originally planned as an ecological park with bedrock outcrops.{{harvnb|Barlow|1971|ps=.|page=125}} Near the south end of the island is Southpoint Park, a {{convert|7|acre|adj=on|spell=in||abbr=}} green space containing the Strecker Lab and Smallpox Hospital buildings.{{Cite web |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/350/Experience-Southpoint-Park |title=Experience Southpoint Park {{!}} Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York |website=rioc.ny.gov |access-date=July 15, 2019}} The {{convert|4|acre|adj=on|spell=in}} Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, a New York State Park,{{cite book |url=http://www.rockinst.org/nys_statistics/2014/2014_Yearbook_Section_O.pdf |title=2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook |publisher=The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government |year=2014 |page=672 |chapter=Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9 |access-date=June 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916082616/http://www.rockinst.org/nys_statistics/2014/2014_Yearbook_Section_O.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2015 |url-status=dead}} opened in 2012 at the southern end of the island.{{cite news |last=Foderaro |first=Lisa W. |date=October 17, 2012 |title=Dedicating Park to Roosevelt and His View of Freedom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/nyregion/roosevelt-four-freedoms-park-is-dedicated.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510175055/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/nyregion/roosevelt-four-freedoms-park-is-dedicated.html |archive-date=May 10, 2020 |access-date=November 14, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Broome |first=Beth |date=October 17, 2012 |title=A Memorial to FDR, a Tribute to Louis Kahn |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/2698-a-memorial-to-fdr-a-tribute-to-louis-kahn |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=Architectural Record |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Ilnytzy |first=Ula |date=October 17, 2012 |title=Decades late, FDR memorial park dedicated in NYC |url=https://news.yahoo.com/decades-fdr-memorial-park-dedicated-nyc-150400725.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510135216/https://news.yahoo.com/decades-fdr-memorial-park-dedicated-nyc-150400725.html |archive-date=May 10, 2020 |access-date=May 24, 2018 |work=Yahoo! News |agency=Associated Press}} Four Freedoms Park was designed by Louis Kahn in 1974 and consists of two rows of trees converging toward a granite "room" at the island's southern tip.{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |title=Design by Kahn Picked for Roosevelt Memorial Here |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 25, 1974 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/25/archives/design-by-kahn-picked-for-roosevelt-memorial-here-design-by-louis.html |access-date=March 20, 2024}}{{cite magazine |first1=Matt |last1=Tyrnauer |first2=Raymond |last2=Meier |title=Architecture: The Stunning Louis I. Kahn Design of the Long-Awaited F.D.R. Memorial |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=October 19, 2012 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/11/architecture-fdr-memorial-louis-i-kahn |access-date=March 20, 2024}}

There is a smaller park located around the Blackwell House. The southern tip of Roosevelt Island was formerly occupied by the Delacorte Fountain,{{Cite news |date=November 28, 1969 |title=Welfare Island to Get a 'Geyser'; Fountain, Delayed by Health Hazard, to Spout Monday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/11/28/archives/welfare-island-to-get-a-geyser-fountain-delayed-by-health-hazard-to.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} which was donated by publisher George T. Delacorte Jr. in mid-1967{{Cite news |date=July 16, 1967 |title=Welfare Island to Get Fountain; Delacorte Will Build It and Pay for Its Upkeep |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/07/16/archives/welfare-island-to-get-fountain-delacorte-will-build-it-and-pay-for.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} and dedicated in 1969. The fountain sprayed water from the East River {{convert|400|to|600|ft}} into the air.{{cite web |title=Delacorte Fountain in Last Stage |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 3, 1969 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/03/archives/delacorte-fountain-in-last-stage.html |access-date=March 22, 2024}} A local group planted trees at the southern tip of the island in 1985, which quickly died due to blasts from the Delacorte Fountain;{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=September 28, 1987 |title=Metro Matters; Good Intentions On Quirky Geyser Go Slightly Awry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/28/nyregion/metro-matters-good-intentions-on-quirky-geyser-go-slightly-awry.html |access-date=March 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} the fountain was turned off in the 1980s and subsequently taken apart. The entire island is circled by a publicly accessible waterfront promenade.{{Cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/waterfront-access-map.page |title=Waterfront Access Map |website=www1.nyc.gov |access-date=July 5, 2019 }} Because of its greenery, Roosevelt Island received a Tree City USA designation for several years in the 1990s and 2000s.

File:Roosevelt Island td (2019-11-03) 036 - Firefighters Field.jpg

There are four outdoor recreational fields on Roosevelt Island:{{Cite web |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/285/Fields |title=Fields {{!}} Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York |website=rioc.ny.gov |access-date=July 5, 2019}}

• Capobianco Field, located south of the Roosevelt Island Bridge ramp; measures {{Convert|175|by|230|ft|abbr=}}
• Firefighters Field, located next to the ferry terminal north of Queensboro Bridge; measures {{Convert|303|by|178|ft|abbr=}}
• McManus Field, located across from the New York City Department of Sanitation building at the north end of the island.{{Cite web |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=101 |title=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York |access-date=July 5, 2019 |archive-date=June 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620044531/https://rioc.ny.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=101 |url-status=dead}} Originally known as Octagon Park, it contained soccer, tennis, and baseball facilities, as well as areas for picnics and barbecues. The park was renamed from Octagon Field in October 2019 to honor Jack McManus, the former Chief of the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department.{{cite news |last=Dowling |first=Rachel |url=https://www.mainstreetwire.com/post/2019/10/08/octagon-field-renamed-mcmanus-tensions-remain |title=Octagon Field Renamed McManus, Tensions Remain |work=The Main Street Wire |date=October 8, 2019 |access-date=July 19, 2022 |quote=Last week, over a year after its abrupt closure last August, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) re-opened Octagon Field and re-naming it Jack McManus Field in honor of the recently retired Chief of the Island's Public Safety Department (PSD). |archive-date=July 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719161836/https://www.mainstreetwire.com/post/2019/10/08/octagon-field-renamed-mcmanus-tensions-remain |url-status=dead}}
• Pony Field, located east of the Octagon; measures {{Convert|250|by|230|ft|abbr=}}

The Roosevelt Island Racquet Club is located near the Roosevelt Island Tramway stop{{cite web |date=March 22, 2024 |title=Roosevelt Island Racquet Club – New York Tennis Magazine |url=https://newyorktennismagazine.com/guide/roosevelt-island-racquet-club/ |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=New York Tennis Magazine}}{{cite web |date=July 14, 1991 |title=Postings: Roosevelt Island; Tennis by the Tram |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/14/realestate/postings-roosevelt-island-tennis-by-the-tram.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and was developed in the early 1990s, with 11 courts underneath a pair of domes. Also next to the tram stop is the Sportspark indoor recreation center, with a studio, swimming pool, gym, and recreation room.{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=Sportspark |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/290/SportsPark |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York}} There are additional tennis courts in Octagon Park, next to the Octagon.{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=Tennis Information |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/399/Tennis-Information |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Lin |first=Thomas |date=August 5, 2010 |title=Tennis in New York Is Knowing Where to Look |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/nyregion/06nyctennis.html |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

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Roosevelt Island is served by the New York City Department of Education.{{cite web |title=PS/IS 217 Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M217 |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=New York City Department of Education}} When it was redeveloped as a residential community in the 1970s, the island was planned with up to 16 schools serving grades K-12, each accommodating 180 to 300 students. Roosevelt Island's schools were spread across several apartment buildings.{{cite web |date=April 7, 1974 |title=2 Minischools Open Herein Fall To Serve Roosevelt I. Housing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/07/archives/2-minischools-open-here-in-fall-to-serve-roosevelt-i-housing-a.html |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6M8AAAAMAAJ |title=The Management of Publicly Owned Land in Urban Areas |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |year=1979 |isbn=978-92-64-12008-2 |series=Document (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) |page=56 |access-date=December 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228034215/https://books.google.com/books?id=V6M8AAAAMAAJ |archive-date=December 28, 2023 |url-status=live}} The school system taught fine arts as part of a partnership with Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and each school taught a foreign language as well.

The first school on Roosevelt Island opened in 1975 with a single student and two teachers.{{Cite news |last=Swertlow |first=Eleanor |date=May 8, 1975 |title=Little Red-Ink Schoolhouse |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-little-red-ink-schoolhouse/143821663/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=4}} By the 1980s, the island had five school buildings, each serving two grades. All of the island's schools were combined in 1992 into PS/IS 217 Roosevelt Island School, which is located on Main Street. By the 21st century, PS/IS 217 was the only public school on the island, serving students from pre-kindergarten to grade 8.{{cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Aileen |date=November 5, 2014 |title=The Quiet Manhattan: Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/realestate/the-quiet-manhattan-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} High-school students on the island generally went to schools in Manhattan. The Child School and Legacy High School serves special needs children with learning and emotional disabilities.{{cite web |title=Child School Legacy High School |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0457610D:US |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=Bloomberg}}

In 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that Cornell Tech, a Cornell University-Technion-Israel Institute of Technology graduate school of applied sciences, would be built on the island. The first phase of Cornell Tech opened in 2017.

File:LLRoosevelt.jpg

The New York Public Library (NYPL) operates the Roosevelt Island branch at 504 Main Street.{{cite web |title=About the Roosevelt Island Library |url=https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/roosevelt-island |access-date=March 25, 2019 |website=The New York Public Library}} The library was founded in the 1970s as a volunteer initiative.{{Cite news |last=Coleman |first=Chrisena |date=June 5, 1998 |title=Library to hit big time |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-library-to-hit-big-time/144035967/ |access-date=March 24, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=49}} Two residents, Dorothy and Herman Reade, founded the island's first library within a rented space in 1976; the collection had moved to 625 Main Street by 1977.{{cite web |last=Clines |first=Francis X. |date=September 15, 1977 |title=About New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/15/archives/about-new-york-books-for-roosevelt-islanders.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The Reades' library was unusual in that it used a custom classification system, rather than the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which the Reades did not know much about. The library moved to its own building at 524 Main Street in 1979 or the 1980s. The library on Main Street was named the Dorothy and Herman Reade Library of Roosevelt Island in the early 1980s.{{Cite news |last=Farrell |first=William E. |date=February 4, 1981 |title=About New York; Two Who Created a Library on Roosevelt Island |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/04/nyregion/about-new-york-two-who-created-a-library-on-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313134811/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/04/nyregion/about-new-york-two-who-created-a-library-on-roosevelt-island.html |url-status=live}} Residents originally paid dues to access the library.

The library became a branch of the NYPL system in 1998, allowing the branch to access the NYPL's much larger collection. The Empire State Center for the Book dedicated a plaque on the island in 2016, marking the island's literary connections.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/united/products_services/literarylandmarks/landmarksbyyear/2016/roosevelt |title=Literary Landmark: Roosevelt Island Branch, New York Public Library – various |date=October 19, 2016 |website=United for Libraries |access-date=July 22, 2019 }} The current NYPL branch at 504 Main Street opened in January 2021 and covers {{convert|5,200|ft2}}.{{Cite web |last=Weaver |first=Shaye |date=January 25, 2021 |title=See inside the stunning new public library coming to Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/see-inside-nypls-brand-new-roosevelt-island-branch-012521 |access-date=March 26, 2021 |website=Time Out New York |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Garber |first=Nick |date=January 25, 2021 |title=Roosevelt Island Public Library Opens After Years Of Work |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/roosevelt-island-public-library-opens-after-years-work |access-date=March 26, 2021 |website=Upper East Side, NY Patch |language=en}}

There have been churches and chapels for several Christian denominations on the island.{{cite book |last=Berdy |first=Judith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrzQeLPyvygC&pg=PA37 |title=Roosevelt Island |publisher=Arcadia |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7385-1238-9 |series=Images of America |page=37}} The Chapel of the Good Shepherd, a Late Victorian Gothic style structure, was Roosevelt Island's first church and operated until 1958 as an Episcopal church.{{cite web |date=October 20, 1975 |title=1889 Chapel Is Restored In Rite on Roosevelt I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/20/archives/1889-chapel-is-restored-in-rite-on-roosevelt-i.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=King |first=Martin |date=October 20, 1975 |title=Bagpiper Shepherds an Interfaith Flock |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-bagpiper-shepherds-an-interfa/143817403/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=7}} The chapel reopened in 1975 as a community center. The Chapel of Our Lady, Consoler of the Afflicted dated to 1909 and was a Gothic-style stone building serving the island's Catholic community.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rQOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA646 |title=Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus |year=1908 |page=646 |issue=v. 49}} The Church of the Good Samaritan was developed for the Lutheran community in 1917. Both the Chapel of Our Lady and the Church of the Good Samaritan have since been demolished. At the Metropolitan Hospital was an Episcopal chapel, the Chapel of the Holy Spirit (consecrated 1925), and a Catholic chapel, the Chapel of the Sacred Heart.

Welfare Island originally contained the Council Synagogue, which opened in 1926 and was described as having a "pleasing exterior" and a "simple, dignified interior".{{cite magazine |last=Friend |first=Ida Weis |year=1928 |title=The President's Desk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3TXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7 |access-date=March 18, 2024 |magazine=The Jewish Woman |publisher=Council of Jewish Women |page=7 |issue=v. 8–11}} Following the residential redevelopment, the Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation was founded {{circa|1987}}; the Chabad Lubavitch Center of Roosevelt Island moved into the RIJC's space in 2006.{{cite web |last=Spiro |first=Amy |title='Main Street USA,' Just Across the River |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=April 1, 2010 |url=https://www.jta.org/2010/04/01/ny/main-street-usa-just-across-the-river |access-date=March 18, 2024}} Chabad of Roosevelt Island also operates a Chabad Jewish student organization in association with Cornell Tech, which accommodates many international students from Israel.{{cite web |title=Chabad @ Cornell Tech |url=http://www.rijewish.org/cornelltech |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922224620/http://www.rijewish.org/cornelltech |archive-date=September 22, 2017 |access-date=May 25, 2019 |website=Chabad of Roosevelt Island}} There is also a mosque operated by the Islamic Society of Roosevelt Island.{{cite web |title=Islamic Society of Roosevelt Island |website=Prayers Connect |date=March 18, 2024 |url=https://prayersconnect.com/mosques/84025429-islamic-society-of-roosevelt-island-new-york-new-york-united-states |access-date=March 18, 2024}}

{{multiple image

| align = center

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| header = Roosevelt Island transportation

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| image1 = New Roosevelt tram fr QBB jeh.jpg

| alt1 = A red-colored tram going over a river

| caption1 = Roosevelt Island Tramway car in operation

| image2 = Roosevelt Island Red Bus Orion VII hybrid 2.jpg

| alt2 = Red-colored bus

| caption2 = Roosevelt Island Red Bus at Tramway Plaza

| image3 = NYC Ferry stop on Roosevelt Island.jpg

| alt3 = A ferry loading and unloading passengers at a dock

| caption3 = Astoria route NYC Ferry docked at Roosevelt Island

| image4 = Roosevelt Island IND td (2019-11-03) 01.jpg

| alt4 = Subway train at station

| caption4 = F train at the Roosevelt Island subway station}}

Until its development in the late 20th century, Roosevelt Island was largely inaccessible from the outside world, and a guard banned most visitors, including all children under age 12. The island was accessed solely by rowboat until the early 20th century. Even through the 1950s, the only modes of transit to and from the island were a ferry from 78th Street in Manhattan and an elevator from the Queensboro Bridge.

{{As of|2024}}, the island is accessible via bridge, aerial tramway, ferry, and subway.{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=Transportation |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/339/Transportation |access-date=March 21, 2024 |publisher=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York}} Although the tramway and subway stations are both wheelchair-accessible, both modes of transit can experience outages that occasionally make it impossible for disabled residents to travel to and from the island.{{cite web |last=Kirby |first=David |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; Disabled Say Island Is Even More So With Old Elevators |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 22, 2000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/22/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-disabled-say-island-even-more-so-with-old.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}} Furthermore, despite the existence of several modes of transit, the island still had a reputation for being hard to access during the 21st century.

Although Roosevelt Island is located directly under the Queensboro Bridge, it is no longer directly accessible from the bridge itself. A trolley previously connected passengers from Queens and Manhattan to a stop in the middle of the bridge, where passengers took an elevator down to the island. The trolley operated from the bridge's opening in 1909 until April 7, 1957.{{cite news |title=City's Last Trolley at End of Line; Buses Will Replace 49-Year Route on Queensboro Span |first=Phillips |last=McCandlish |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/04/07/archives/citys-last-trolley-at-end-of-line-buses-will-replace-49year-route.html |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 7, 1957 |page=1 |access-date=August 17, 2008 |archive-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825225857/http://www.nytimes.com/1957/04/07/archives/citys-last-trolley-at-end-of-line-buses-will-replace-49year-route.html |url-status=live}} An elevator building, on the bridge's north side, was finished in 1918{{Cite news |last=Bailey |first=Anthony |date=December 1, 1974 |title=Manhattan's other island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/01/archives/manhattans-other-island-roosevelt-island-a-case-study-in-how-to.html |access-date=October 12, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }} or 1919. The elevator was closed to the public in 1957, after the Roosevelt Island Bridge opened, but was not demolished until 1970.{{cite web |title=Transportation |url=http://www.rioc.com/transportation.htm |access-date=July 10, 2010 |work=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation}} As late as August 1973, another passenger elevator ran from the Queens end of the bridge to the island,{{cite news |last1=Welch |first1=Mary Scott |date=July 2, 1973 |title=Walking the City's Bridges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fx3Di4E5tj8C&pg=PA31 |access-date=March 7, 2015 |magazine=New York |page=31}}{{cite news |last1=Petroff |first1=John |date=August 27, 1973 |title=Bridge Bits" (letter to the editor) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOYCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA5 |access-date=March 7, 2015 |magazine=New York |page=5}}

The Roosevelt Island Bridge, a vertical-lift bridge over the East River's eastern channel to Astoria, Queens, opened in 1955. It is the only vehicular route to the island{{cite web |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; . . . and a Recommendation to Make Its Only Bridge an Immovable Object |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 14, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/14/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-recommendation-make-its-only-bridge.html |access-date=March 24, 2024}} and also contains a sidewalk.{{cite web |title=Bridges over Smaller Waterways |website=NYC DOT |date=January 1, 1980 |url=https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/infrastructure/bridges-misc.shtml |access-date=March 20, 2024}} News media said in 2001 that the bridge was almost never lifted,{{cite web |last=Lippincott |first=E.E. |title=R.I. Bridge From Queens Will Be Converted To Fixed Status |website=Queens Chronicle |date=January 11, 2001 |url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/r-i-bridge-from-queens-will-be-converted-to-fixed-status/article_b8d3f7e6-012e-5255-b3a3-bdccbe7f47ab.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}} though it was lifted more frequently starting in the 2000s. There is a bike lane on the bridge.{{cite web |title=Roosevelt Island Bridge bike lane now covered for a safer, smoother ride |website=amNewYork |date=December 13, 2022 |url=https://www.amny.com/transit/roosevelt-island-bridge-bike-lane-now-covered-for-a-safer-smoother-ride/ |access-date=March 28, 2024}}

Roosevelt Island's main parking facility is the Motorgate Garage, which was designed by the firm of Kallman & McKinnell and originally had 1,000 parking spaces. It is designed in a brutalist style, with a concrete facade, and also included the island's first post office and fire station.{{harvnb|ps=.|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|p=652}} There are also parking meters along Main Street,{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/299/Driving |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Driving}}{{harvnb|ps=.|U.S. Government Printing Office|1998|page=129}} but parking is limited to 20 minutes. Since 2020, the island has also had Citi Bike bikeshare stations.{{cite press release |last=Kallos |first=Ben |title=Citi Bike Stations Arrive on Roosevelt Island Just in Time for Summer 2020 |website=Ben Kallos, New York City Council Member |date=June 24, 2020 |url=https://benkallos.com/press-release/citi-bike-stations-arrive-roosevelt-island-just-time-summer-2020 |access-date=March 28, 2024}}

The New York City Subway's 63rd Street Line was proposed in 1965 with a station directly serving the island. Service on the 63rd Street Line began in October 1989, but the line had no direct subway access to much of Queens until 2001.{{cite news |last=Kershaw |first=Sarah |date=December 17, 2001 |title=V Train Begins Service Today, Giving Queens Commuters Another Option |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/17/nyregion/v-train-begins-service-today-giving-queens-commuters-another-option.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817095436/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/17/nyregion/v-train-begins-service-today-giving-queens-commuters-another-option.html |archive-date=August 17, 2020 |access-date=October 16, 2011 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=F1}} The line's Roosevelt Island station (served by the {{NYCS trains|63rd IND}}) is one of the deepest stations below sea level in the system, at more than {{convert|100|ft|m}} below ground level.{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2013 |title=The Deepest and Highest Subway Stations in NYC: 191st St, 190th Street, Smith & 9th |url=http://untappedcities.com/2013/06/26/deepest-highest-subway-stations-nyc/ |access-date=June 12, 2017 |website=Untapped Cities}} The BMT 60th Street Tunnel ({{NYCS trains|Broadway 60th}}) and the IND 53rd Street Line ({{NYCS trains|Queens 53rd}}) both pass under Roosevelt Island, without stopping, on their way between Manhattan and Queens.{{NYCS const|trackref|v}} There are emergency exit shafts to the island from both the 53rd Street and 60th Street tunnels.{{cite news |date=February 21, 1965 |title=2 Welfare Island Shafts Already Reach Subways |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=R10 |id={{ProQuest|116785436}}}}

The Roosevelt Island Tramway was proposed in the 1970s after delays in the subway's construction.{{Cite news |last=Holcomb |first=Charles |date=September 18, 1977 |title=Roosevelt Island is a NYC success story |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-reporter-dispatch-roosevelt-island-i/135502397/ |access-date=November 20, 2023 |work=The Reporter Dispatch |pages=6 }} It was completed in May 1976, providing access to Midtown Manhattan,{{Cite news |last=Ferretti |first=Fred |date=May 18, 1976 |title=Aerial Tram Ride to Roosevelt Island Is Opened With a Splash-on O'Dwyer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/18/archives/aerial-tram-ride-to-roosevelt-island-is-opened-with-a-splashon.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118204551/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/18/archives/aerial-tram-ride-to-roosevelt-island-is-opened-with-a-splashon.html |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |access-date=November 18, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=May 18, 1976 |title=Come On & Take the A Tram! |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-come-on-take-the-a-tram/135497635/ |access-date=November 20, 2023 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=3 }} and had been intended as a temporary mode of transport until the subway station opened. The tram was completely reconstructed in 2010.{{cite web |last=Grynbaum |first=Michael M. |date=November 30, 2010 |title=Roosevelt Island Tramway Reopens After Renovations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/nyregion/01tram.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318145742/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/nyregion/01tram.html |archive-date=March 18, 2013 |access-date=October 31, 2017 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 }}

When the island was being redeveloped in the 1970s, the UDC had planned to operate 20-seat electric minibuses there.{{cite web |date=May 23, 1973 |title=20 Seat, Battery-Run Minibuses Studied for Welfare Island Community. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/05/23/archives/20-seat-batteryrun-minibuses-studied-for-welfare-island-community.html |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|551617316}} |title=Electric Bus Tries Out in Manhattan; May Be Used in Planned Community |date=May 23, 1973 |page=61 |work=The Hartford Courant |issn=1047-4153}} {{As of|2023}}, MTA Bus's {{NYC bus link|Q102}} route operates between the island and Queens, making a loop around Roosevelt Island.{{Cite NYC bus map|Q}}{{cite web |date=November 7, 2014 |title=RIOC Red Bus & Q102 |url=https://rioc.ny.gov/298/Bus |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York}} RIOC also operates the Red Bus, a shuttle bus service that circulates around the island. The latter service is fare-free,{{Cite news |last=Bashan |first=Yoni |date=April 3, 2014 |title=Save Your Change: This Ride on New York's Roosevelt Island is Free |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304441304579477862046443926.html |access-date=September 1, 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |language=en-US }} connecting apartment buildings to the subway and tramway.{{cite book |last1=Ramasubramanian |first1=L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYQ_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |title=Essential Methods for Planning Practitioners: Skills and Techniques for Data Analysis, Visualization, and Communication |last2=Albrecht |first2=J. |publisher=Springer International Publishing |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-68041-5 |series=The Urban Book Series |page=64 |access-date=March 18, 2024}}

A ferry service ran from Welfare Island to Manhattan from 1935 to June 1956,{{cite web |title=Ferry Depot Doomed; Razing of Welfare island Terminal Due in 2 Weeks |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 3, 1957 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/10/03/archives/ferry-depot-doomed-razing-of-welfare-island-terminal-due-in-2-weeks.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} although the island's old ferry terminal remained standing for several years.{{cite web |title=Old Ferry Slip Rots on Welfare Island |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 30, 1959 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/05/30/archives/old-ferry-slip-rots-on-welfare-island.html |access-date=April 1, 2024}} A ferry route ran directly to Lower Manhattan briefly during 1986.{{cite web |last=Brooke |first=James |date=August 13, 1986 |title=Roosevelt Island-Wall St. Run Joins Ferry Revival |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/13/nyregion/roosevelt-island-wall-st-run-joins-ferry-revival.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Hayden |first=Van A. |date=August 13, 1986 |title=From Roosevelt Island, Ship-to-Shore Service |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-from-roosevelt/135576753/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231122031617/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-from-roosevelt/135576753/ |archive-date=November 22, 2023 |access-date=November 22, 2023 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |pages=17}} Roosevelt Island has been served by NYC Ferry's Astoria route since August 2017.{{Cite news |url=http://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-ferry-s-astoria-launch-expected-to-dramatically-reduce-some-commutes-1.14095778 |title=Astoria's NYC Ferry route launches Tuesday |last=Barone |first=Vin |date=August 28, 2017 |work=am New York |access-date=August 28, 2017 |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829023251/http://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-ferry-s-astoria-launch-expected-to-dramatically-reduce-some-commutes-1.14095778 |archive-date=August 29, 2017 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170829/astoria/nyc-ferry-astoria-route-launch-aug-29 |title=SEE IT: NYC Ferry Service Launches New Astoria Route |last=Evelly |first=Jeanmarie |date=August 29, 2017 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830005457/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170829/astoria/nyc-ferry-astoria-route-launch-aug-29 |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 29, 2017}} The ferry landing is on the east side of the island near the tramway station.{{Cite web |title=Routes and Schedules: Astoria |url=https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/astoria/ |access-date=August 30, 2017 |website=ferry.nyc |publisher=NYC Ferry by Hornblower}}

File:Taylor Map - Roosevelt Island.jpg in {{circa|1879}}]]

• George Appo – pickpocket and con artist{{cite book |first=Timothy J. |last=Gilfoyle |title=A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York |publisher=W. W. Norton Company |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-393-32989-6}}
• Ethel Byrne – sentenced to 30 days for distribution of information about birth control;{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=H.L. |title=Encyclopedia of Sex and Sexuality: Understanding Biology, Psychology, and Culture |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=979-8-216-14384-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkXPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT484 |access-date=April 4, 2024 |page=484}} became the first woman in the U.S. ever to be force-fed in prison after going on a hunger strike there{{cite book |last1=Loue |first1=S. |last2=Sajatovic |first2=M. |title=Encyclopedia of Women's Health |publisher=Springer US |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-306-48073-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbHWgd-mDbsC&pg=PA127 |access-date=April 4, 2024 |page=127}}
• Ida Craddock – convicted for obscenity under the Comstock laws{{cite journal |last=Burton |first=Shirley J. |title=Obscene, Lewd, and Lascivious: Ida Craddock and the Criminally Obscene Women of Chicago, 1873–1913 |journal=Michigan Historical Review |publisher=Central Michigan University |volume=19 |issue=1 |year=1993 |issn=0890-1686 |jstor=20173370 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.2307/20173370 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20173370 |access-date=March 25, 2024}}
• Ann O'Delia Diss Debar – served six months for fraud as a medium{{cite web |title=Sent to the Island.; Ann O'Delia and Her Consort Get Six Months Each |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 19, 1888 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/06/19/archives/sent-to-the-island-ann-odelia-and-her-consort-get-six-months-each.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}}
• George Washington Dixon – served six months for libel against Reverend Francis L. Hawks{{cite book |last=Cockrell |first=Dale |title=Demons of Disorder |publisher=Cambridge University Press |publication-place=Cambridge; New York |date=July 28, 1997 |isbn=978-0-521-56828-9 |page=126}}
• Fritz Duquesne – Nazi spy and leader of the Duquesne Spy Ring, the largest convicted espionage case in United States history{{cite magazine |title=Milestones, Jun. 4, 1956 |magazine=Time |date=June 4, 1956 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,867000,00.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}}
• Becky Edelson – for "using threatening language" during a speech{{cite web |title=Free Becky Edelson; Funeral Plans Off; Friends Give a Bond for Agitator Who Has Been on a Hunger Strike in Prison |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 21, 1914 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/08/21/archives/free-becky-edelson-funeral-plans-off-friends-give-a-bond-for.html |access-date=April 5, 2024}}
• Carlo de Fornaro – for criminal libel{{cite web |title=De Fornaro Must Serve His Sentence; Certificate of Reasonable Doubt Denied in Caricaturist's Conviction for Libel |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 28, 1909 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/11/28/archives/de-fornaro-must-serve-his-sentence-certificate-of-reasonable-doubt.html |access-date=March 25, 2024}}
• Emma Goldman – several times, for activities in support of anarchism and birth control and against the World War I draft{{cite web |title=American Experience |website=PBS |date=December 19, 2017 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldman-she-fought-law/ |access-date=March 25, 2024}}
• Billie Holiday – served on prostitution charges{{cite magazine |last=Meares |first=Hadley Hall |title=Good Morning Heartache: The Life and Blues of Billie Holiday |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=February 8, 2021 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/02/billie-holiday-biography-lady-sings-the-blues |access-date=March 25, 2024}}
• Mary Jones – 19th-century transgender prostitute who was a center of media attention for coming to court wearing feminine attire{{Cite web |title=The "Man-Monster" by Jonathan Ned Katz · Peter Sewally/Mary Jones, June 11, 1836 · OutHistory: It's About Time |url=http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/sewally-jones/man-monster |access-date=July 14, 2020 |website=outhistory.org}}
• Eugene Reising – firearms designer convicted of violating the Sullivan Act{{Cite news |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47894009/4-in-cowboy-gang-up-for-pleading/ |title=4 in Cowboy Gang Up for Pleading |newspaper=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |page=2 |date=October 28, 1925 |access-date=April 2, 2020}}
• Madame Restell – for performing abortions{{Cite news |date=December 14, 2023 |title=Review | The story of a 19th-century firebrand who stood up to abortion foes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/12/11/abortion-madame-restell-book-review/ |access-date=March 25, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}
• Margaret Sanger – sentenced to 30 days for distribution of information about birth control; jailed after her sister Ethel Byrne{{cite web |title=Mrs. Sanger Starts Term; Her Sister, Mrs. Byrne, Condemns Conditions on Island. |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 7, 1917 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/02/07/archives/mrs-sanger-starts-term-her-sister-mrs-byrne-condemns-conditions-on.html |access-date=April 4, 2024}}
• Boss Tweed – served one year on corruption-related charges; had a private room and secretary on the island
• Mae West – served eight days on public obscenity charges for her play Sex{{cite magazine |last=Meares |first=Hadley Hall |title="When I'm Bad, I'm Better": Mae West's Sensational Life, in Her Own Words |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=June 16, 2020 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/06/mae-west-autobiography-scandal. |access-date=March 25, 2024}}

• Charles Dickens – described conditions at the "Octagon", an asylum for the mentally ill then located on the northern portion of the island, in his American Notes (1842)
• William Wallace Sanger – physician-in-chief at the Blackwell's Island Hospital,{{cite book |last1=Klem |first1=M. |last2=McDowell |first2=M. |title=Pity for Evil: Suffrage, Abortion, and Women's Empowerment in Reconstruction America |publisher=Encounter Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-64177-340-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8TOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |page=42}} wrote here the book The History of Prostitution including his experiences as physician-in-chief{{Cite book |last=Sanger |first=William Wallace |title=The History of Prostitution: Its Extent, Causes and Effects throughout the World |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-7524-2830-8 |publication-date=April 1, 1859}}
• Joseph Lister - near the end of his trip to the United States, performed an operation at Charity Hospital on Blackwell's Island (1876){{harvnb|Horn|2018|ps=.|page=204}}
• Nellie Bly – went undercover as a patient in the Women's Lunatic Asylum and reported what happened in the New York World as well as her book Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887){{cite web |last=Markel |first=Dr. Howard |date=May 5, 2018 |title=How Nellie Bly went undercover to expose abuse of the mentally ill |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-nellie-bly-went-undercover-to-expose-abuse-of-the-mentally-ill |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=PBS NewsHour}}
• Egon Erwin Kisch – visited the Welfare Island penitentiary under a false name (Mister Becker) for the report "Prisons on an Island on East River" as part of his reportage Volume "Paradise America" (1930){{cite book |last1=Kisch |first1=E.E. |last2=Segel |first2=H.B. |title=Egon Erwin Kisch, the Raging Reporter: A Bio-anthology |publisher=Purdue University Press |series=Central European Studies |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-55753-100-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BB3AicjSyLwC&pg=PA40 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |page=40}}

{{Category see also|Category:People from Roosevelt Island}}

• Kofi Annan (1938–2018) – United Nations Secretary-General{{cite news |title=Roosevelt Island Pitch: Better than the 'Burbs |first=Craig |last=Karmin |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703467304575383182822078818 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |date=July 23, 2010 |access-date=January 23, 2011 }}
• Michelle Bachelet (born 1951) – president of Chile and Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women){{cite news |last1=Insunza |first1=Andrea |url=http://www.quepasa.cl/articulo/politica/2013/10/19-13029-9-cuanto-ha-cambiado-bachelet.shtml |date=October 24, 2013 |access-date=October 25, 2013 |newspaper=Qué Pasa |title=Cuánto ha cambiado Bachelet |last2=Ortega |first2=Javier |language=es}}
• Jonah Bobo (born 1997) – actor{{cite news |last=Bechet |first=Matilde |url=https://theithacan.org/life-culture/senior-composes-and-plans-original-musical/ |title=Senior composes and plans original musical |work=The Ithacan |date=February 27, 2019 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Though a musical seems grandiose and monumental under the pageantry of performance and bright stage lights, every production begins with just an idea. For senior Jonah Bobo, the idea for him to write his own musical came nearly three years ago.... Hayat, a playwright and graduate from SUNY Purchase, grew up in Roosevelt Island, New York, a few houses down from Bobo, her brother's friend.}}
• Michael Brodsky (born 1948) – author{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Joshua |date=April 2008 |url=http://www.zeek.net/804fiction/ |title=The Bank Teller's Game – Michael Brodsky |website=Zeek |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Called by Library Journal 'one of the most important writers working today,' Michael Brodsky is very much a writer for an idealized tomorrow. He was born in the Bronx in 1951, and lives in the seclusion nearest to Manhattan, namely Roosevelt Island.}}
• Perry Chen (born 1976) – entrepreneur, best known for being the creator and principal founder of Kickstarter, the online crowdfunding platform for creative ideas{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Eric |title=Kickstarter co-founder Perry Chen's advice to startup founders and investors: Don't lie to each other |website=Vox |date=May 3, 2019 |url=https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/3/18527504/kickstarter-perry-chen-startup-founder-investor-lie-fred-wilson-usv-peter-kafka-media-podcasst |access-date=April 5, 2024 |quote=No, I grew up in the city, but I grew up on Roosevelt Island, actually.}}
• Alice Childress (1912–1994) – playwright and author{{cite news |last=Ashley |first=Dottie |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92276330/the-columbia-record/ |title=Playwright Comes 'Home' |work=The Columbia Record |date=October 12, 1977 |access-date=July 19, 2022 |quote=Ms Childress now lives on the recently renewed Roosevelt Island a small community of modern apartment buildings and swimming pools in the middle of Manhattan's East River.}}
• Billy Crawford (born 1982) – singer, songwriter and actor{{cite news |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/03/12/18/billy-coleen-address-racist-prenup-photos |title=Billy, Coleen address 'racist' prenup photos |work=ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs |date=March 12, 2018 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Crawford also assured the public that he is familiar with racism, and said they mean no harm. 'I grew up in a very diverse city (Roosevelt Island), and had experienced bullying and racism in my youth because of my being "an Asian." Trust me, we meant no harm,' he said.}}
• Roy Eaton (born 1930) – pianist{{Cite web |date=June 17, 2019 |title=Biography |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/roy-f-eaton |access-date=August 11, 2020 |website=The History Makers}}
• Mike Epps (born 1970) – stand-up comedian, actor, film producer, writer and rapper, best known for playing Day-Day Jones in Next Friday and its sequel, Friday After Next{{cite web |url=https://hiphopun.com/entertainment/mike-epps-unleashes-the-pain-on-a-heckler-during-his-live-routine/ |title=Mike Epps Unleashes His Wrath On A Heckler!! |work=Hip Hop News Uncensored |date=August 2, 2018 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Epps was born on November 18, 1970 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Epps family moved to Roosevelt Island, New York when he was young.}}
• Paul Feinman (1960–2021) – associate judge of the New York Court of Appeals{{cite news |author-link=James C. McKinley Jr. |last=McKinley Jr. |first=James C. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/nyregion/paul-feinman-court-of-appeals-gay-judge.html |title=First Openly Gay Judge Confirmed for New York's Highest Court |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 21, 2017 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=So the choice of Paul G. Feinman, an associate justice of the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, to fill the seat left open by the death of Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam in April was a watershed for gay New Yorkers.... Justice Feinman and his husband, Robert Ostergaard, a web publisher, live on Roosevelt Island.}}
• Wendy Fitzwilliam (born 1972) – former Miss Universe and Miss Trinidad and Tobago{{cite web |title=Thank You Letters of Secretary-General to Goodwill Ambassadors |url=https://search.archives.un.org/uploads/r/united-nations-archives/b/0/f/b0f31283807b5345f1c9a0facf08e68c9598383feace11fb2f61e33d456a6775/S-1093-0096-06-00029.pdf |website=United Nations Archives Search Engine |publisher=United Nations Archives and Records Management Section |access-date=July 19, 2021 |date=November 10, 2000 |quote=Ms. Wendy Fitzwilliam 40 River Road #16J Roosevelt Island, NY 10044}}
• Amanda Forsythe (born 1976) – light lyric soprano known for her interpretations of baroque music and the works of Rossini{{cite news |last=Dyer |first=Richard |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/12/31/soprano_amanda_forsythe_voices_her_love_of_opera?pg=full |title=Soprano Amanda Forsythe voices her love of opera |work=The Boston Herald |date=December 31, 2004 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Forsythe was elegant, poised, focused, and determined as she talked recently about her emerging career. She grew up on Roosevelt Island, alongside Manhattan, and sang in high school choirs without ever taking her vocal potential very seriously.}}
• Buddy Hackett (1924–2003) – comedian and actor{{cite news |last=Trott |first=William C. |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/13/HACKETT-GOES-TO-SEA/2682524289600/ |title=Hackett Goes To Sea |website=United Press International |date=August 13, 1986 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Buddy Hackett loves his Roosevelt Island. He got up early Tuesday to be on the maiden voyage of a ferry that runs from the island down the East River to Wall Street on Manhattan. The rotund comedian lives on Roosevelt when in New York City and said he wanted to be on the ferry's 'maiden voyage because I want to go down in history like Christopher Columbus.'}}
• Anna-Maria Henckel von Donnersmarck (born 1940) – German political activist
• Count Leo-Ferdinand Henckel von Donnersmarck (1935–2009) – German businessman and official of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
• Count Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (born 1973) – German film director{{cite magazine |last=Goodyear |first=Dana |title=An Artist's Life, Refracted in Film |magazine=The New Yorker |date=January 14, 2019 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/21/an-artists-life-refracted-in-film |access-date=April 5, 2024 |quote=Donnersmarck's father was among the first in the family to need a job. He became an executive at Lufthansa, and when Florian was one and his brother, Sebastian, was three the family moved to Roosevelt Island, as part of a social experiment to establish an economically diverse colony on 'Welfare Island.'}}
• Tim Keller (1950–2023) – Christian author and minister{{cite web |last=Hooper |first=Joshua |date=November 25, 2009 |title=Tim Keller Wants to Save Your Yuppie Soul |url=http://nymag.com/news/features/62374/ |access-date=August 13, 2019 |website=New York |quote=On a sunny morning not long ago, Keller greets me at his upper-floor apartment on Roosevelt Island and ushers me into his study.}}
• Al Lewis (1923–2006) – actor, best known as "Grandpa" in The Munsters{{cite web |url=http://www.manhattanstyle.com/manhattan-ny/roosevelt-island/ |title=Roosevelt Island |first=Alexander |last=Homme |date=October 30, 2009 |website=Manhattan Style |quote=Al Lewis was also known as the unofficial mayor of Roosevelt Island |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008202431/http://www.manhattanstyle.com/manhattan-ny/roosevelt-island/ |archive-date=October 8, 2011}}{{cite news |url=http://old.nyc10044.com/wire/2702/AlLewisMemorial.html |work=The Main Street Wire |date=September 23, 2006 |title=With Style, a Goodbye to Grampa Al |first=Bret |last=Senft |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075944/http://old.nyc10044.com/wire/2702/AlLewisMemorial.html |archive-date=April 7, 2014}}
• Sarah Jessica Parker (born 1965) – actress{{Cite web |last=Nussbaum |first=Emily |date=May 2, 2008 |title=How 'Sex and the City' Made Sarah Jessica Parker the Poster Girl for the New Manhattan – New York Magazine – Nymag |url=https://nymag.com/movies/profiles/46660/ |access-date=June 3, 2023 |website=New York Magazine |language=en-us}}
• Andrea Rosen (born 1974) – comedian{{cite web |publisher=The Apiary |url=http://www.theapiary.org/archives/2007/10/inside_with_and_1.html |title=Inside With: Andrea Rosen |first=Eliot |last=Glazer |date=October 11, 2007 |access-date=February 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210024907/http://www.theapiary.org/archives/2007/10/inside_with_and_1.html |archive-date=February 10, 2008 |url-status=dead}}
• Jon Sciambi (born 1970) – ESPN broadcaster{{cite web |last=Brown |first=David |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/aa-qa-jon-sciambi-talks-baseball-redheads-the-espn-tv-job-he-didnt-get-and-the-als-charity-he-helped-to-start.html |title=AA Q&A: Jon Sciambi talks baseball, redheads, the ESPN TV job he didn't get and the ALS charity he helped to start |website=Awful Announcing |date=May 18, 2018 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=Jon Sciambi grew up in a unique part of New York City, playing ball on tiny Roosevelt Island and rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies.}}
• Lyndsey Scott – model, actress, iOS mobile app software developer{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Barbara |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/victoria-secret-model-airbnb-suit-defends-nyc-apartment-article-1.2772971 |title=Victoria's Secret model being sued for 'misleading' Airbnb listing defends her Roosevelt Island apartment |work=New York Daily News |date=August 31, 2016 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |quote=That's what a Victoria's Secret model insisted Wednesday about her Roosevelt Island apartment that was the subject of a new lawsuit by an unhappy Airbnb customer. However, the model, Lyndsey Scott, said she 'acknowledges' the complaints of attorney Christian Pugaczewski and is 'working closely with Airbnb to ensure that this is settled in a fair and just manner.'}}

• List of islands of New York (state)
• List of Manhattan neighborhoods

{{clear}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | title=The forests and wetlands of New York City |last=Barlow |first= Elizabeth |publisher=Boston, Little, Brown | via=Internet Archive | date=1971 | url=https://archive.org/details/forestswetlandso0000roge_o9g4/page/122/mode/2up}}
• {{cite landmarks |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o8ym5NeiylkC&pg=PA84 84–85]}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7k4n-4_hcwMC&pg=PA129 |title=Governors Island: Options for Reuse After Federal Government Departure : Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, First Session, July 14, 1997 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-16-056314-0 |ref={{harvid|U.S. Government Printing Office|1998}}}}
• {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/894.pdf |title=An Archaeological Evaluation of the Northtown Phase II Project Area, Roosevelt Island, New York |last=Geismar |first=Joan H. |publisher=The Starrett Housing Development Corporation |via=nyc.gov}}
• {{cite book |last=Horn |first=Stacy |title=Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York |publisher=Algonquin Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-61620-828-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZ00DwAAQBAJ}}
• {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/395.pdf |title=Board of Education: Roosevelt Island School Site PS/IS 217 CEQR No. 88-102M (Revised) Archaeological Assessment Report |last1=Kearns |first1=Betsy |last2=Kirkorian |first2=Cece |date=July 31, 1989 |publisher=Historical Perspectives |last3=Schaefer |first3=Richard |via=nyc.gov}}
• {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1431.pdf |title=Phase 1a Archaeological Documentary Study Cornell NYC Tech Roosevelt Island Campus Block 1373, Lot 20 and Block 1371, Lot 1 (part), New York, New York |publisher=AKRF Inc. |date=March 2012 |via=nyc.gov|ref={{harvid|AKRF Inc.|2012}}}}
• {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/487.pdf |title=Phase 1a Archaeological Study Installation of Duct Banks South End of Roosevelt Island New York, New York |publisher=Louis Berger & Associates Inc. |date=April 1998 |via=nyc.gov|ref={{harvid|Louis Berger & Associates Inc.|1998}}}}
• {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1091.pdf |title=Phase 1a Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment for Southpoint Park Roosevelt Island New York, New York |publisher=John Milner Associates Inc. |date=November 2007 |via=nyc.gov|ref={{harvid|John Milner Associates Inc.|2007}}}}
• {{cite book |last1=Seitz |first1=Sharon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRjMPZW4heMC&pg=PA203 |title=The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide |last2=Miller |first2=Stuart |publisher=Countryman Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-58157-886-7 |edition=Third}}
• {{Cite NY2000}}
• {{Cite NY1960}}
• {{Cite aia5}}

{{Commons category|Roosevelt Island}}

{{Wikivoyage|Manhattan/Roosevelt Island}}

• {{official website|http://rioc.ny.gov/}} for RIOC, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
• [http://rioc.recdesk.com/ Parks & Recreation] Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation's website for Events, memberships, permits
• [http://www.riraonline.com/ Roosevelt Island Residents Association]
• [https://www.loc.gov/item/00694366#about-this-item 1903 Panorama of Blackwell's Island, N.Y.], Library of Congress, Thomas A. Edison motion picture
• [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/173995 The Island Nobody Knows], a fully digitized exhibition catalog about Roosevelt Island from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries

{{Roosevelt Island}}

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Category:Car-free islands of the United States

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