Roosevelt Island, anchored in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens (but officially a part of Manhattan), is a neighborhood apart. Only two miles long and 800 feet wide at its broadest, it draws scores of visitors for its relative tranquility—and the scenic cable car ride over—though this is a relatively new phenomenon. In fact, the island previously served as a quarantine site for criminals, people with mental illnesses and smallpox victims before being abandoned in 1950s and redeveloped (and renamed, after periods as Blackwell’s Island and Welfare Island) in the 1970s as one of the City’s most desirable places to live.
It’s now home to some 12,000 lucky residents, as well as a shiny new Cornell Tech campus and rows of cherry trees that burst with frothy pink blossoms in April and May. Studded with monuments and art installations, and ringed by waterside trails that provide magnificent panoramas of Manhattan, it’s a fun place to navigate on foot, especially with car traffic limited (most visitors and even locals use public transport)—and it’s easy to get a feel for quickly. Read on for the best way to spend a day on the island, though you can mix and match this itinerary for a shorter visit.
Roosevelt Island Tram. Photo: Brittany Petronella
Take the Tram
Roosevelt Island is connected to the rest of the City by subway (F Line) and public bus, but the best way to arrive is on the Roosevelt Island Tramway, which leaves from East 60th Street and Second Avenue. This giant cable car soars high above Manhattan streets and the East River every 7–15 minutes: stand up front for sky-high views of the island, on the right for Queensboro Bridge or at the back and on the left for unobstructed views of Upper Manhattan and the East River.
On arrival take a selfie next to the large “RI” sign and pop into the Roosevelt Island Visitor Center Kiosk, before strolling beneath the bridge and heading south along the river. Opposite lie the gleaming skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan—in the mornings the sun is behind you, perfect for photos.
Cornell Tech. Photo: Max Touhey
Cornell Tech
Make a detour along “Tech Walk” to admire the futuristic Cornell Tech campus, the island’s newest feature, which opened in 2017. The Bloomberg Center features a copper facade of tiny discs, some 337,500 pixelated tabs that help regulate its internal temperature, while the cantilevered glass wings of the Tata Innovation Center are topped with solar panels. Grab a coffee or snack at The Café before strolling south across Cornell Hills. A sandy trail leads through these man-made hillocks, the only place on the island you can spy both sides of the East River; you can also get a complete view of the Queensboro Bridge.
Smallpox Hospital. Photo: Brittany Petronella
Southpoint Park
From the hills, bear left to Southpoint Park, framed by the shiny towers of Hunters Point across the river (look for the neon Pepsi-Cola sign). Follow the riverside pathway along the edge of this tranquil green space, a favorite with foraging Canada geese. You’ll spot a handsome gray stone and redbrick building, the Strecker Memorial Laboratory, which was built in 1892 and now serves as a power station for the subway.
Beyond the lab you’ll swing over to the other side of the park, passing the Cat Sanctuary (which looks like a fenced-in two-story dollhouse). Operated by the Wildlife Freedom Foundation, it’s home to the island’s population of feral felines—you’ll usually see cats lounging on the deck. Around the corner stands the imposing Gothic shell of the Smallpox Hospital, opened in 1856 to designs by architect James Renwick Jr, better known for Manhattan landmark St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The ivy-smothered ruins, abandoned in the 1950s, have been stabilized but remain off limits.
Four Freedoms Park. Photo: Brittany Petronella
Four Freedoms Park
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, designed by architect Louis Kahn in the 1970s but only completed in 2012, takes up the southern tip of the island. It’s a Zen-like space and contemplative memorial to the 32nd president: a long triangular lawn lined with 120 linden trees, culminating with a large bronze bust of FDR and his “four freedoms” engraved into a large slab of granite.
Stick to the west side of the island as you stroll back north, soaking up the Manhattan cityscape—the UN complex is quite prominent—and the island’s prettiest row of cherry trees. On the way, check out the FDR Hope Memorial, a sculpture of Roosevelt in a wheelchair greeting a girl on crutches, on the west side of Southpoint Park. When you reach the Meditation Steps, a series of wooden benches overlooking the river, head inland.
Blackwell House. Courtesy, Roosevelt Island Historical Society
Blackwell House
Set in a small park opposite those steps, Blackwell House is a real surprise, a charming white clapboard cottage surrounded by modern concrete high-rises. It was built in 1796 for farmer and one-time owner of the island James Blackwell; the house has been lovingly restored in period style, with the interior containing historic photos, paintings and artifacts related to the island’s past (when staffed, usually open Wed.–Sun.; call 212-832-4540 to check).
Chapel of the Good Shepherd. Courtesy, Roosevelt Island Historical Society
The Shops on Main
North of Blackwell House lies the central section of Main Street, the heart of the island since its reinvention as a residential neighborhood in the 1970s. The architecture is somewhat monotonous but enlivened by the Shops on Main, with plenty of restaurants for lunch and assorted other stores for on-the-go needs. Don’t miss the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, like the Blackwell House an incongruous historic gem. This redbrick Victorian was built in 1889 and now functions primarily as a community center. The tiny Roosevelt Island Farmers Market takes place in the chapel plaza on Saturdays (6am–3pm).
North Island
The island’s free Red Bus zips north from the stop opposite the chapel, but you can also walk 10 minutes up to the Roosevelt Island Garden Club, a flower-strewn community garden open to the public on weekends (Apr. 15–Oct. 15). The bus terminates outside the Octagon Tower, a striking domed gneiss structure built in 1838 as the admin center for the New York Lunatic Asylum, Gotham’s original Arkham. Restored in 2006, it’s part of a fancy apartment complex, but you can take a peep inside the lobby to see the spiral staircases and cavernous rotunda (no pics though).
Lighthouse Park. Courtesy, Roosevelt Island Historical Society
Lighthouse Park
There are fine views of the neo-Gothic Roosevelt Island Lighthouse (1872), a stone spire rising some 50 feet, as you approach on the eastern riverside pathway. The site is enhanced by a haunting installation, Amanda Matthews’ The Girl Puzzle, comprising five giant 7-foot bronze faces and three stainless steel spheres. The piece honors Nellie Bly, a pioneering journalist who went undercover to expose the mistreatment of patients at the nearby asylum in her book Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887).
West Promenade
It’s a short bus ride from the Octagon back to the island center, but those with energy should head there along the West Promenade to soak up those Manhattan views. En route you’ll pass The Sanctuary, a former 1920s church that’s now one of the City’s most desirable wedding venues; The Prow, a stage and observation platform in the shape of a boat prow overlooking the river; and a small bronze statue of mythical river goddess Sabrina. Look out also for three quirky sculptures, in the water just below the promenade, that make up The Marriage of Money and Real Estate (1996), by Brooklyn-based artist Tom Otterness. Across the water, you’ll see the distinctive David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care, a huge pile of stripy overhangs and silver cubes, next to the old East 74th Street steam power station, a massive redbrick edifice with giant Romanesque arched windows.
Panorama Room. Courtesy, Graduate Hotel
Drinks at Sundown
Back at Cornell Tech make for the Graduate New York hotel and ascend for drinks with a view at the Panorama Room rooftop bar, which opens at 5pm. Watch the lights of Manhattan flicker on over a cocktail or two from inside the glassy space or out on the terrace. You can also eat at the hotel’s hip all-day restaurant, Anything at All, down in the lobby.
Roosevelt Island. Photo: Brittany Petronella
A Scenic Return
Head back on the subway or return to the tram and grab a prime position at the front. From here all of Midtown is laid out before you, a blaze of bright lights and neon as night falls.
