My grandmother moved to Roosevelt Island in 1989 and i spent most of the 90s as a kid growing up visiting her there. It was an oasis in NYC and truly memorable and unique. I really loved it and even though she has passed away, the island is forever etched with my memories of her. Love you Grandma.
born n raised here since 04, and i say i hit the jackpot. you get the small town vibe, but still can reap all the advantages of the city life because its so easy to get to downtown manhattan or brooklyn
Visited the island in 2014 rode the cable car, took the bus round. I did notice how quite and peaceful the place is. Thank you for bring back a great memory. Cheers from Australia.
@@lookoutforchris noh i think youtube is taking too long to refresh for your comment to appear sometimes but when i go to my comment history i can see it there, they folling behind, this didn't used to happen a while ago, shadow banning is also a thing, if i do a stand alone comment on a video not as a reply to another comment, nobody can see it. LOL 🤔🙄😅 they freaking made me invisible only i can see it, i used a different account to check and i couldn't find it.
I grew up in Manhattan in the 80s and 90s and I had a friend in grade school who lived on Rosevelt Island. He would have been in the high-mid tier of buildings. as a kid, I thought it was really cool.... for about 5 minutes. The reality is, we had to take the tram to get to his house, which took forever, and it could break down. The other option was the F train which was like a billion miles underground. It's not "unique and remarkable" anymore after one time. It took him forever to get to school/come home vs how long it took me. (1 mile walk or bus ride) Also, comparatively to the rest of Manhattan, there is nothing on the island. Sparse restaurants is a BAD thing, not a pleasant thing. There are some nice outdoor areas to play in but that's it. I much preferred where I lived (East side, 84th street) I could take the elevator down from my apartment and right there was pizza, McDonalds, and 100 other restaurants and stores (good old Block Buster Video) etc within a 5 minute walk. Anyway, to each their own. It's a nice island but if my dad had said "we will live anywhere in Manhattan you want" I would not have picked it. Short travel to and from school (and later work) and being able to get 100 different food options in 5 minutes of walking was way better for me.
@@mr.whipple2953 Did you have Mrs.Walenrod, Strauss, Leifer, or.... I forget the teacher who's name started with a 'Z'? 🙂😉 I moved to RI in '76 and was about six years old. Moved off in '88 for school, but mom is still there.
@@MrRezRising Of course, I attended Blackwell Elementary, but I honestly can’t remember any of the teacher’s names, unfortunately. I do remember ‘The Card and Gift Shop’ and Sloan’s grocery store, though!
Hi. My family was one of the families that moved to RI in 1976, when it first opened. I was six, and lived there until 1988 and still visit my parents there. Good video, lots of memories. I am going to add to your history section: Dickens helped it along in 1868 but the real voice that brought NYC's public awareness to the mentally ill and their mistreatment on Blackwell's was a female reporter named Nellie Bly, who in 1887 spent ten days as an undercover inmate at the Octogon, shown in your video. Her boss, Joe Pulitzer, gave her a column and she wrote about all the atrocities in _The New York World_ , Pulitzer's newspaper. She was instrumental in getting the place closed. Now the fun stuff: 3:45, that's the "nurse's residence" and was still there in the 70s, and had a broken down firetruck in front of it. I used to run through the subway tunnels with my friends. The F station didn't open until '88 and my buddies and I would sneak down and ride on railcarts. The Ruins at the south end are the location of the hardest mission in Grand Theft Auto IV. (Use a boat, not a car.) Fun to see in a game. The entire island is developed now, much much different than in the 70s and 80s. It was wilderness in areas back then. Perfect for a young boy with inattentive 70s parents. 😂 There's an original Thomas Edison short film on YT taken from a boat with the Queenboro caisson's being built (~1903). You will not get a better view of Manhattan anywhere in nyc. All the other shorelines from Queens, Brooklyn, etc. are almost a mile away, but on RI, you're a third of that, with Manhattan looming over you. Go at night, when it's warm. You will not regret it.
the movie about nellie bly is well done and scary to say the least! thanks for sharing your story with us! goin in the tunnels with friends must have been a blast!
@@johnlombardo7816 I haven't seen it but will look it up. There was a show called _The Knick_ with Clive Owens that had a Nellie Bly inspired character. It was set in a hospital (The Knickerbocker, fictional) in the 1890s. Very accurate, and pretty dark. Basically, _St. Elsewhere_ with heroin. Warning: It was canceled after two seasons. Thanks for the Nellie info. 🙂 Edit: The F was unopened and was a great memory, however, running through the _active_ R and N lines were hair raising, esp hiding behind signal lights as subways roared by a foot ot two away. We didn't have any cows to tip. 🤷
I grew up there in the 70s with my 2 sisters and my brother and we lived in Riverview. I remember having a big terrace overlooking Main Street and then the back terrace overlooking Manhattan. I even remember the doorman George. I absolutely loved living there. It was a safe atmosphere. I remember going with my friend to the Green kitchen, and my friend and I would go to this little newspaper candy store. I even remember taking the tram to where my mom worked at a candy store, I would go visit back-and-forth. We left there in 1980 to move upstate. I cannot believe how expensive it is to live there today. I do miss it though.
I am quite surprised you didn't touch on the one thing that Roosevelt Island doesn't have... GARBAGE TRUCKS and PILES OF TRASH BAGS on the street. As someone already commented, but I can't help to also, there is an underground vacuum tube system to centralize the collection of garbage. They tested the system here, with plans to roll out citywide, but that never happened. I'm sure the union had nothing to do with the decision.
NYC’s sanitation department is also responsible for clearing the streets of snow and ice since they’re the only city agency with both enough manpower and equipment to handle it, and without them, the city would grind to a screeching halt any time it snowed. At this point, garbage collection is just a means of keeping the sanitation workers employed when it isn’t snowing so the city doesn’t have to hire and train thousands of new workers every winter.
Can you fault people for... wanting to keep jobs? Let's get the billionaires taxed to fund UBI and then we can start automating their jobs. That aside from what JVR says. Which, yeah, if we as a country were willing to just pay people to stay home, that'd be great. Say, for teachers, too. But, well, "welfare" is ironically and ridiculously a dirty word here now, so... guess let's just enjoy our trash.
@@origami_dream I’m definitely not faulting people for wanting to keep their jobs, but it’s definitely an important thing to factor in when asking why NYC has such an outdated garbage collecting system. I think making sure hard working people keep their jobs is more important than getting with the times.
@@JVR10893you realize none of what you say is true anymore? NY is transitioning to bins and new bin trucks city-wide. You’ll be tuned for putting garbage bags on the street.
@@origami_dream I don't fault people for wanting to keep their jobs. I fault people for NOT DOING their job that's been assigned to them, or at least not doing it well. No one is owed a job. Garbage pickup in New York is bad. If automation can fix that issue, then automate. Working as a sanitation worker isn't like working a stem job. They will find work elsewhere.
@@sopwithsnoopy8779 Gotta say...no. Even back in the day as a little kid, rats were very rare to see (probably bc trash never hit the street). It might be different now, but vermin were always pretty minimal when I was there.
I went to school on Roosevelt Island in the 2000s and learned about its history then, but this is one of the first times I've heard it described from an urban planning perspective like this. Neat stuff!
Found out about Roosevelt Island when I was doing Ancestry research and my great great… grandfather Robert Blackwell was one of the original residents. Really cool getting to see this video cover some of the history of my family.
Joseph Blackwell (of the same family) and Henry McFarlan developed the town of Dover, New Jersey. Blackwell Street is to this day the main business avenue in town.
I grew up In the Astoria housing projects. in the 80s I would come here every weekend with my friend and ride our bikes on this island. now I'm 50 and I still go here. it has a ton of condos and its expensive, But it's awesome to visit.
Exactly what i was thinking. Something this nice and quiet in the middle of such a populace city is probably for those with a little more cash on hand unfortunately.
I learned about this island because the end battle of Spider-Man (2002) takes place in the abandoned smallpox hospital. After that I became interested in it and started looking stuff up about the whole island. I’ve only seen it in person from the Queensborough bridge. Great video!
My wife and I honeymooned in NYC and Roosevelt island was a must-do, still have the fridge magnet and it makes me smile every time I see it and think about the place.
Well, I've certainly heard of it, and even been there a couple of times. But considering that I've lived in New York City (mainly in the Bronx) for all of my 71 years, the fact that I've set foot there exactly twice should say something about how separate it is from the lives of most New Yorkers. We see it all the time, but almost never go there.
Check out FDR 4 Freedoms Park and walk around the island...it's a very nice escape from the hustle and bustle. When you finish, take the F train to 2nd Ave and treat yourself at Katz's Deli on East Houston and Ludlow St in the Lower Eastside.@bxdanny
@@tiffanybrown368 agreed. I’ve lived in NYC my entire 50 years. Yet, I’ve never heard of “the Roosevelt Island bridge”. Most people have no business there. Additionally, as there is no shopping district, there’s no point in going. That said, given how crowded and crazy the city has become with the homeless and migrants, I’ve been looking for an escape. I might have to check this place out.
I visited New York for the first time a few weeks ago and was absolutely fascinated by Roosevelt Island. It's a true oasis in the big city jungle and so much quieter than for example the Central Park. Amazing!
Not just a mixed income residential community, but a master-planned transit-oriented community around a subway station, as the island's unique circumstance gave them a blank slate to build a car-free community (mostly; they allowed cars later on because the hospitals needed vehicular access), so Roosevelt Island station on the IND 63rd Street Line was a crucial part of the plan! Besides the TOD proposal, the American Institute of Architects' NY chapter proposed that the island instead become a park (eventually the southernmost point became a state park in 2012), while another plan called for the island to become housing for United Nations staff. The TOD plan called for two neighborhoods named Northtown and Southtown, separated by a common area. With services such as parks and schools (it was planned with up to 16 schools serving grades K-12 with each accommodating 180 to 300 students; it had five by the 1980s and they were combined into PS/IS 217 in 1992) near every residence, and a pneumatic trash collection system which was the second AVAC system in the US after Magic Kingdom's Utilidors. Their AVAC system is one of the largest in the world, and trash is collected from each tower to the Central Collections and Compaction Plant at up to 60 miles per hour. Until 1989, Main Street was the island's only road! 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 Octagon designed by Alexander Jackson Davis (who worked on the former 1833 North Carolina State Capitol, Litchfield Villa in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and the Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown), a remnant of a hospital made famous by Nellie Bly, has since been incorporated as part of a large apartment complex! The reason the Roosevelt Island Tramway exists is because there were delays regarding the subway station's construction, and so they wanted a temporary solution sooner to connect would-be residents on the island to Manhattan, and so an aerial tramway was opened in 1976. When the subway station finally opened in 1989, residents didn't want the tramway to close because it provided a wheelchair-accessible connection to more bus routes in Manhattan than the subway did, and the RIOC wanted to attract tourists as well, thus it stayed open and became a popular attraction! The tramway was actually the last in NYC to stop using tokens, as they still accepted them until March 2004, and during the NYC transit strike in 2005, it transported three times its passenger count! The free Red Bus that you mentioned does continuous loops around the island, as well as a Shopper's Bus for seniors and those with disabilities to Costco in Astoria. The Q102 bus serves the island as well, connecting the island with Astoria. Before the aerial tramway and the subway, it was served by a trolley that previously connected passengers from Queens and Manhattan to a stop in the middle of the Queensboro Bridge, where passengers took an elevator down to the island. The trolley operated from the bridge's opening in 1909 until 1957 after the Roosevelt Island Bridge connecting the island to Queens opened in 1955. As late as August 1973, another passenger elevator ran from the Queens end of the bridge to the island
0:30 Incorrect, the island was land-granted to the Captain Manning, who then bequeathed it to the husband of his daughter by the surname Blackwell. It remained in the Blackwell branch of the Manning family until sold to the City of New York. Documented/registered SAR member of the Manning family here.
Visited NY 2022 and went to island ,walked around all the island and it really is beautiful. Very peaceful in comparison with Manhattan . Really loved the place .Greetings from Croatia
Thanks! I have always wondered about RI. I'm always looking for something new to do while visiting NYC. I think I'll take part of a day and visit RI on my next trip to NYC.
My mother used to be a patient at the psychiatric hospital there and would always escape. That hospital is still there. My grandmother would take us to visit her when i was smaller.
As an elementary school student, our class once took a field trip to then-Welfare Island to see the FDNY fire training center. I remember an abandonded building which was used for that purpose. I lived in Queens so it was fun to cross a bridge and not wind up on Manhattan Island proper.
I grew up in Manhattan and when we moved from our first apartment in 1973 RI was among the places we looked into. Only because it was still a bit desolate, and my mom had friends elsewhere in the city did we move elsewhere because my dad's shop was on Canal Street and my grandparents lived in Freeport, LI we considered it. We'd been living in the upper west side, so ultimately we decided to move instead to Washington Hights / Inwood Hills Neighborhood on the upper west side because it's where our friends lived and where I went to Parochial School. Wa-Hi/Inwood from Riverside to Broadway and then the Harlem River was also bucolic and very classically Gothic and Victorian back then with lots of beautiful parks and great landmarks and family friendly. It was a great place to grow up. I lived there a decade from 5 to 15 years old. But Bus Service in the city on Broadway, especially was always great. So good that by age 9 I was traveling the whole Island from the NY Harbor / The Battery on the East side to Van Cortlandt Park on the West side and all points in between via a Bus Ride.
Hi. I moved there in 1976 bc they were giving away a year's rent as an incentive. Funny you mention it, I live in Inwood now. Bought a place in '08. Inwood is great! So green and beautiful, a great place to raise a kid. Lotta history here too.
Another interesting part of the borough of Manhattan is Marble Hill! Marble Hill is served a station on the Metro-North's Hudson Line as well as Marble Hill-225th Street on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Ave Line, but what makes the area interesting is it's a part of Manhattan that's attached to the Bronx! Why? Well, Marble Hill was actually once the northernmost tip of Manhattan island! Marble Hill became a Dutch settlement in 1664, and later served as a crossing point to the mainland when the colonial British had the King's Bridge constructed in 1693 to span the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. It gained its current name in 1891 from the Inwood marble deposits discovered underneath the neighborhood. The marble was quarried for the federal buildings in lower Manhattan when New York was the capital of the United States in the 1780s. The Spuyten Duyvil Creek once flowed around the neighborhood to the north, separating Marble Hill from the Bronx and the North American mainland. Marble Hill became its own island in 1817, when two small streams were dug up to form a narrow canal. The waterway ran from the Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the Harlem River. The mill canal was expanded in 1895 to become the Harlem River Ship Canal. The new channel, constructed at the direction of the federal government, was 400 feet wide and at least 15 feet deep at its completion. Marble Hill remained an island until it was physically connected to the Bronx in 1913, when the old northern bend of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek was filled in. Despite being part of Manhattan, Marble Hill has a Bronx ZIP code and uses Bronx area codes (though they did fight to retain Manhattan's 212 but it would've been too expensive).
Thanks for that bit of history. I grew up in Washington Heights and would visit my aunt and uncle in Marble Hill off 225th across from JFK HS. Always assumed it was part of the Bronx.
We got to bring our sailboat past Roosevelt Island on her maiden voyage from Portland Connecticut to Albany NY. What a cool experience seeing NYC from the East River then the Hudson.
I worked for a summer in Union Square cutting fabric samples in a textile company. We had a weekend warehouse sale and I was asked to help a woman transport two huge bolts of fabric from downtown to Roosevelt Island where she lived. Armed with a handtruck she and I drug those fabrics through the subway and onto the cable tram to the island. Probably not the craziest thing ever brought on board those transit systems, but it was certainly the loopiest thing I ever brought onto one. Her apartment was spectacular, though. She fed and paid me rather well for it as well.
Thanks for posting this video I enjoyed every second of it. When I was younger I heard a rumor that there used to be elevators inside the legs of the Queensboro Bridge to bring cars to the island before the draw bridge from Queens was opened. As hard as I tried I couldn't find any information on it when I got older. One day I decided to take my kids to the island and after taking a look at the legs of the bridge I realized that it didn't make sense. I asked a local (who said that she's lived on the island for some time) and she clarified the story. There used to be a bulding (sometimes referred to as the Upside Down Building since the main level was on the top floor and level with the roadway of the bridge) that had an elevator to take cars and trucks down from the bridge to the island. Therewere also trolley tracks and a trolley stop on the bridge. Once the draw bridge from Queens was opened, and vehicles had easy access to the island, the building was demolished. The building stood in the spot where the tram terminal is now. Supposedly the tram was meant to be temporary until a subway station was opened on the island (since the Upside Down Bulding was demolished and peope taking public transit would otherwise have had to go to Queens first) but once the subway was opened the tram was too popular to be removed.
Thank you! I’m an airline pilot and fly into LGA all the time, and I’ve always wondered about Roosevelt island. Now I know 😊! Now what about Governor’s island?
Very nice vlog. My Aunt & Uncle were one of the first residents on the Island & my parents lived there for over 20 years. I loved it there and yes it had a European town feel. I haven’t been able to go back since my father passed, but seeing this, I think it’s time.
Thats a great place to live if a zombieoutbreak becomes reality, all you haveto do is fortify one bridge and make sure the subway tunnels are sealed and you are golden, loads of land to farm on, alot of space, a walkway around the island to make sure no one can get out of the water and not many places you can get on to the island.
@@brucethomas5123 Yes, I’ve heard the same exact thing I believe it’s because of the fact they don’t need to hold their breath because they are ALREADY DEAD!!!💀 😃😃😃
as a habit, I go there one a year in the spring with my son, 12 years now, since he was born, and eat pizza at the restaurant by the station.. and walk around the island, it's a great place.
Been there several times as a tourist. I liked it very much. The feeling it gave me was exactly what you described. If I had the money, that‘s where I‘d buy an apartment in the US.
My aunt and uncle live on the island. Every time I visit, we spend some time just exploring Roosevelt island. It feels so different from the rest of the city
My grandmother spent her final years after a massive stroke at Byrd S Coler Hospital on the North end of the island. This was pre-tramway and pre-redevopment when the island was called Welfare Island (adopted before that term became pejorative). Question: I believe that the outer roadway (trolley lane) of the Queensboro Bridge once had a functional car elevator to the island ling ago. Is that a fact? When did it last operate?
I had no idea this existed! Looks beautiful. Thanks for a great video. Your channel deserves more viewers. Keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure it'll keep growing
🚨when I moved 2 Qnz from Bx in 2004 I def used to explore new spots & this was one I discovered bc u can just drive over that 1 bridge over there w no tolls or anything. It’s like a whole different city operating over there but I’m mad they took away the park at the very north point & restricted the area from even parking ur car there for some reason.. I used to be able to park & walk right up there & relax near the rocks, but no more
Im an australian, back in the 90s I worked for a Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata who built a great sprawling sculpture out of scavenged scrap wood in the old small pox hospital. It was an amazing job, the sculpture was about 4 stories high and spewed out the widows and broken down walls of the ruined hospital. One day we were sitting around having lunch, a bunch of young guys from all over the world. right in front of us a hatch in the ground opened a a terrified guy got out. he said he had been chased in a tunnel by a gang of guys, we never saw them but he was properly scared. we gave him lunch and subway fare, he couldn't believe it. it was such an odd environment with big trees growing out of the old hospital, which was like a ruined gothic castle type thing. fond memories
Roosevelt Island is under appreciated space. I didn’t hear you mention the cherry trees. The esplanade that surrounds has tons of cherry trees that are so beautiful in spring, about March. I always take a bike ride out there about then.
At the 1:06 the video says the family sold the island to NYC in 1928, it was actually 1828. Since Charles Dickens visited the "lunatic" asylum on the island in 1842. Selling the island in 1928 doesn't make sense in the timeline.
When I get visitors one of my top activities for them is exploring Four Freedoms Park in the late afternoon and then a sunset drink at Panorama Room (rooftop bar).
Thanks for the tour. What beautiful footage! One of the best, truest, funniest friends I've ever had lived on RI. I never met her or went there but she enriched my life incalculably from 700 miles away.
I used to go to Long Island City Highschool literally 4 blocks from Roosevelt Island,I have so many great memories there’s,smoking and drinking with friends doing cartwheels at the park even had a friend who lived there the apartments are gorgeous
Done that by accident, we did not even know about it but we spotted the cable car and thought why not. Cheap return crossing which is an amazing experience in itself. We always tell anyone we know who is visiting the US and New York to check it out.
An informative video, well done. Lived here for nearly ten years, the place is full of memories. Crime was almost non-existent, the police carried no guns back then . We also had a few celebrities, Buddy Hackett the comedian and actor, also Al Lewis " Grandpa" from the tv show The Munsters. In my day he had a radio talk show.
I have family that’s lived on Roosevelt Island for years. My friends & I would go there to play basketball when we were kids. They do a good job maintaining the courts. You should do City Island next.
I remember reading an article years ago about the island. Definitely not a big deal but its always been interesting to me, where old actors and actresses used to live back in the old days. Al Lewis, the actor who played Grampa on the old Munsters tv show in the 60's was very attached to Roosevelt island and had a place out there. After age and significant health issues slowed him down, it was said that he retired from acting, disappeared from public view and lived out his final years there. He said he loved the place and always had a very strong attachment to it, saying it was a pleasant place.
I knew Al. He was freaky tall and used to wear this ten gallon cowboy hat that made him almost seven feet tall (he was 6'4"). Lol, even back in the day, when I was 13 in 1983, I walked into the video store and literally bumped into Buddy Hackett. I did a double take and he said, "What's up, Poncho?" 🤣
@@MrRezRisingOn the Munsters they had to make Fred Gwynn look much taller than Al Lewis by having Gwynn stand on boxes when they were in the same scene.
Good video but how do you not mention the stunning FDR memorial at the southern tip of the island? It was designed by the famed architect Louis I. Kahn. You showed it briefly but it really deserves more attention.
The 59th St. bridge Queensboro, Bridge, Ed Koch Bridge, or whatever name you know it by was made famous at least by Simon & Garfunkel. Mcdonald is very funny but not so much on that joke anyway moving on I love that you actually called it a Subway headhouse which is the proper name. It makes me think you are AI even more because nobody calls it that although it is correct. Nice Video!
I do my research where everyone else does their research - on the internet - where things tend to be described in their “proper” name, rather than what NYC locals call it - bc i’m not an NYC local lol. Glad you enjoyed the video! And I promise I’m not AI…although I’ll always take that as a compliment. In the famous words of Pinocchio: “I’m a real boy!” 😂
@@fourth_place👏😂❤ Love the original animated Disney Pinocchio movie 🍿🎥 reference, possibly my favorite Disney movie. Enjoyed your RI video. 📼 Glad not 🚫 all of NYC is still🏙️ unspoiled.🗽🦅 So 😢🙏⚖️🛡️🩹🩸🇺🇸 sad to watch your fellow RUclipsr Cash's apo caly ptic Big Apple. 🍎🍏 God bless you and yours. . .✨🕯️🕊️✨
Although many apartments there are 1 mill+ I actually found a couple of apartments under 500k, that surprised me. It looks beautiful with all the green areas, perfect if you own a dog.
I discovered it shortly before 9-11. It only had one restaurant, a Chinese takeout and a slice joint. Now it's pretty gentrified, with Starbucks and expensive restaurant. But the projects are still there, it's like being in two worlds
I grew up in NYC and long ago moved to rural Wyoming. It is interesting to hear about the history and development of this massive city. I'm glad that people enjoy these places, because it takes the pressure off the rest of us. Oh, and Blackwell's Island was sold to the city in 1828, not 1928.
My dad lived in Sunnyside, Queens, and use to hang out in Roosevelt Island back in the late 80’s to mid 90’s. He said he would take his dates to the island, and walk to the lighthouse. Also said there was an old myth that the hospital was haunted, since many people died there. There use to be a VA clinic there, and wonders if it’s still there.. Another place that was nice back in the day, he said was Astoria Park.
They also have a lot of cherry blossom trees which made it a great place to visit in the spring for photos. I have visited twice, I take the subway to the island from Queens, then the gondola into Manhattan after.
Very informative and interesting. I remember the name, Welfare Island. Didn't know that Roosevelt Island was the same island. Certainly didn't know it wss located in the east River. Lived in Jersey all my life, familiar with many if the smaller islands, but not familiar with all of them around N.Y.C. This is a revelation for me. Always open to learning new things.
Roosevelt island is great but a major thing that is not mentioned in the video is that it's not quite as idyllic as presented in much of the green space, parks, and waterfront walkways. There's a lot of traffic noise from the queensboro bridge and FDR drive. So despite the large green spaces you don't get that "escape" from the traffic noise of the city that you get eg with central park or even small neighborhood parks that are away from major roads. It is a good place to go for space for some sports like volleyball and tennis but less fun for just walking around or having a picnic. Eg the very large southpoint park is extremely nice and unique for NYC and has lovely views (and I have had good picnics there!), but I think it would be a much more popular picnic and leisure destination than it is now if it weren't awash in the constant hum of FDR across the river.
My grandmother moved to Roosevelt Island in 1989 and i spent most of the 90s as a kid growing up visiting her there. It was an oasis in NYC and truly memorable and unique. I really loved it and even though she has passed away, the island is forever etched with my memories of her. Love you Grandma.
Aw. Could you say her name? I don't know why I'd like to hear it.... 🌹
New York is disgusting Country.
@@RebekahCurielAlessi creepy
What about the air quality?
@@drwisdom1 what about it? It's the same as the rest of the city.
born n raised here since 04, and i say i hit the jackpot. you get the small town vibe, but still can reap all the advantages of the city life because its so easy to get to downtown manhattan or brooklyn
Living the geographical dream. I want it visit so bad.
Visited the island in 2014 rode the cable car, took the bus round. I did notice how quite and peaceful the place is. Thank you for bring back a great memory. Cheers from Australia.
You mean Quiet
The tram was seen in the movie Leon the Professional.
@@victormuhammad1393 He probably did,but his phone "autocorrected" it to "quite".
That cable car ride is one of the best in the world
I remember seeing the Roosevelt Island stop while taking the subway as a kid and decided to get out and explore it. The nicest place in NYC hands down
Typical NYC kid😂😂😂😂”let me check this out”😂
Every comment posted here gets censored…. See if this one stays.
Yet people here in the comments saying they never heard about it LOL, I'm like well obviously you ain't from New York.
@@lookoutforchris noh i think youtube is taking too long to refresh for your comment to appear sometimes but when i go to my comment history i can see it there, they folling behind, this didn't used to happen a while ago, shadow banning is also a thing, if i do a stand alone comment on a video not as a reply to another comment, nobody can see it. LOL 🤔🙄😅 they freaking made me invisible only i can see it, i used a different account to check and i couldn't find it.
If you want to live with POD PEOPLE 😨
I lived on Roosevelt Island for 9 years from 2000-2009 as a child. Best place in nyc to raise kids. Truly the best childhood.
I lived there from ‘76 - ‘78, also as a child, and I absolutely loved it there!
One can only imagine... :)
I grew up in Manhattan in the 80s and 90s and I had a friend in grade school who lived on Rosevelt Island. He would have been in the high-mid tier of buildings. as a kid, I thought it was really cool.... for about 5 minutes. The reality is, we had to take the tram to get to his house, which took forever, and it could break down. The other option was the F train which was like a billion miles underground. It's not "unique and remarkable" anymore after one time. It took him forever to get to school/come home vs how long it took me. (1 mile walk or bus ride) Also, comparatively to the rest of Manhattan, there is nothing on the island. Sparse restaurants is a BAD thing, not a pleasant thing. There are some nice outdoor areas to play in but that's it. I much preferred where I lived (East side, 84th street) I could take the elevator down from my apartment and right there was pizza, McDonalds, and 100 other restaurants and stores (good old Block Buster Video) etc within a 5 minute walk. Anyway, to each their own. It's a nice island but if my dad had said "we will live anywhere in Manhattan you want" I would not have picked it. Short travel to and from school (and later work) and being able to get 100 different food options in 5 minutes of walking was way better for me.
@@mr.whipple2953 Did you have Mrs.Walenrod, Strauss, Leifer, or.... I forget the teacher who's name started with a 'Z'? 🙂😉
I moved to RI in '76 and was about six years old. Moved off in '88 for school, but mom is still there.
@@MrRezRising Of course, I attended Blackwell Elementary, but I honestly can’t remember any of the teacher’s names, unfortunately. I do remember ‘The Card and Gift Shop’ and Sloan’s grocery store, though!
I live here, it’s like living in Central Park. A true hidden 💎 love it here. Come visit
Hi.
My family was one of the families that moved to RI in 1976, when it first opened. I was six, and lived there until 1988 and still visit my parents there.
Good video, lots of memories.
I am going to add to your history section: Dickens helped it along in 1868 but the real voice that brought NYC's public awareness to the mentally ill and their mistreatment on Blackwell's was a female reporter named Nellie Bly, who in 1887 spent ten days as an undercover inmate at the Octogon, shown in your video. Her boss, Joe Pulitzer, gave her a column and she wrote about all the atrocities in _The New York World_ , Pulitzer's newspaper. She was instrumental in getting the place closed.
Now the fun stuff:
3:45, that's the "nurse's residence" and was still there in the 70s, and had a broken down firetruck in front of it.
I used to run through the subway tunnels with my friends. The F station didn't open until '88 and my buddies and I would sneak down and ride on railcarts.
The Ruins at the south end are the location of the hardest mission in Grand Theft Auto IV. (Use a boat, not a car.) Fun to see in a game.
The entire island is developed now, much much different than in the 70s and 80s. It was wilderness in areas back then. Perfect for a young boy with inattentive 70s parents. 😂
There's an original Thomas Edison short film on YT taken from a boat with the Queenboro caisson's being built (~1903).
You will not get a better view of Manhattan anywhere in nyc. All the other shorelines from Queens, Brooklyn, etc. are almost a mile away, but on RI, you're a third of that, with Manhattan looming over you.
Go at night, when it's warm.
You will not regret it.
It looks like a paradise.
@@Gus4r4po boring paradise it is..Old people like it...
Thanks for sharing your memories. They were nice to read.
the movie about nellie bly is well done and scary to say the least! thanks for sharing your story with us! goin in the tunnels with friends must have been a blast!
@@johnlombardo7816 I haven't seen it but will look it up.
There was a show called _The Knick_ with Clive Owens that had a Nellie Bly inspired character. It was set in a hospital (The Knickerbocker, fictional) in the 1890s. Very accurate, and pretty dark.
Basically, _St. Elsewhere_ with heroin.
Warning: It was canceled after two seasons.
Thanks for the Nellie info. 🙂
Edit: The F was unopened and was a great memory, however, running through the _active_ R and N lines were hair raising, esp hiding behind signal lights as subways roared by a foot ot two away.
We didn't have any cows to tip. 🤷
The Blackwell Family sold the island in 1828, not 1928. $32,000 in 1828 is about a million today. Still a good deal for the city.
That checks out. 32,000 in 1928 seemed way too low,
I grew up there in the 70s with my 2 sisters and my brother and we lived in Riverview. I remember having a big terrace overlooking Main Street and then the back terrace overlooking Manhattan. I even remember the doorman George. I absolutely loved living there. It was a safe atmosphere. I remember going with my friend to the Green kitchen, and my friend and I would go to this little newspaper candy store. I even remember taking the tram to where my mom worked at a candy store, I would go visit back-and-forth. We left there in 1980 to move upstate. I cannot believe how expensive it is to live there today. I do miss it though.
Lived there from 1994-1998, loved the place. A lot great memories of my time there and accessible to any where in Manhattan via subway.
Why only 4 years?
I am quite surprised you didn't touch on the one thing that Roosevelt Island doesn't have... GARBAGE TRUCKS and PILES OF TRASH BAGS on the street. As someone already commented, but I can't help to also, there is an underground vacuum tube system to centralize the collection of garbage. They tested the system here, with plans to roll out citywide, but that never happened. I'm sure the union had nothing to do with the decision.
NYC’s sanitation department is also responsible for clearing the streets of snow and ice since they’re the only city agency with both enough manpower and equipment to handle it, and without them, the city would grind to a screeching halt any time it snowed. At this point, garbage collection is just a means of keeping the sanitation workers employed when it isn’t snowing so the city doesn’t have to hire and train thousands of new workers every winter.
Can you fault people for... wanting to keep jobs? Let's get the billionaires taxed to fund UBI and then we can start automating their jobs. That aside from what JVR says. Which, yeah, if we as a country were willing to just pay people to stay home, that'd be great. Say, for teachers, too. But, well, "welfare" is ironically and ridiculously a dirty word here now, so... guess let's just enjoy our trash.
@@origami_dream I’m definitely not faulting people for wanting to keep their jobs, but it’s definitely an important thing to factor in when asking why NYC has such an outdated garbage collecting system. I think making sure hard working people keep their jobs is more important than getting with the times.
@@JVR10893you realize none of what you say is true anymore? NY is transitioning to bins and new bin trucks city-wide. You’ll be tuned for putting garbage bags on the street.
@@origami_dream I don't fault people for wanting to keep their jobs. I fault people for NOT DOING their job that's been assigned to them, or at least not doing it well. No one is owed a job. Garbage pickup in New York is bad. If automation can fix that issue, then automate. Working as a sanitation worker isn't like working a stem job. They will find work elsewhere.
And you don't see big black bags of trash. The buildings have a pneumatic trash collection system.
Had my first shot of tequila behind that building. 😂😂
Except the newer buildings down by the tram stop aren’t on the system, and often have a big pile of black bags to be collected.
So no rats?
@@sopwithsnoopy8779 Gotta say...no. Even back in the day as a little kid, rats were very rare to see (probably bc trash never hit the street). It might be different now, but vermin were always pretty minimal when I was there.
@@sopwithsnoopy8779fat chance. Rats know how to cross bridges and can also tag along on a tram. Not to mention they are in all the tunnels.
I went to school on Roosevelt Island in the 2000s and learned about its history then, but this is one of the first times I've heard it described from an urban planning perspective like this. Neat stuff!
Stunned that it was so almost empty and quiet when I visited here in 2019. Some of the greatest skyline views I've ever seen, too.
Found out about Roosevelt Island when I was doing Ancestry research and my great great… grandfather Robert Blackwell was one of the original residents. Really cool getting to see this video cover some of the history of my family.
Joseph Blackwell (of the same family) and Henry McFarlan developed the town of Dover, New Jersey. Blackwell Street is to this day the main business avenue in town.
Stayed there this summer. Best place to stay when in NY city! An oasis amidst the chaos of Manhattan. And by the way, there is a hotel, The Graduate!
I grew up In the Astoria housing projects. in the 80s I would come here every weekend with my friend and ride our bikes on this island. now I'm 50 and I still go here. it has a ton of condos and its expensive, But it's awesome to visit.
Jokes on the video maker. Ive been there plenty of times in GTA IV
Exactly what i was thinking. Something this nice and quiet in the middle of such a populace city is probably for those with a little more cash on hand unfortunately.
I was born there. Still miss it. I would go back to Astoria now if I could afford it.
I learned about this island because the end battle of Spider-Man (2002) takes place in the abandoned smallpox hospital. After that I became interested in it and started looking stuff up about the whole island. I’ve only seen it in person from the Queensborough bridge. Great video!
My exact same experience. I used to see the asylum across the river while going down the fdr and realized I’ve seen it in Spider-Man
Thanks for your efforts. Well produced and researched. Educational about an area often overlooked.
My wife and I honeymooned in NYC and Roosevelt island was a must-do, still have the fridge magnet and it makes me smile every time I see it and think about the place.
I spent nearly three years living there. It is a very nice town. Good transportation into the city!
GarethKavanagh,
Good transportation, u can't drive ?
@@lucasremI didn’t have a car for a bunch of reasons. I did rent when needed so parked on the island a few times.
@@lucasremWho wants a car there?
@@lucasrem Yes, you can drive there. There's a bridge called the 36th Avenue bridge that lets out in Astoria.
That's a good way to put it. It's like a town within an obviously huge city. It's very unique.
Well, I've certainly heard of it, and even been there a couple of times. But considering that I've lived in New York City (mainly in the Bronx) for all of my 71 years, the fact that I've set foot there exactly twice should say something about how separate it is from the lives of most New Yorkers. We see it all the time, but almost never go there.
Interesting
Check out FDR 4 Freedoms Park and walk around the island...it's a very nice escape from the hustle and bustle. When you finish, take the F train to 2nd Ave and treat yourself at Katz's Deli on East Houston and Ludlow St in the Lower Eastside.@bxdanny
It’s also not easily accessible. Which is designed like that on purpose.
@@tiffanybrown368 agreed. I’ve lived in NYC my entire 50 years. Yet, I’ve never heard of “the Roosevelt Island bridge”. Most people have no business there. Additionally, as there is no shopping district, there’s no point in going. That said, given how crowded and crazy the city has become with the homeless and migrants, I’ve been looking for an escape. I might have to check this place out.
I visited New York for the first time a few weeks ago and was absolutely fascinated by Roosevelt Island. It's a true oasis in the big city jungle and so much quieter than for example the Central Park. Amazing!
Not just a mixed income residential community, but a master-planned transit-oriented community around a subway station, as the island's unique circumstance gave them a blank slate to build a car-free community (mostly; they allowed cars later on because the hospitals needed vehicular access), so Roosevelt Island station on the IND 63rd Street Line was a crucial part of the plan! Besides the TOD proposal, the American Institute of Architects' NY chapter proposed that the island instead become a park (eventually the southernmost point became a state park in 2012), while another plan called for the island to become housing for United Nations staff. The TOD plan called for two neighborhoods named Northtown and Southtown, separated by a common area. With services such as parks and schools (it was planned with up to 16 schools serving grades K-12 with each accommodating 180 to 300 students; it had five by the 1980s and they were combined into PS/IS 217 in 1992) near every residence, and a pneumatic trash collection system which was the second AVAC system in the US after Magic Kingdom's Utilidors. Their AVAC system is one of the largest in the world, and trash is collected from each tower to the Central Collections and Compaction Plant at up to 60 miles per hour. Until 1989, Main Street was the island's only road! 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 Octagon designed by Alexander Jackson Davis (who worked on the former 1833 North Carolina State Capitol, Litchfield Villa in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and the Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown), a remnant of a hospital made famous by Nellie Bly, has since been incorporated as part of a large apartment complex!
The reason the Roosevelt Island Tramway exists is because there were delays regarding the subway station's construction, and so they wanted a temporary solution sooner to connect would-be residents on the island to Manhattan, and so an aerial tramway was opened in 1976. When the subway station finally opened in 1989, residents didn't want the tramway to close because it provided a wheelchair-accessible connection to more bus routes in Manhattan than the subway did, and the RIOC wanted to attract tourists as well, thus it stayed open and became a popular attraction! The tramway was actually the last in NYC to stop using tokens, as they still accepted them until March 2004, and during the NYC transit strike in 2005, it transported three times its passenger count! The free Red Bus that you mentioned does continuous loops around the island, as well as a Shopper's Bus for seniors and those with disabilities to Costco in Astoria. The Q102 bus serves the island as well, connecting the island with Astoria. Before the aerial tramway and the subway, it was served by a trolley that previously connected passengers from Queens and Manhattan to a stop in the middle of the Queensboro Bridge, where passengers took an elevator down to the island. The trolley operated from the bridge's opening in 1909 until 1957 after the Roosevelt Island Bridge connecting the island to Queens opened in 1955. As late as August 1973, another passenger elevator ran from the Queens end of the bridge to the island
In the original GTA, Liberty City's equivalent of Roosevelt Island is called "Nixon Island"
Yea i was just saying. That large abandoned hospital building is in the game
The main reason i visited it last August during my usa summer holiday
GTA3 isn't the first GTA...
Was there 2 years ago, very pristine place with amazing views of manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
0:30 Incorrect, the island was land-granted to the Captain Manning, who then bequeathed it to the husband of his daughter by the surname Blackwell. It remained in the Blackwell branch of the Manning family until sold to the City of New York. Documented/registered SAR member of the Manning family here.
What does documented/registered SAR mean! Old city families are the fucking worst.
Visited NY 2022 and went to island ,walked around all the island and it really is beautiful. Very peaceful in comparison with Manhattan . Really loved the place .Greetings from Croatia
I must admit, it looks like a very pleasant place to live. Thanks for sharing.
I lived in Roosevelt Island and loved my experience. Really wanted to raise my daughter here. We moved to be closer to family.
Wow!!! Sounds like a wonderful place to live!!
Nice to see,limited retail, enough shopping !! Just seem like a nice place to live !!!
Thanks! I have always wondered about RI. I'm always looking for something new to do while visiting NYC. I think I'll take part of a day and visit RI on my next trip to NYC.
My mother used to be a patient at the psychiatric hospital there and would always escape. That hospital is still there. My grandmother would take us to visit her when i was smaller.
did she swim out
Is your mother doing better now?
As an elementary school student, our class once took a field trip to then-Welfare Island to see the FDNY fire training center. I remember an abandonded building which was used for that purpose. I lived in Queens so it was fun to cross a bridge and not wind up on Manhattan Island proper.
I grew up in Manhattan and when we moved from our first apartment in 1973 RI was among the places we looked into. Only because it was still a bit desolate, and my mom had friends elsewhere in the city did we move elsewhere because my dad's shop was on Canal Street and my grandparents lived in Freeport, LI we considered it. We'd been living in the upper west side, so ultimately we decided to move instead to Washington Hights / Inwood Hills Neighborhood on the upper west side because it's where our friends lived and where I went to Parochial School. Wa-Hi/Inwood from Riverside to Broadway and then the Harlem River was also bucolic and very classically Gothic and Victorian back then with lots of beautiful parks and great landmarks and family friendly. It was a great place to grow up. I lived there a decade from 5 to 15 years old. But Bus Service in the city on Broadway, especially was always great. So good that by age 9 I was traveling the whole Island from the NY Harbor / The Battery on the East side to Van Cortlandt Park on the West side and all points in between via a Bus Ride.
Hi. I moved there in 1976 bc they were giving away a year's rent as an incentive.
Funny you mention it, I live in Inwood now. Bought a place in '08. Inwood is great! So green and beautiful, a great place to raise a kid. Lotta history here too.
Another interesting part of the borough of Manhattan is Marble Hill! Marble Hill is served a station on the Metro-North's Hudson Line as well as Marble Hill-225th Street on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Ave Line, but what makes the area interesting is it's a part of Manhattan that's attached to the Bronx! Why? Well, Marble Hill was actually once the northernmost tip of Manhattan island! Marble Hill became a Dutch settlement in 1664, and later served as a crossing point to the mainland when the colonial British had the King's Bridge constructed in 1693 to span the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. It gained its current name in 1891 from the Inwood marble deposits discovered underneath the neighborhood. The marble was quarried for the federal buildings in lower Manhattan when New York was the capital of the United States in the 1780s. The Spuyten Duyvil Creek once flowed around the neighborhood to the north, separating Marble Hill from the Bronx and the North American mainland. Marble Hill became its own island in 1817, when two small streams were dug up to form a narrow canal. The waterway ran from the Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the Harlem River. The mill canal was expanded in 1895 to become the Harlem River Ship Canal. The new channel, constructed at the direction of the federal government, was 400 feet wide and at least 15 feet deep at its completion. Marble Hill remained an island until it was physically connected to the Bronx in 1913, when the old northern bend of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek was filled in. Despite being part of Manhattan, Marble Hill has a Bronx ZIP code and uses Bronx area codes (though they did fight to retain Manhattan's 212 but it would've been too expensive).
Thanks for that bit of history. I grew up in Washington Heights and would visit my aunt and uncle in Marble Hill off 225th across from JFK HS. Always assumed it was part of the Bronx.
I love information like this! Thank you.
❤❤❤ Thank you for this!
> the Spuyten Duyvil Creek
I hope a local sports team has the name "Spittin' Devils"
We got to bring our sailboat past Roosevelt Island on her maiden voyage from Portland Connecticut to Albany NY. What a cool experience seeing NYC from the East River then the Hudson.
I worked for a summer in Union Square cutting fabric samples in a textile company. We had a weekend warehouse sale and I was asked to help a woman transport two huge bolts of fabric from downtown to Roosevelt Island where she lived. Armed with a handtruck she and I drug those fabrics through the subway and onto the cable tram to the island. Probably not the craziest thing ever brought on board those transit systems, but it was certainly the loopiest thing I ever brought onto one. Her apartment was spectacular, though. She fed and paid me rather well for it as well.
Thanks for posting this video I enjoyed every second of it.
When I was younger I heard a rumor that there used to be elevators inside the legs of the Queensboro Bridge to bring cars to the island before the draw bridge from Queens was opened. As hard as I tried I couldn't find any information on it when I got older.
One day I decided to take my kids to the island and after taking a look at the legs of the bridge I realized that it didn't make sense.
I asked a local (who said that she's lived on the island for some time) and she clarified the story. There used to be a bulding (sometimes referred to as the Upside Down Building since the main level was on the top floor and level with the roadway of the bridge) that had an elevator to take cars and trucks down from the bridge to the island. Therewere also trolley tracks and a trolley stop on the bridge.
Once the draw bridge from Queens was opened, and vehicles had easy access to the island, the building was demolished. The building stood in the spot where the tram terminal is now. Supposedly the tram was meant to be temporary until a subway station was opened on the island (since the Upside Down Bulding was demolished and peope taking public transit would otherwise have had to go to Queens first) but once the subway was opened the tram was too popular to be removed.
very cool!
Legend has it that Adam Eget is still under that bridge...
Thank you! I’m an airline pilot and fly into LGA all the time, and I’ve always wondered about Roosevelt island. Now I know 😊!
Now what about Governor’s island?
Very nice vlog. My Aunt & Uncle were one of the first residents on the Island & my parents lived there for over 20 years. I loved it there and yes it had a European town feel. I haven’t been able to go back since my father passed, but seeing this, I think it’s time.
Thats a great place to live if a zombieoutbreak becomes reality, all you haveto do is fortify one bridge and make sure the subway tunnels are sealed and you are golden, loads of land to farm on, alot of space, a walkway around the island to make sure no one can get out of the water and not many places you can get on to the island.
I think the 11,000+ people that live on that tiny island would run out of all essentials almost immediately with no means of procuring any more.
@@MDestron2282
Exactly, it would turn into a hellhole in 2 days.
@@MDestron2282
And if there is a viral zombie outbreak in its midst, the island becomes just about as much as pernicious death trap lol
I believe zombies can swim and have even won medals doing so in the olympics though sadly not gold !
@@brucethomas5123
Yes, I’ve heard the same exact thing
I believe it’s because of the fact they don’t need to hold their breath because they are
ALREADY DEAD!!!💀
😃😃😃
as a habit, I go there one a year in the spring with my son, 12 years now, since he was born, and eat pizza at the restaurant by the station.. and walk around the island, it's a great place.
As a bronx native I always felt enchanted with Roosevelt Island I was always wishing to live there❤❤
I visit it every time I go to NYC. The new park at the south end is one of the best urban viewpoints in the world. Such a unique place.
I lived there for a short stint and I miss it every day. Such an awesome place.
I wish the Blackwells' kept it. It'd be cool seeing a farm in the middle of NYC.
Been there several times as a tourist. I liked it very much. The feeling it gave me was exactly what you described. If I had the money, that‘s where I‘d buy an apartment in the US.
My aunt and uncle live on the island. Every time I visit, we spend some time just exploring Roosevelt island. It feels so different from the rest of the city
My grandmother spent her final years after a massive stroke at Byrd S Coler Hospital on the North end of the island. This was pre-tramway and pre-redevopment when the island was called Welfare Island (adopted before that term became pejorative).
Question: I believe that the outer roadway (trolley lane) of the Queensboro Bridge once had a functional car elevator to the island ling ago. Is that a fact? When did it last operate?
Yes it is a fact. I don’t remember the history but maybe you can Google it.
Great video, thanx for making and sharing it boss....🙏
I had no idea this existed! Looks beautiful. Thanks for a great video. Your channel deserves more viewers. Keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure it'll keep growing
He got lots of the history wrong…
I never even heard of this place, but it looks lovely.
🚨when I moved 2 Qnz from Bx in 2004 I def used to explore new spots & this was one I discovered bc u can just drive over that 1 bridge over there w no tolls or anything. It’s like a whole different city operating over there but I’m mad they took away the park at the very north point & restricted the area from even parking ur car there for some reason.. I used to be able to park & walk right up there & relax near the rocks, but no more
Im an australian, back in the 90s I worked for a Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata who built a great sprawling sculpture out of scavenged scrap wood in the old small pox hospital. It was an amazing job, the sculpture was about 4 stories high and spewed out the widows and broken down walls of the ruined hospital. One day we were sitting around having lunch, a bunch of young guys from all over the world. right in front of us a hatch in the ground opened a a terrified guy got out. he said he had been chased in a tunnel by a gang of guys, we never saw them but he was properly scared. we gave him lunch and subway fare, he couldn't believe it. it was such an odd environment with big trees growing out of the old hospital, which was like a ruined gothic castle type thing. fond memories
looking at a map now It must have been the 53rd st tunnel that the guy came across on foot on.
Thanks for sharing the history. If I ever make it back to NYC, I'd like to visit the island.
The Norm reference floored me as it was EXACTLY what I was thinking.
Where'd he get that idea from?
@@AdamEgret it’s more of a comment.
$15
I’m from NY as yes it’s a beautiful place and you know what no one I know ever mentions or talk about this place it was nice coming across this vid..
Great video! With an accurate title tbh, Also lowkey you and hoser sound alike
I can't even begin to count how many videos I have seen of "secret" islands in New York.
I'll still watch them.
Roosevelt Island is under appreciated space. I didn’t hear you mention the cherry trees. The esplanade that surrounds has tons of cherry trees that are so beautiful in spring, about March. I always take a bike ride out there about then.
Honestly I wish this were true. It’s getting way too crowded here
At the 1:06 the video says the family sold the island to NYC in 1928, it was actually 1828. Since Charles Dickens visited the "lunatic" asylum on the island in 1842. Selling the island in 1928 doesn't make sense in the timeline.
When I get visitors one of my top activities for them is exploring Four Freedoms Park in the late afternoon and then a sunset drink at Panorama Room (rooftop bar).
Lived on this tiny island and loved it.
Could you imagine of the island was still farmland.. all that fresh produce, livestock.. etc. right there in New York City?
and the smells... yea no thanks..
It’s only 147 acres. You could feed about 20 or 30 families for the year with that.
Thanks for the tour. What beautiful footage! One of the best, truest, funniest friends I've ever had lived on RI. I never met her or went there but she enriched my life incalculably from 700 miles away.
Visited over the summer. Arrived by ferry and left by Tramway, it was well worth the visit.
I used to go to school there and I visited again for the first time in 6 years. I couldn't find one thing that changed.
I gotta' admit... I didn't expect that Norm Macdonald reference.
I used to go to Long Island City Highschool literally 4 blocks from Roosevelt Island,I have so many great memories there’s,smoking and drinking with friends doing cartwheels at the park even had a friend who lived there the apartments are gorgeous
I have been there many times. It is a nice place to spend a day.
Done that by accident, we did not even know about it but we spotted the cable car and thought why not. Cheap return crossing which is an amazing experience in itself. We always tell anyone we know who is visiting the US and New York to check it out.
An informative video, well done. Lived here for nearly ten years, the place is full of memories. Crime was almost non-existent, the police carried no guns back then . We also had a few celebrities, Buddy Hackett the comedian and actor, also Al Lewis " Grandpa" from the tv show The Munsters. In my day he had a radio talk show.
And ran for Mayor on the Green Ticket.
Good job on this video.
I have family that’s lived on Roosevelt Island for years. My friends & I would go there to play basketball when we were kids. They do a good job maintaining the courts. You should do City Island next.
ive been in the abandoned building in gta IV
I remember reading an article years ago about the island. Definitely not a big deal but its always been interesting to me, where old actors and actresses used to live back in the old days. Al Lewis, the actor who played Grampa on the old Munsters tv show in the 60's was very attached to Roosevelt island and had a place out there. After age and significant health issues slowed him down, it was said that he retired from acting, disappeared from public view and lived out his final years there. He said he loved the place and always had a very strong attachment to it, saying it was a pleasant place.
I knew Al. He was freaky tall and used to wear this ten gallon cowboy hat that made him almost seven feet tall (he was 6'4").
Lol, even back in the day, when I was 13 in 1983, I walked into the video store and literally bumped into Buddy Hackett. I did a double take and he said, "What's up, Poncho?" 🤣
@@MrRezRisingOn the Munsters they had to make Fred Gwynn look much taller than Al Lewis by having Gwynn stand on boxes when they were in the same scene.
@@stuartaaron613 The seven inch platform shoes didn't hurt, either.
Good video but how do you not mention the stunning FDR memorial at the southern tip of the island? It was designed by the famed architect Louis I. Kahn. You showed it briefly but it really deserves more attention.
Love it. Especially the cable car, the highlight of my visit to New York. And you did not even mention it.
Worth the visit. I ate at the Cornell cafeteria The FDR memorial is cool.
Loved the video, thanks.
The 59th St. bridge Queensboro, Bridge, Ed Koch Bridge, or whatever name you know it by was made famous at least by Simon & Garfunkel. Mcdonald is very funny but not so much on that joke anyway moving on I love that you actually called it a Subway headhouse which is the proper name. It makes me think you are AI even more because nobody calls it that although it is correct. Nice Video!
I do my research where everyone else does their research - on the internet - where things tend to be described in their “proper” name, rather than what NYC locals call it - bc i’m not an NYC local lol. Glad you enjoyed the video! And I promise I’m not AI…although I’ll always take that as a compliment. In the famous words of Pinocchio: “I’m a real boy!” 😂
@@fourth_place👏😂❤ Love the original animated Disney Pinocchio movie 🍿🎥 reference, possibly my favorite Disney movie. Enjoyed your RI video. 📼 Glad not 🚫 all of NYC is still🏙️ unspoiled.🗽🦅 So 😢🙏⚖️🛡️🩹🩸🇺🇸 sad to watch your fellow RUclipsr Cash's apo caly ptic Big Apple. 🍎🍏 God bless you and yours. . .✨🕯️🕊️✨
I first learnt about it thanks to the film 'Dark Water' from 2005, starring Jennifer Connelly.
Although many apartments there are 1 mill+ I actually found a couple of apartments under 500k, that surprised me.
It looks beautiful with all the green areas, perfect if you own a dog.
How is the parking structure redundant? Long term street parking is only available to handicpped.
Roosevelt Island!!!
I've both seen it, and walked over it. From Manhatten to Queens
I discovered it shortly before 9-11. It only had one restaurant, a Chinese takeout and a slice joint. Now it's pretty gentrified, with Starbucks and expensive restaurant. But the projects are still there, it's like being in two worlds
I grew up in NYC and long ago moved to rural Wyoming.
It is interesting to hear about the history and development of this massive city.
I'm glad that people enjoy these places, because it takes the pressure off the rest of us.
Oh, and Blackwell's Island was sold to the city in 1828, not 1928.
Great video, you get a very enthusiastic follow.
Well done 😀
Very interesting. I moved from Brooklyn to Maryland in 1968, so this development is new to me. One facility you didn't mention is K-12 schools.
My dad lived in Sunnyside, Queens, and use to hang out in Roosevelt Island back in the late 80’s to mid 90’s. He said he would take his dates to the island, and walk to the lighthouse. Also said there was an old myth that the hospital was haunted, since many people died there. There use to be a VA clinic there, and wonders if it’s still there.. Another place that was nice back in the day, he said was Astoria Park.
They also have a lot of cherry blossom trees which made it a great place to visit in the spring for photos. I have visited twice, I take the subway to the island from Queens, then the gondola into Manhattan after.
This looks amazing. How have I never heard of it
Very informative and interesting. I remember the name, Welfare Island. Didn't know that Roosevelt Island was the same island. Certainly didn't know it wss located in the east River. Lived in Jersey all my life, familiar with many if the smaller islands, but not familiar with all of them around N.Y.C. This is a revelation for me. Always open to learning new things.
have being going over and under it for over 15 years , but never being on the Island... should check it soon!!!
What a wonderful place to live!
Roosevelt island is great but a major thing that is not mentioned in the video is that it's not quite as idyllic as presented in much of the green space, parks, and waterfront walkways. There's a lot of traffic noise from the queensboro bridge and FDR drive. So despite the large green spaces you don't get that "escape" from the traffic noise of the city that you get eg with central park or even small neighborhood parks that are away from major roads.
It is a good place to go for space for some sports like volleyball and tennis but less fun for just walking around or having a picnic. Eg the very large southpoint park is extremely nice and unique for NYC and has lovely views (and I have had good picnics there!), but I think it would be a much more popular picnic and leisure destination than it is now if it weren't awash in the constant hum of FDR across the river.
Looks like a great place to live. Quiet but with the city on your doorstep