Roosevelt Island

About Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island has a different built history from the mainland museum district. Its landmarks include the 1796 Blackwell farmhouse and later institutional buildings, including the surviving tower of an 1839 asylum and an 1856 smallpox hospital ruin. The tram, opened in 1976 as an interim connection, became a lasting part of the island’s transport.

At the southern end, Louis Kahn’s memorial uses a garden and an open-air granite room to frame the Four Freedoms. The park opened in 2012, adding a public landscape to the island’s mix of historic buildings and newer institutions.

Places to explore

• Roosevelt Island Tram

  Tramway Plaza / East 60th Street and Second Avenue

  The tram began running in 1976 and links the island with East 60th Street and Second Avenue. Check RIOC’s current service information before setting out; accessible cabins accommodate mobility devices.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park

  Southern tip of Roosevelt Island

  Louis Kahn designed this presidential memorial as a progression through a garden toward a granite room. Check the park’s visitor page for opening days and seasonal hours before making the trip to the southern tip.

• Blackwell House

  Roosevelt Island

  The island’s 1796 farmhouse survives among later buildings. Plan an exterior architectural visit unless the operator confirms current interior visiting arrangements.

  Read the NYFE place guide

• Roosevelt Island Lighthouse

  Northern tip of Roosevelt Island

  This 1872 lighthouse marks the northern end of the island. LPC’s designation credits James Renwick, Jr. as supervising architect. Make it a separate north-end stop from the southern memorial.

• Cornell Tech

  2 West Loop Road

  The graduate technology campus is at 2 West Loop Road, south of the Queensboro Bridge. Use Cornell Tech’s visitor information for campus access; public access to the grounds does not mean every academic interior is open.

• Smallpox Hospital ruins

  Southern Roosevelt Island

  James Renwick, Jr. supervised the original hospital’s construction in 1854–1856. Its Gothic ruin is an architectural stop near the island’s southern end. View it from permitted public paths and follow posted access restrictions.

• The Octagon

  Northern Roosevelt Island

  The surviving eight-sided tower dates to the island’s 1839 asylum. It is another way to read the island’s nineteenth-century architecture, away from the southern park and campus.

  Read the NYFE place guide

Planning a visit

Choose the north-end lighthouse or the southern park and campus as your starting point. The M serves Roosevelt Island during weekday daytime hours; the F serves it at night and on weekends. Check MTA service changes and elevator status for the day you travel.

NYC Ferry’s Astoria route also stops at Roosevelt Island. Use its current schedule for sailings. Check the park and campus visitor pages separately for their access arrangements and opening times.

Photos