The most recent episode of Empire State Engagements features a conversation with Dr. Lizabeth Cohen Professor in the Department of History at Harvard, who discussed her Bancroft Prize-winning book Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019). [Read more…] about The Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island and Public Health History
Roosevelt Island, formerly Blackwell’s Island (and later Welfare Island), has had many layers of medical history. From the construction of the almshouses in the 1830s onward, the island has housed the ill, displaced, criminals and unwanted poor of the city. [Read more…] about Roosevelt Island and Public Health History
Nellie Bly: Blackwell’s Island And Beyond
Nellie Bly gained her reputation as a reporter when she exposed poor conditions at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. Bly reported on issues of importance to women, producing an important interview with Susan B. Anthony and covering major events in the suffrage campaign.
A free lecture, Nellie Bly: From Blackwell’s Island to Well Beyond, has been set for Thursday, June 14th at 6:30 pm at the New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island, 525 Main Street. [Read more…] about Nellie Bly: Blackwell’s Island And Beyond
Controversy Over Proposed Roosevelt Island Sign
The Roosevelt Island Historical Society has issued a call for action to oppose a proposed “RI” art-piece dubbed a “Welcome Monument” planned for placement outside the Roosevelt Island Historical Society Visitor Center Kiosk.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) is now soliciting public comments to gauge community support for the proposed 3-D, 10-foot-tall RI welcome-monument / sign. [Read more…] about Controversy Over Proposed Roosevelt Island Sign
NYC Lecture: FDNY On Blackwell’s, Welfare Islands
The New York Public Library, Roosevelt Island Branch are planning to host a free lecture by Gary Urbanowicz on The FDNY on Blackwell’s and Welfare Island, on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 6:30 pm.
The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) has a long apresence on Roosevelt Island, according to FDNY historian and author Gary R. Urbanowicz. [Read more…] about NYC Lecture: FDNY On Blackwell’s, Welfare Islands
Roosevelt Island: NYC Art Deco Lecture Thursday
Roosevelt Island Library has announced they will host an art deco lecture on Thursday, December 14 at 6:30 pm.
“Art Deco Metropolis: Magnificent Buildings of Modern New York City” will be led by noted architectural historian and author Anthony W. Robins.
Mr. Robins is the author of three books on New York City architecture, including New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz Age Architecture. A Q & A and a book signing will follow the lecture. [Read more…] about Roosevelt Island: NYC Art Deco Lecture Thursday
NYC Lecture: Art Deco And Modern New York
The Roosevelt Island Library will host historian and author Anthony W. Robins, who will give a lecture titled Art Deco Metropolis: Magnificent Buildings of Modern New York City, on Thursday, December 14 at 6:30 pm.
The Chrysler Building, the Waldorf-Astoria, and Rockefeller Center are among the hundreds of Art Deco monuments during the 1920s and ‘30s and that shaped the image of New York City as the world’s Modern Metropolis. [Read more…] about NYC Lecture: Art Deco And Modern New York
Lecture: Metropolitan Hospital Goes to WWI
The Roosevelt Island Historical Society will host a free lecture on Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 6:30 pm, “Metropolitan Hospital Goes to the Great War” by Judith Berdy, President Roosevelt Island Historical Society, at the New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island .
The wounded and dying soldiers on the battlefields of the Great War required a new level of medical care. Roosevelt Island’s Metropolitan Hospital played a role as one of a number of American hospitals that sent doctors, nurses and other staff members to run base hospitals in Europe during World War I. [Read more…] about Lecture: Metropolitan Hospital Goes to WWI
Roosevelt Island Opens New Aerial Tramway
The newly rebuilt Roosevelt Island Tramway opened today, following a nine-month modernization project which replaced the previous 33-year-old tram system. The new tram reduces travel time, permits both cabins to start on the side with highest demand during rush hour, and includes new safety measures, according to an announcement by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC), a New York State Public Benefit Corporation in charge of the management of Roosevelt Island.
“Roosevelt Island’s Tramway is once again the most modern urban aerial transportation system in the world,” said Leslie Torres, President of RIOC, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new tram. “It’s built to serve residents, business, and tourists for the next thirty (30) years.” Roosevelt Island is currently home to approximately 12,000 residents, open spaces, recreation areas, six landmarks, schools, and shops. The Tram continues to be part of the Metro Card fare system, providing free transfers to buses and subways. The infrastructure improvement was funded through a $15 million investment from the State of New York and $10 million from RIOC.
The Tram was designed to be more stable in high winds, eliminate impact of electrical and mechanical malfunctions, and allow for one cabin to continue operations while the other undergoes preventive maintenance. According to Brian Lawler, Commissioner and CEO of New York State Homes and Community Renewal, “We created this tram with the convenience and safety of Roosevelt Island residents, businesses and tourist in mind. A state-of-the-art tram helps further our mission to create a model community of mixed-income housing, small businesses and plenty of open, green space to serve both island residents and the larger City community.”
Key innovations for the new Tram include:
• Two separate Tram systems. Each cable track operates independently of the other, allowing for preventive maintenance and other servicing on one side, while maintaining service on the other.
• Cabins that are attached to a double hanger arms, providing for a more stable ride. The cabins of the previous system were suspended from a single hanger arm.
• Built-in operational and electrical back-ups including a separate motor for each cabin, back-up motors for the cabins, and four (4) back-up generators.
Pomagalski, S.A. (Poma), one of two companies world-wide capable of rebuilding the tram, was awarded the design/build contract in 2008, after a selection process. POMA worked closely with local trades and contractors, under the supervision of RIOC and its engineering team consisting of New York based LiRo Engineering and Thornton Tomasetti, and Shea, Carr, Jewel of Denver, Colorado. Leitner-Poma, the American affiliate has a five-year operating agreement to run the Tram with a New York based crew.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York was created by State statute in 1984 with responsibility for the operation and development of Roosevelt Island. A General Development Plan, which accompanied the 1969 Ground Lease between New York City and State, directed the development of “a new community” specifically providing for mixed income housing, an abundance of open space, protection of its six City landmarked buildings, protection of the environment and innovative solutions to New York’s technology requirements. “.. a demonstration of modern planners’ capacity to harness technology for human use, while enhancing rather than degrading the environment.…”, according to a 1976 editorial marking the naming of Roosevelt Island after our 32 President.
The Roosevelt Island Plan is now nearly complete. The Four Freedoms Park, a memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is under construction and three more residential buildings are expected within the next few years. The Tram’s redesign anticipates increased usage over the coming years.