Quadrants
A NEW PARK FOR ROOSEVELT ISLAND
Stretching two miles down the center of The most noteworthy of the ruins to
the East River between Manhattan and be included in the park is the imposing
Queens is Roosevelt Island, once known remains of an 1852 smallpox hospital.
as Welfare Island. Back then it was a site for Designed by well-known architect James
hospitals, penitentiaries, and asylums; by Renwick (who also designed Saint Patrick’s
1872 there were 11 such institutions on the Cathedral in Manhattan and the original
island. Now the remains of three Smithsonian Institution building in
of them are being incorporated into a Washington, D.C.), the hospital is the only
graceful new park. ruin in New York protected as a city land-
Renamed in 1973, the 147-acre island mark. Illuminated at night, the Renwick
today is occupied by 12,000 residents who ruin can be easily seen from Manhattan.
live in buildings constructed over the last TPL is now stabilizing these ruins in prepa-
40 years. For years, the Roosevelt Island ration for park construction.
Operating Corporation (RIOC), a state Working with the state and the city,
authority, has contemplated a park on a and with support from former governor
ROOSEVELT ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
rubble-strewn, 14-acre site near the island’s Pataki and city councilwoman Jessica
southern end that boasts some of the city’s best waterfront Lapin, TPL helped raise $12.8 million for the project and hired
and skyline views. the design firm of Wallace Roberts & Todd to create the final
In 2003, former New York governor George Pataki asked design for the showcase park. Construction will be overseen by
TPL to work with RIOC to create the park. An 18-month, RIOC and is set to begin this spring. A later phase of the effort
TPL-led community design process led to three conceptual may add a long-envisioned, 3.5-acre memorial to Franklin
plans for public comment. The plan that won overwhelming Roosevelt, designed by the late architect Louis Kahn in honor of
support, Wild Garden/Green Rooms, features landscaped gar- the island’s namesake.
dens, lawns, and scenic overviews interspersed with the stone For more information on all of TPL’s work in New York, go
ruins of historic buildings. to www.tpl.org/newyork.
MARK K. MORRISON
