Roosevelt Island | A Historical Hidden Gem

Roosevelt Island is not as well known as Manhattan only because most people stay in Manhattan and don’t venture out further. This is a great shame because Roosevelt Island is a fantastic and historical hidden gem that is underrated.

Our family trip to NYC was nothing short of fun, but at the end of the day it was nice to come back to a quiet place where it felt like home. We stayed at the Graduate Roosevelt Island, which is a hip & trendy hotel situated next door to the Cornell Tech campus. It is the only hotel on the island and is fairly new.

Queensboro bridge & tramway

If you are staying on Roosevelt Island or just want to visit, the Roosevelt Island Tramway is the best, in my opinion, and most scenic route to go. It is just about 7 minutes away from Manhattan. However, you can also take the subway.

Many movies have been shot in or around Roosevelt Island. One of the latest movies is “Spider-Man No Way Home.” The apartments just over the Queensboro Bridge, the bridge itself, and the Tramway were featured.

Queensboro Bridge is absolutely stunning at any time of the day or night!

A bit of history {a historical hidden gem}

The island actually has a lot to offer and that is why I call it a hidden gem. Roosevelt Island used to be called Blackwell Island. It is a historical hidden gem because it holds so much dark history that people should actually know about. We can learn a lot about its history. It used to be an island where they threw people with mental health problems into lunatic asylums. They even threw people who they didn’t know diagnoses for, like autism and dementia. It was a sad period in time, but we have come a long way from then. The island also had prisons and low cost community housing. It was basically a place to store the unwanted: the criminals, poor, disabled and sick people. To get the full details on all of this history visit the National Park Service website.

Lighthouse & movie {a historical hidden gem}

To get a glimpse of how all of this went down, there is a historical fiction perspective of a woman named Nellie Bly that lived through this horror in a movie that is available on You Tube called “Escaping the Madness.” I watched it and it was very eye-opening!

At the north end of the island are commemorative writings and statues of Nellie Bly along with the lighthouse.

Lunatic asylum today known as Octagon Tower {a historical hidden gem}

The lunatic asylum today is now a beautiful apartment building named the Octagon Tower. The staircase is the original design! Inside the lobby are photos of what it used to be and is worth a visit.

Free bus on the island

By the way, the best way to get around the island is to take the red public bus that is free for residents and tourists. It has many hop on/hop off stops about every 15 minutes. This was such a great service for us. The island is walkable, but after long days in Manhattan, we were very appreciative to have this!

Blackwell house {a historical hidden gem}

The Blackwell house was the highlight of our Roosevelt Island exploration! It truly is a historical hidden gem! We had a fantastic tour guide of the house and SO much history of the island! He was very knowledgeable and took his time with us.

Island life

We did visit during Christmastime and the island was beautifully decorated. It actually reminded me of a Hallmark Christmas movie!

There are many places to grab a drink and eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We actually ate twice at a restaurant that we, unfortunately, forgot to take photos of. Our first meal, once we settled in to our hotel, was there and our last meal before leaving NY. It was delicious! The restaurant was Granny Annie’s.

There is also a Subway and a Starbucks on the island, as well as a few other restaurants.

One other restaurant we also enjoyed was Nisi Kitchen. They have a HUGE menu selection! Their food was also delicious. We ordered an appetizer and I order the Rueben sandwich which was open-faced. I had never see an open-faced Rueben sandwich before.

Smallpox hospital {a historical hidden gem}

This was the first major hospital in the U.S. to take care of those with the smallpox disease. These ruins of the hospital is also the place that the climax scene from Spider-Man vs Green Goblin is set. It is actually a really cool place to visit. You won’t be able to go inside because it is very dilapidated and it is surrounded by a fence.

This is the current regular hospital on the island, but it is situated on the north end of the island. The smallpox hospital ruins are on the south end of the island.

Four Freedoms Park Conservancy {a historical hidden gem}

Four Freedoms Park Conservancy is the newest part of the island, aside from the hotel. It is a place to commemorate President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The views of Manhattan are fantastic from here and it is situated at the very south end of the island.

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