Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island Review

The 2-mi-long East River slice of land that parallels Manhattan from East 48th to East 85th streets is now a quasi-suburb of 10,000 people, and the vestiges of its infamous asylums, hospitals, and prisons make this an offbeat trip for the historically curious. At the south tip are the eerie ruins of a Smallpox Hospital, built in 1854 in a Gothic Revival style by the prominent architect James Renwick Jr. (Among many other works, Renwick also designed St. Patrick's and the Smithsonian's Castle.) On a small park at the island's north tip is a lighthouse built in 1872 by island convicts. Most of what's in between (new as well as 1970s-era condominiums and a modern-day hospital) is fairly banal, but riverside esplanades provide nice panoramas of Manhattan. You can get here by subway, but more fun is the five-minute ride on the Roosevelt Island Tramway, the only commuter cable car in North America, which lifts you 250 feet in the air, with impressive views of Queens and Manhattan. A visitor center, made from an old trolley kiosk, stands to your left as you exit the tram. Red buses service the island, 25¢ a ride.