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Place Name
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Roosevelt Island
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Place Status (Type)
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borough
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Location
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New York, United States, North America
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Latitude
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40°46'N
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Longitude
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73°56'W
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Roosevelt Island
, borough of Manhattan, N.Y. city, SE N.Y., in
East River opposite midtown Manhattan; 40°46'N 73°56'W. Isl. is
1.75 mi/2.82 km long and only
800 ft/244 m wide at its widest point; 147
acres/59 ha in area. In 19th and 20th cents., as city
property, it housed a lunatic asylum, a poorhouse, a penitentiary, and
hospitals for the chronically ill. In 1921, after investigation of
notorious conditions at these institutions, the prison was moved to
Rikers Isl., and the name was changed from Blackwell's Isl. to Welfare
Isl. In 1971 the State's Urban Development Corp. decided to convert
the isl. to a high-density residential community; severe fiscal and
management problems caused only 2,138 housing units (less than half the
number originally planned) to be built. Yet, the result has been a
pleasing, successful project accessible by subway, by car from
Ravenswood, Queens, via the Roosevelt Isl. Bridge (built 1955), and by
an aerial tramway from a terminal at E 60th St. and 2d Ave. in
Manhattan. In 1973 Welfare Isl. was renamed Franklin D. Roosevelt Isl.
to honor one of the city's most renowned citizens.
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