Roosevelt Island & Tramway Cable Car

Roosevelt Island sits in the East River alongside Manhattan and is 147 acres in size. It’s a great place to head to if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of New York and there are plenty of things to see when you’re there. The biggest highlight though is the tramway (cable car) to get there. This is the same cable car which was featured in the Spiderman 2 movie with Tobey Maguire. The station is at the junction of 59th street and 2nd Avenue and there are some fantastic views of Manhattan when you’re on board.

The tram leaves every 7 to 15 minutes depending on the time of day and takes you to a station in Tramway Plaza on Roosevelt Island (pictured below). You don’t need any kind of special ticket, just use your contactless card for the same prices as a NYC subway journey. When you’re over the river, make sure you look south for views of the United Nations HQ and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan. The journey takes only around 5 minutes.

Roosevelt Island is linear in shape with a walkway all the way around. If you don’t have time to explore it all, we’d recommend heading south towards the Four Freedoms Park area. If you have more time, the northern tip with its historic lighthouse is worth seeing too. There are lots of residential tower blocks on the island, but it is also home to the campus of Cornell Tech university which you’ll see on your walk. It’s a very ‘green’ area with loads of open spaces, which is one of the reasons it feels so relaxing here. There are also hardly any cars.

The island used to be know as Welfare Island and one of the legacies of this name is the ruins of the Smallpox hospital (pictured above) near the entrance to the Four Freedoms Park. This was built in 1856 and later became a residential training school for nurses. The island generally had a history of being home to hospitals, workhouses and prisons before being redeveloped in the 1960s. During most of this period it was called Blackwell’s Island. Once you’re in the Four Freedoms Park, you’ll probably want to head to the southern tip of the island where you’ll find a statue head of Franklin Roosevelt himself.

Make sure you look around the outside of this monument though for great views of Manhattan. There’s a raised section too with trees and a triangular grassed area. Other structures on the island worth seeing include the Octagon, which was the main entrance to the Lunatic Asylum, the ruins of the City Hospital and Blackwell’s House. Most of these structures are listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.

One other thing you shouldn’t miss is the lovely bronze statue of Roosevelt reaching out to a disabled child. He lived with Polio throughout his life and this depiction of him is particularly memorable. The artwork is in the Four Freedoms Park.