Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island is a long, skinny island floating in the East River, right in the middle of New York City! It's like a little secret hideaway tucked between the giant island of Manhattan and the big neighborhood of Queens. It's about as long as two football fields put together, but not very wide.

Even though it's in the city, it feels a bit like its own special place with parks and tall buildings where people live.

A super long time ago, this island had a funny name: Hog Island! Before that, the Lenape people called it Minnehanonck. For many years, it wasn't a place for families to live. Instead, it had hospitals and even prisons. It was a bit mysterious and hard to get to. Then, people decided to make it a nice place to live, and they changed its name to Roosevelt Island to honor a president.

Want to get to Roosevelt Island? You can take a regular subway or a ferry boat, but there's also a super cool aerial tramway! It's like a ski lift that floats high above the river, giving you amazing views of the city. It's like flying in a little cabin! This tramway is one of the only ways to get around the island and see all the homes, parks, and even a special college campus.

Even though it's a city island, Roosevelt Island has lots of green spaces. There are parks all around the edge where you can walk and see the river. At the very tip of the island, there's a beautiful park called Four Freedoms Park, which is a quiet place to think. There's also a school where kids learn and play, and places for people to worship. It's a busy but also peaceful place to call home.