Wow
Roosevelt Island is
weird. It's only a 30 minute walk from my apartment over the Roosevelt Island bridge and it's like another world. Or to be specific, it feels like a small seaside town, not the middle of New York City.
I decided to rest my eyes some more, since they still haven't fully recovered from the vicious bout of eyestrain I had, and had been curious about Roosevelt Island. And for a beautiful day in May, it was practically deserted.
You can see the UN building in this photo looking south - look at the walkway. There's nobody there. Every now and then a runner would run by.
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
|
|
|
|
|
To get a real understanding of how deserted the place is, here's a shot of Carl Schurz Park, across the river from Roosevelt Island:
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
If you click to see the larger version you can make out all the people along the walkway. And I guarantee the place is crowded because I used to live a block away from the park and it was always crowded, especially on the walkway, even in the winter, much less a mid-spring Sunday.
And here's Roosevelt Island:
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
You can tell the day was fairly low-humidity by my barometer-like hair.
There's also a lighthouse on the northern end of the island - and again - look at how there's no people here.
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
The place is also a hypochondriac's dream - there are two hospitals on this one tiny island, as well as remnants of former hospitals. Here's the sun dial in front of the
Octagon.
 |
| Click to see a larger version | | | | | |
The Queensboro Bridge goes right over the middle of Roosevelt Island.
Here is the tram about to land in the tram garage, or whatever it's
called.
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
This picture is looking east to Queens - there's the giant Pepsi sign.
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
If anything the southern end of Roosevelt Island is even more deserted that the northern end. Here's a small park with benches - nobody there but me and that squirrel.
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
And here is the ruins of the Smallpox Hospital.
 |
| Click to see a larger version |
It's so exotic, and yet about three blocks from here, I caught the Q102 which dropped me off two blocks from my home. Amazing.
