EXPLORE ROOSEVELT ISLAND - Photograph Parks, NYC Skyline, East River Synergy

DATE/TIME
Saturday, May 17, from 2:30pm to 5:00pm

CONTACT
Meetup.com site or ArtFrame24@gmail.com

RAIN DATE
Stay tuned for weather updates closer to the event day.
We generally lean towards going with light rain. Great Rain photos are possible in the rain - see cover photo.

ALL WELCOME
Beginners to Professionals
All with Digital Cameras, Smartphone Cameras, Vid Cams,
even just Discerning Eyes Only

MEETUP LOCATION
254 East 60th St., NW corner intersection of East 60th Street & 2nd Ave. just across from the Roosevelt Island Tram station.
You are entitled to a free transfer to the tram (& vice versa) if you use a NYC local bus or a subway & use your OMNY, Metro, or Personal Credit Card to originally board such.
All the above cards serve as TRAM point-of-sale fare cards.

After arrival on the island we'll wait for the next TRAM at the Tourist Info Center (very small white building) just 20 or so yards west of the TRAM arrival station.

FOR ANYONE WANTING TO RETURN BY FERRY ($4 fare/1 ride)
**TRAM WEEKEND SCHEDULE - https://rioc.ny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7779/Weekend-and-Holiday-Tram-Schedule-2025?bidId=**

NYC Ferries leaving and heading to Roosevelt Island only accept pre-purchased tickets with credit cards via the NYC Ferry app or by purchase at ticket machines located at all the Ferry boarding stations.

RESTROOMS
Roosevelt Island does have public restrooms along our route, Bloomingdale's has more, Grand Central Terminal has plenty of facilities if coming through there.

PLAN
We'll board the Tram after meeting & attempt to capture our 1st images while up on the Tram, high above the streets of Manhattan. After a short ride we'll disembark the Tram which leaves us in the center of the Island.

PLACES WE'LL SEE

1. NYC East River Skyline
2. The famous 59th St (Ed Koch, Queensboro) bridge
3. The Graduate Hotel w/Panorama Room atop
4. Cornell Tech is a graduate campus & research center of Cornell University on Roosevelt Island
5. Southpoint Park with stunning views of Chrysler & UN buildings
6. FDR Hope Memorial
7. Smallpox Memorial Hospital site
8. Cat Sanctuary – Wildlife Freedom Foundation
9. Strecker Memorial Laboratory, 1892 now closed

BACKGROUND
Roosevelt Island is an island in NYC's East River, within the Borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the Borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, with an area of 147 acres (0.59 km2), and had a population of 11,722 as of the 2020. It consists of two largely residential communities: Northtown and Southtown. Roosevelt Island is owned by the city but was leased to the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) for 99 years in 1969.
The island was called Minnehanonck by the Lenape and Varken Eylandt (Hog Island) by the Dutch during the colonial era and later Blackwell's Island. During much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the island was used by hospitals and prisons, with very limited access. It was renamed Welfare Island in 1921. Following several proposals to redevelop Welfare Island in the 1960s, the UDC leased the island, renamed it after former U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1973, and redeveloped it as a series of residential neighborhoods. The first phase of Northtown, the island's first community, was completed in 1974, followed by the second phase (Northtown II) in 1989. Southtown was developed in the early 21st century, along with the Cornel Tech higher-education campus.

PLANS FOR AN ENJOYABLE PHOTO OUTING

1. Use Wikipedia as a starting point to research some of the Roosevelt Island sites, location, and history of this fascinating place.
2. Plug in any address into Google Maps (maps.google.com) to bring up any instant map.
3. Make any on site or beforehand suggestions here at this meetup page or when we meet.

PHOTO SUGGESTIONS
There will be an album here on Meetup.com following the conclusion of our Meetup event - Manhattan architectural exteriors, skyline views, water traffic, park settings, Long Island City views.
If in doubt, submit anyway. At all cost we'd rather you submit than not do so since fun & message telling is our photo purpose. But our objective is to come up with an album collective for all to participate.

REFERENCES

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. - rioc.ny.gov/162/The-Beginning
Wikipedia/Roosevelt Island - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Island
Walk This Way NYC - walkthiswaynyc.com/home/walks/roosevelt-island/