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Though Roosevelt Island is technically a part of Manhattan, between 1958 and 1976 the only way to get there was by a bridge at 36th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard in Astoria, Queens. (Before 1958 a trolley would let you off on the Queensboro Bridge, where an elevator would transport you to the island.)

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The bridge is still the only way to get there by car or bus. Since 1976, the only tramway in NYC has run from Second Avenue and 60th Street, and subway service was initiated in 1989.

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The lift bridge (the roadway is rarely raised to allow East River shipping to pass) was opened in 1955 and was originally called the Welfare Island Bridge. The island has had three names in English: Blackwell’s Island, Welfare Island (it was mostly used for asylums, hospitals and institutions until the 1970s) and finally, Roosevelt Island, after Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Kevin Walsh is the webmaster of Forgotten New York. His book of the same name is also available.


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