Roosevelt Island station

For other uses, see Roosevelt Island (disambiguation).

The Roosevelt Island station is a station on the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located in Manhattan on Roosevelt Island in the East River, it is served by the F train at all times and the <F> train during rush hours in the reverse peak direction.

Roosevelt Island
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station platforms
Station statistics
Address	Main Street near Road 5 New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Roosevelt Island
Coordinates	40.759188°N 73.953438°W / 40.759188; -73.953438
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND 63rd Street Line
Services	F  (all times) <F>  (two rush hour trains, peak direction)
Transit	Roosevelt Island Tramway MTA Bus: Q102 RIOC: Red Bus, Octagon Express NYC Ferry: Astoria route
Structure	Underground
Depth	100 feet (30.5 m)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	October 29, 1989; 34 years ago (1989-10-29)[2]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	1,686,544[3]  5.4%
Rank	187 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Lexington Avenue–63rd Street F  <F> toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue 21st Street–Queensbridge F  <F> toward Jamaica–179th Street
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 21st Street–Queensbridge to Lexington Avenue–63rd Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops all times except late nights Stops rush hours in the peak direction only (limited service)

The Roosevelt Island station was first proposed in 1965, when the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced that it would build a subway station to encourage transit-oriented development on Roosevelt Island. The station and the rest of the 63rd Street Line were built as part of the Program for Action, a wide-ranging subway expansion program, starting in the late 1960s. When construction of the line was delayed, the Roosevelt Island Tram was built in 1973. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation was formed in 1984 to develop the island, but was not successful until October 1989 when the subway station opened along with the rest of the 63rd Street Line. The opening encouraged the development of the island, which has made the station busier.

Until December 2001, this was the second-to-last stop of the line, which terminated one stop east at 21st Street–Queensbridge. In 2001, the 63rd Street Tunnel Connection opened, allowing trains from the IND Queens Boulevard Line to use the line. Since the opening of the connection, the line has been served by F trains, and the subway then became the second means for direct travel between the island and Queens, supplementing the buses that had been operating over the Roosevelt Island Bridge. The station is one of the system's deepest, at 100 feet (30 m) below ground, because the line passes under the West and East Channels of the East River at either end of the station.

History

Roosevelt Island was once home to a penitentiary and some asylums, as well as being home to numerous hospitals. It was originally called Blackwell's Island, but in 1921 it became known as Welfare Island because of the numerous hospitals on the island. The island became neglected once the hospitals started closing and their buildings were left abandoned to decay. During the 1960s, some groups started proposing uses for the island.^[4]

Construction

On February 16, 1965, the New York City Transit Authority announced plans to construct a subway station on the island along the planned 63rd Street Line, as part of the island's proposed transit-oriented development (TOD). TOD tries to increase the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. With this announcements, more suggestions for what to do with the island were made.^[4] The construction of a station was viewed to be vital for the development of the island, which was still known as Welfare Island. At that point, it was decided to build a shell for the station, to allow for the station to open after the opening of the rest of the line, with a projected savings of $4 million compared to building the station as an infill station after the rest of the line opened. The projected cost of the station was $3.3 million.^[5] It was soon decided to build the station with the rest of the line.^[6]

The current 63rd Street Line was the final version of proposals for a northern midtown tunnel from the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the Second and Sixth Avenue lines, which date back to the IND Second System of the 1920s and 1930s.^{[7][8][9][10]} The current plans were drawn up in the 1960s under the MTA's Program For Action,^[11] where the 63rd Street subway line was to be built in the upper portion of the bi-level 63rd Street Tunnel.^{[12]: 5, 21}

Beginning in the mid-1970s, Roosevelt Island was redeveloped to accommodate low- to mid-income housing projects. However, there was no direct transit connection to Manhattan. The subway was delayed and still under construction; trolley tracks that formerly served Roosevelt Island via the Queensboro Bridge were unusable; and the only way on and off the island was via the Roosevelt Island Bridge to Queens. An aerial tram route, the Roosevelt Island Tramway, was opened in May 1976 as a "temporary" connection to Manhattan.^[13] The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation was formed in 1984 to develop the island, but was not successful until October 1989 when the subway station opened along with the rest of the 63rd Street Line. After that, a high-rise luxury apartment building with some subsidized housing opened.^[4]

The project faced extensive delays. As early as 1976, the Program for Action had been reduced to seven stations on the Archer Avenue and 63rd Street lines and was not projected to be complete for another decade.^[14] By October 1980, officials considered stopping construction on the 63rd Street line.^[15][16] The MTA voted in 1984 to connect the Queens end of the tunnel to the local tracks of the IND Queens Boulevard Line at a cost of $222 million. The section of the line up to Long Island City was projected to open by the end of 1985,^[17] but flooding in the tunnel caused the opening to be delayed indefinitely.^[18] The MTA's contractors concluded in February 1987 that the tunnel was structurally sound,^[19] and the federal government's contractors affirmed this finding in June 1987.^[20]

Opening

The station opened on October 29, 1989,^[21] along with the entire IND 63rd Street Line.^[2][22] The opening of the subway resulted in a steep decline in Roosevelt Island Tramway ridership.^[23] The Q train served the station on weekdays and the B train stopped there on weekends and late nights; both services used the Sixth Avenue Line.^[2] For the first couple of months after the station opened, the JFK Express to Kennedy Airport ran on the line, but did not serve the station, until it was discontinued on April 15, 1990.^[24] The tunnel had gained notoriety as the "tunnel to nowhere" both during its planning and after its opening; the line's northern terminus at 21st Street–Queensbridge, one stop after Roosevelt Island, was not connected to any other subway station or line in Queens.^[2][10] The connection to the Queens Boulevard Line began construction in 1994 and was completed and opened in 2001, almost thirty years after construction of the 63rd Street Tunnel began. Since then, the F train has been rerouted to serve this station at all times.^{[25]: 5 [26]: 2 [27][28][29]}

At an April 14, 2008, news conference, Governor David Paterson announced that the MTA would power a substantial portion of the station using tidal energy generated by turbines located in the East River, which are part of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project.^[30] This was part of a larger MTA initiative to use sustainable energy resources within the subway system.^[31] The initiative stalled due to development problems, but was revived in October 2020.^[32] To save energy, the MTA installed variable-speed escalators at Roosevelt Island and three other subway stations in August 2008,^[33] although not all of the escalators initially functioned as intended.^[34] From August 28, 2023, through April 1, 2024, F trains were rerouted via the 53rd Street Tunnel between Queens and Manhattan due to track replacement and other repairs in the 63rd Street Tunnel, and an F shuttle train ran between Lexington Avenue-63rd Street and 21st Street–Queensbridge at all times except late nights, stopping at Roosevelt Island.^[35][36]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance, fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines Elevators at station house
Basement 1	Upper mezzanine	Escalator landing
Basement 2	Lower mezzanine	Connection between platforms
Basement 3 Platform level	Side platform
	Southbound	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Lexington Avenue–63rd Street)
	Northbound	→ toward Jamaica–179th Street (21st Street–Queensbridge) →
	Side platform
Basement 4 East Side Access	Track 1	←      City Terminal Zone
	Track 2	←      City Terminal Zone →

The station has two tracks and two side platforms.^[12] The F train serves the station at all times, while the <F> train serves the station northbound during AM rush hours and southbound during PM rush hours.^[37] The next station to the north is 21st Street–Queensbridge, while the next station to the south is Lexington Avenue–63rd Street.^[38] At about 100 feet (30 m) below street level, the deep-level Roosevelt Island station is the fourth-deepest in the New York City Subway, behind the 34th Street–Hudson Yards, 190th Street, and 191st Street stations, also in Manhattan.^[39] Due to its depth, the station contains several features not common in the rest of the system. Similar to stations of the Paris Metro and Washington Metro, the Roosevelt Island station was built with a high vaulted ceiling and a mezzanine directly visible above the tracks.^{[40][41][42][lower-alpha 1]}

As with other stations constructed as part of the Program for Action, the Roosevelt Island station contained technologically advanced features such as air-cooling, noise insulation, CCTV monitors, public announcement systems, electronic platform signage, and escalator and elevator entrances.^[43] The station is fully ADA-accessible, with elevators to street level.^[44] West of the station, there is a diamond crossover^[45]: 21 and two bellmouths that curve southward toward an unbuilt portion of the Second Avenue Subway.^[46] The lower level of the 63rd Street Tunnel contains an emergency exit to the station.^[47][48] The lower level, opened in 2023 as part of the East Side Access project,^[49] is used by Long Island Rail Road trains.^[48][50]

The Roosevelt Island station is one of two subway stations in Manhattan that are not located on Manhattan Island itself, the other being the Marble Hill–225th Street station on the 1 train. It is also one of two New York City Subway stations located on its own island, the other being the Broad Channel station in Queens, serving the A and ​S trains.^[38]

Exit

Fare control is in a glass-enclosed headhouse building off of Main Street.^[51] The headhouse has a feature that is unusual to the subway system: it uses recordings of birds to try to scare away city pigeons, and these bird recordings play every few minutes or so. The system was installed because of problems with pigeons entering the headhouse and leaving feathers and droppings both inside and around the building. Previous efforts, like spiked ledges, had been ineffective in curbing the pigeon population of the area immediately next to the station.^[52]

Ridership

When the station opened in 1989, daily ridership on the Roosevelt Island Tramway, an aerial tramway that also connects Roosevelt Island to Manhattan, decreased sharply, from 5,500 daily riders in 1989 to 3,000 by 1993.^[23] In 2008, the subway station saw about 5,900 daily riders, compared to 3,000 for the tram, which had maintained steady ridership.^[53] Over the next eight years, the station experienced additional ridership growth. In 2016, an average of 6,630 daily riders used the station on an average weekday. This amounted to 2,110,471 total riders entering the station in 2016.^[3]

Nearby points of interest

The station serves several destinations on Roosevelt Island. On the northern part of the island is the Bird S. Coler Hospital, a large city-owned facility.^[51][54] On the southern portion of the island, Cornell University and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology opened their new 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m²) Cornell Tech campus,^[51] which will focus on new applied science and technology, in September 2017.^[55][56] On Main Street is the Good Shepherd Church,^[51] which was built in 1888 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.^[57] A ballfield on the island is named Firefighters Field^[51] in honor of three firefighters that died while trying to save lives in the September 11 attacks.^[58] The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which was intended to be replaced by the subway, is still in service with a terminal just south of the subway entrance.^[51] It is used by commuters and tourists alike.^[59]

Gallery

• 
  Western end of the station
• 
  A view of the station's only exit, which is located on Main Street
• 
  This long escalator between the mezzanine and the headhouse is necessary as the station is deep enough to pass under the East River.

Notes

1. These features can also be found on some of the system's other deep stations, including Grand Central, 168th Street, and 181st Street stations, along with future stations along the Second Avenue Subway.

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. Lorch, Donatella (October 29, 1989). "The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere". The New York Times. p. 37. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
3. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. Seitz, Sharon; Miller, Stuart (June 6, 2011). The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide (Third ed.). The Countryman Press. pp. 161–163. ISBN 9781581578867.
5. "Welfare Island To Be On Subway; Station to Be Built in New 63d St. Tunnel to Queens" (PDF). The New York Times. February 17, 1965. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
6. Kihss, Peter (April 7, 1967). "State Gives Fund For 63rd St. Tunnel; $37.5-Million Allocated for Subway Tube to Queens --New Line Studied". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
7. Raskin, Joseph B. (2013). The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System. New York, New York: Fordham University Press. doi:10.5422/fordham/9780823253692.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-82325-369-2.
8. Roger P. Roess; Gene Sansone (August 23, 2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-3-642-30484-2.
9. Board of Transportation of the City of New York (July 5, 1939). Project for Expanded Rapid Transit Facilities - New York City Transit System (Map). Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
10. Knowles, Clayton (December 16, 1964). "Proposed Subway Tube Assailed As 'Nowhere-to-Nowhere' Link". The New York Times. p. 33. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
11. Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority (November 7, 1967). Metropolitan transportation, a program for action. Report to Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of New York (Report). New York. Retrieved October 1, 2015 – via Internet Archive.
12. Dougherty, Peter (2020). Tracks of the New York City Subway 2020 (16th ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 1056711733.
13. Ferretti, Fred (May 18, 1976). "Aerial Tram Ride to Roosevelt Island Is Opened With a Splash on O'Dwyer" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
14. Burks, Edward C. (July 29, 1976). "New Subway Line Delayed 5 or 6 Years" (PDF). The New York Times. p. 35. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
15. Andelman, David A. (October 11, 1980). "Tunnel Project, Five Years Old, Won't Be Used" (PDF). The New York Times. p. 25. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
16. "New York City Transit 63rd Street-Queens Boulevard Connection-New York City – Advancing Mobility – Research – CMAQ – Air Quality – Environment – FHWA". Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
17. Daley, Suzanne (December 15, 1984). "M.T.A. Votes to Extend 63rd St. Line". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
18. Daley, Suzanne (June 28, 1985). "63d St. Subway Tunnel Flawed; Opening Delayed". The New York Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
19. Levine, Richard (February 7, 1987). "M.T.A. Proposes Opening 63d Street Tunnel in '89". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
20. Connelly, Mary; Douglas, Carlyle C. (June 28, 1987). "New Money Gives 63d Street Tunnel Somewhere To Go". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
21. "63 St Subway Extension Opened 25 Years Ago this Week". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 31, 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
22. Kershaw, Sarah (December 17, 2001). "V Train Begins Service Today, Giving Queens Commuters Another Option". The New York Times. p. F1. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
23. Howe, Marvine (December 26, 1993). "Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; When Will Troubled Tram Reopen? Give It a Few More Weeks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
24. Grynbaum, Michael M. (November 25, 2009). "If You Took the Train to the Plane, Sing the Jingle". City Room. The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
25. Review of F Line Operations, Ridership, and Infrastructure (PDF). nysenate.gov (Report). MTA New York City Transit Authority. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
26. Review of the G Line (PDF). mta.info (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 10, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
27. O'Neill, Natalie (April 13, 2012). "History shows it's not the G train 'extension' — it's the G train renewal". The Brooklyn Paper. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
28. "E, F Detour in 2001, F trains via 63 St, E no trains running, take R instead". The Subway Nut. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
29. Kennedy, Randy (May 25, 2001). "Panel Approves New V Train but Shortens G Line to Make Room". The New York Times. p. B6. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
30. "ROOSEVELT ISLAND TIDAL ENERGY PROJECT FERC No. 12611" (PDF). verdantpower.com. December 2010. p. A-15. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
31. Ehrlich, David (April 15, 2008). "New York transit going green". Clean Tech Group, LLC. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008.
32. Shahan, Zachary (October 28, 2020). "3 Tidal Turbines Pop Into New York City's East River". CleanTechnica. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
33. Chan, Sewell (August 6, 2008). "M.T.A. Rolls Out Escalators With Conservation Features". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
34. Chan, Sewell (August 11, 2008). "Bumpy Start for 'Green' Subway Escalators". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
35. "Service changes on the F and M lines starting August 28". MTA. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
36. "F, M changes start Monday: What to know about the subway interruptions lasting until 2024". NBC New York. August 25, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
37. "F Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
38. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
39. Young, Michelle (June 26, 2013). "The Deepest and Highest Subway Stations in NYC: 191st St, 190th Street, Smith & 9th". Untapped Cities. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
40. Cox, Jeremiah (May 24, 2010). "Looking down the station platforms alongside an escalator". subwaynut.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
41. Cox, Jeremiah (May 24, 2010). "Looking down off the mezzanine to the tracks". subwaynut.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
42. Vega-Barachowitz, David (February 15, 2008). "Hanging Out with the Gangs of New York on Roosevelt Island". Columbia Daily Spectator. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
43. Burks, Edward C. (August 7, 1976). "New York Improving Subways, But Still Trails Foreign Cities". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
44. "Accessible Stations in the MTA Network". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on April 5, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
45. Dougherty, Peter (2020). Tracks of the New York City Subway 2020 (16th ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 1056711733.
46. Brennan, Joseph (2002). "Abandoned Stations: Lexington Ave (63 St) north side". Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
47. Final Environmental Impact Statement for the 63rd Street Line Connection to the Queens Boulevard Line. Queens, New York, New York: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration. June 1992. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
48. East Side Access in New York, Queens, and Bronx Counties, New York, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties, New York: Environmental Impact Statement. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration. March 2001. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
49. Ley, Ana (January 25, 2023). "L.I.R.R. Service to Grand Central Begins Today at Long Last". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
50. "Project Overview". MTA.info. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
51. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Long Island City" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
52. Haughney, Christine (March 18, 2012). "M.T.A. Uses Bird Recordings to Scare Pigeons From Roosevelt Island Station". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 11, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
53. Hernandez, Javier C. (June 14, 2008). "What Is Life Without a Tram? Residents Are Getting a Taste". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
54. Zimmer, Amy (May 3, 2012). "Hospital Patients Forced Out as Roosevelt Island Tech Campus Moves In – Roosevelt Island". DNAinfo.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
55. Harris, Elizabeth A. (September 13, 2017). "High Tech and High Design, Cornell's Roosevelt Island Campus Opens". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
56. Lange, Alexandra (September 13, 2017). "Cornell Tech's new NYC campus puts sustainable architecture into practice". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
57. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
58. "Louis Pasteur Park Highlights – Firefighter Field : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
59. Brown, Nicole (May 16, 2016). "What to know about the Roosevelt Island Tram". am New York. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IND 6th Avenue: Roosevelt Island
• F Train at Station Reporter
• Station house and entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View
• Mezzanine from Google Maps Street View
• Lobby from Google Maps Street View