OK, so I'm also looking at Roosevelt Island as a possible cheaper alternative to Manhattan. Any thoughts on this location vs. Brooklyn? How's the commute? It seems to be ridiculously easy (take F train, one stop to 59th and Lex, which is where I'll be working) and convenient. Prices look good. What am I missing here? Thoughts?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2011 07:02AM by askanewyorker.

Roosevelt Island is really weird.

Roosevelt Island is a sort of failed 1970s planned community that has recently been really refreshed with some brand new condo developments. It has one business street, Main Street, with a supermarket at one end, one sports bar, one take-out Chinese restaurant, one cleaner's, one school, one bank ... etc. One of everything. A lot of the businesses seem a bit run down, and they all have absolutely zero character. The arrival of a Starbucks and a Duane Reade in one of the brand new condo buildings recently was a huge thing for the island.

The big advantage of Roosevelt Island is that because it's a little off-beat and has a lot of green space, it's a great place to have kids. Lots of playgrounds, the school is a real neighborhood school, etc. I know some people who grew up there and there's definitely a community feel. The down side is that you do get some weirdos from the two hospitals on the island roaming the streets, but I've generally heard it as a very safe place to live.

That said, pretty much any neighborhood in the city beats it for charm and character. And remember there's no land bridge to Manhattan.

Red described it perfectly. It's weird. Much of the housing looks like Soviet-era housing blocks. The view of Manhattan might be great, but I'd rather live in Queens than Roosevelt Island.

GO FOR IT! Oracle and Red are referring to the older buildings along Main St., which do look Soviet and odd. But if you're thinking about just moving in (rather than spending years on a waiting list, which is the only way to get into the older buildings), you must be talking about one of the never highrises.

If you work on 59th & Lex, it's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. Have you visited yet? Just go up in any of those newer buildings. Check out the view and the surroundings, and I think you'll be sold. I would love to live in one of the new buildings there but can't afford it yet.

by "never highrises" I meant "newer highrises"

For those that prefer Queens, what neighborhood is along the F line that is comparable to the safety of Roosevelt Island? I'm looking to move into my own apartment from up in Westchester. The rents in NYC are obviously steeper than here, but I need to find the cheapest neighborhood for middle class young people.

It has to be on the F line?

If it has to be on the F line, the most pleasant, reasonably priced neighborhood would be Forest Hills. Forest Hills is a bit of the Upper West Side plonked down in Queens, to some extent - very middle class, lots of national chain stores.

Second choice would be Jackson Heights, where I live. Jackson Heights is a bit louder and much more ethnically diverse than Forest Hills, but still safe and very family oriented, and the bustle is part of why I like it here.

I completely disagree with your statement that "pretty much any neighborhood in the city beats [Roosevelt Island] for charm and character". I also, as a lifetime resident of the island, take great offense to this statement. I contest that Roosevelt Island has tremendous charm and character, certainly more so than most neighborhoods in the city, at least it until a large portion of the island fell into the hands of urban development firms during the early 2000s. In previous years (up until about 2001), Roosevelt Island was a vast expanse of raw nature; ageless trees (winning numerous 'Tree City' awards throughout the 1990s), large portions of undeveloped land, historic ruins, landmarks, and only but a handful of buildings comprising the 'neighborhood' aspect of the Island. There was seemingly endless space for recreational activity, including neighborhood gardens, barbecue pits, and unparalleled views of Manhattan from a place that was not in the slightest bit like it. This juxtaposition is what made the island so special to its original residents and community. With ten new developments either being built or having been built already, the island has lately become an overdeveloped, bland, and otherwise totally unoriginal stab at a bite-size Manhattan. Personally, I believe that one Manhattan is enough; I certainly don't like the concept of my quiet and laid-back neighborhood imbibed with the same pushy, dramatic, frenetic, and ruthless values and overtones of Manhattan and its inhabitants. Roosevelt Island used to be a real 'community place', something closer to a suburb or a small town than a city or urban area; this community-oriented charm which the island once posessed has all but been eradicated since vast multitudes of (mainly affluent) newcomers began moving into the newer buildings. This effectively and eventually depleted the 'local' charm which the neighborhood once offered. And Roosevelt Island did indeed have a great deal of charm, in that there was no place in the city, no other neighborhood quite like it. Trying to turn it into something it never was was simply wrong on the part of developers, but you claiming that almost any neighborhood in the city possesses more charm than Roosevelt Island is all the more erroneous. You obviously speak from little experience, and have no right to be making such false claims or offering advice to any prospective residents. I don't care if you think Jackson Heights is more charming than Roosevelt Island, with its Wilson-era urban planning, quaint little streets, neighborhood gardens (which you never had to lose to development), and lovely turn-of-the-century American architecture. You can stay there. But stay the hell off my Island.

*As a side note, most of the old "Soviet-looking" buildings on Roosevelt Island were actually penned by esteemed architects. For example, the Eastwood complex was designed by Jean Lluis Sert, who is generally accepted as somewhat of an architectural celebrity in his native Spain.

All of these comments about Roosevelt Island are true to one extent or another. Whether or not a person likes living on Roosevelt Island depends on what they want from their neighborhood.

I write a blog about Roosevelt Island and provided an opinion as to what it is like to live in the different sections that the original poster might find of use.

yes,roosevelt island is indeed weird, unless you like living in a fishbowl where gossip is rampant. think of it as a minimum security prison with a rampant coke problem. from the ticket writing robots of the pseudo police force (non NYPD as it is technically a state run institution) that dont prevent any of the serious crime that is constant such as assaults, drug dealing, crack smoking in stairwells, muggings (especially of delivery people), to the overcrowded tramway/f train during rush hour, to the overpriced single supermarket it is far from an island utopia, when you look beyond the surface. plus very socialist leaning. A lot of hooligans hanging out at nite.
Red Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Roosevelt Island is really weird.
>
> Roosevelt Island is a sort of failed 1970s planned
> community that has recently been really refreshed
> with some brand new condo developments. It has one
> business street, Main Street, with a supermarket
> at one end, one sports bar, one take-out Chinese
> restaurant, one cleaner's, one school, one bank
> ... etc. One of everything. A lot of the
> businesses seem a bit run down, and they all have
> absolutely zero character. The arrival of a
> Starbucks and a Duane Reade in one of the brand
> new condo buildings recently was a huge thing for
> the island.
>
> The big advantage of Roosevelt Island is that
> because it's a little off-beat and has a lot of
> green space, it's a great place to have kids. Lots
> of playgrounds, the school is a real neighborhood
> school, etc. I know some people who grew up there
> and there's definitely a community feel. The down
> side is that you do get some weirdos from the two
> hospitals on the island roaming the streets, but
> I've generally heard it as a very safe place to
> live.
>
> That said, pretty much any neighborhood in the
> city beats it for charm and character. And
> remember there's no land bridge to Manhattan.

I just visited there for the first time, and my first comment is CREEPY!

I walked from the subway station to the northern end of the island, and it looks like a dirty version of a theme park fake "Main Street."

Not to mention (and i didn't see it above) wherever you go, you are always in the shadow of huge smoke stacks, either the three red and white ones on the Queens side, or the single on the manhattan side.

After about 45 minutes, i fully expected the gestapo to stop me and ask for my papers. I couldn't leave fast enough. yuck.