According to the Roosevelt Island Twitterverse (X):
Today in 1969 Mayor Lindsay announced that he would form a public corporation to develop parks, recreation facilities, and housing to replace the decaying structures on Welfare Island – known as Roosevelt Island today #ThisDayInHistory pic.twitter.com/Rgg6kj5FwA
NYC Dept of Records (@nycrecords) February 12, 2025
The history of the island’s name, from the city council parks committee report attached to Local Law 49 of 1973, which changed the island’s name from Welfare Island to Roosevelt Island: pic.twitter.com/35Wux6jtFT
Daniel Golliher (@danielgolliher) February 8, 2025
Watch this 1966 documentary, Welfare Island: Blight Of A City. 167 acres of ruin and shame.
Times have changed for Roosevelt Island.