Here’s a fascinating video from 1971 about the construction of the

63rd street subway tunnel. The NY Times reported on the October 29, 1989 opening day of Roosevelt Island F Train service:

Twenty years after its conception, a new subway-line extension – dubbed the subway to nowhere by its critics -made a ceremonial maiden run yesterday, rumbling under the East River from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island and into Queens. Regular service was to start today on the $868 million line, the first subway to the island….

and:

… The new line ends abruptly 1,500 feet short of the E, F, G and R lines at Queens Plaza which are used daily by half a million commuters. The M.T.A. hopes to build a connection with these lines, but it may take several years, Ms. Gardner said….

Click here for the full NY Times article.