1987 Historical Flashback - Sutton Place Residents Fear Liquid Waste from Roosevelt Island's Delacorte Geyser

Image by Judy Seigel

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The Columbia Spectator (Columbia University's student newspaper) has an article today on one of Columbia's and New York City's most generous philanthropists, George T. Delacorte. Among his contributions to New York City Parks are Central Park's Alice in Wonderland Statue, the Central Park Zoo's Delacorte Clock and the Delacorte Theater, the site of the Shakespeare in the Park summer series.

His favorite contribution though was not in Central Park but in the East River just off the tip of Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park, the Delacorte Geyser pictured above. According to his 1991 obituary in the NY Times:

But of all his contributions, his own favorite remained the Delacorte geyser at the tip of Roosevelt Island. He and his wife called it "Delacorte's Folly." In 1969, Mr. Delacorte conceived the idea that New York should have a geyser equal to the Jet D'Eau in Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

His geyser, at 400 feet, was to be the highest fountain in the world, but many New Yorkers were outraged that, when built, the $350,000 jet spewed polluted East River water into the air. He was forced to chlorinate the fountain. Then the chlorination withered trees that Sutton Place residents had placed on the island to improve their view. Mr. Delacorte was more annoyed than moved by the complaints. He said his fountain was there before the trees.

In an editorial when the fountain was installed, The New York Times, citing the city's crucial needs and noting that the money might have been put to better use instead of being thrown "literally down the drain," called him "the wrong-way Corrigan of New York philanthropy."

As reported by the NY Times, from 1969 through 1987:

the Delacorte geyser pumped a graceful plume of East River water hundreds of feet skyward from Roosevelt Island four times a day.

What happened to the Delacorte Geyser? Why was it shut down and still not now working? The answer is that the Delacorte Fountain caused some to fear that:

''liquid waste was being flung 400 feet in the eyes and faces of people who lived on Sutton Place.'' The water was subsequently chlorinated (and, if it's any comfort, whatever was flung by the fountain more recently only reached about 240 feet high because of equipment problems).

Later, during the drought years, city officials expressed concern the geyser might be regarded as a symbol of conspicuous consumption - even though the water, most of which fell back into the East River, was unlikely to be consumed by anybody. The fountain was turned off. (Similar concerns were expressed when energy conservation was in vogue; the electric bill, some $10,000 a month, was paid by the city).

The Geyser finally stopped working in 1987 because of a faulty valve and never repaired.

Delacorte was ahead of his time in seeing the beauty of Water Geysers in an urban or city setting. Take a look at this You Tube video of the Water Fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Pretty Neat! Wouldn't a similar show in the East River be spectacular.




Top image of Delacorte Geyser is by artist Judy Seigel from ArtNet.
Bottom image is from Timeline of Roosevelt Island History.