Video Presentation On Stanford University's Proposed Roosevelt Island Site - Stanford Selected Roosevelt Island by Process of Elimination and Find the Tram to be Odd

Image of Stanford's Proposed Roosevelt Island Site Plan From Presentation Below

Updating post from earlier today, I just received the video below of the presentation made by Stanford University President John Hennessy and other Stanford officials on the proposed Roosevelt Island site for a Stanford New York City campus.

Stanford's Vice President of Land, Buildings, Real Estate, Robert Reidy, spoke specifically on the advantages for developing a Stanford Campus on Roosevelt Island and the problems associated with the other three sites proposed by NYC at Staten Island, Governor's Island and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  According to Stanford University News, Mr Reidy:

... used charts, photographs and maps to take the audience on a "visual journey" of Stanford's proposal to build a New York campus. One location offered by New York City that Stanford is considering is on 2-mile-long Roosevelt Island, located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens and home to about 12,000 people.

"It is a unique place, mainly used for housing, hospitals and recreation," Reidy said. "It is a special place in that it's oddly apart from the city, but very closely adjacent."

Reidy said some existing buildings would be demolished, creating a 10-acre site for the new campus.

"Think about 10 acres in close proximity to Manhattan," Reidy said. "That's really hard to come by. From that perspective it is a great opportunity. But it does have its challenges."

Reidy said the university's preliminary proposal included residential towers and academic buildings – roughly 200,00 square feet each – centered around an open green space, with cafes, retail shops, an auditorium and gym on the edge of the river....

The comments concerning Roosevelt Island begin at about the 18 minute mark.

You Tube Video of Stanford University's Roosevelt Island Presentation

I particularly liked Mr. Reidy characterization of Roosevelt Island's transportation issues - the subway is good, car and bus are challenged and the Tram is just odd.

By a process of elimination, Stanford University wound up at Roosevelt Island - kind of like many of us already here.

How this turns out is going to be very interesting and exciting!

More information on the proposed Stanford Campus and New York City's plans for an applied research and engineering school at these prior posts.

Update 4/17 -  A way to insure that Roosevelt Island residents object to Stanford University or any other institution taking over the Goldwater Hospital site is if done with the mindset of "colonizing" Roosevelt Island as indicated in this blog post by the Stanford Review.

... So how will Stanford graft itself on to New York City?  Roosevelt Island, located on the East River sandwiched between Manhattan and Queens,  has been tentatively selected for the campus site, and is a clever choice due to its proximity to Manhattan (two minutes by subway) and relative isolation from traditional NYC freneticism.    The island is inhabited by about 12,000 people, is about two miles long and has a width of approximately 800 feet.  Stanford is looking at a ten acre site on which to build residences, parks, gyms, stores, restaurants, and facilities.   In short, we’re colonizing Roosevelt Island.  How will the city and more importantly, the residents of the island, feel about this?  NYU has faced several protests when renovating historical buildings into dorms, and I imagine that Stanford’s plans to build 20-story residences in the middle of a tiny island will be met with some resistance....

Stanford, New York City or any other institution will be making a big mistake if they plan on, or give the impression of, creating a gated enclave with fences to keep the community separated from a new university campus on Roosevelt Island like that which exists at Rockefeller University on York Avenue


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and Columbia University on Broadway/ Amsterdam Avenues in Morningside Heights.


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My understanding is that a gated enclave is not what is intended for a Roosevelt Island campus by Stanford but using words like "colony" can create unnecessary anxiety, even if they were not made by a Stanford official.