Roosevelt Island Resident Corrects Mistake Made By Crains Article - Yes, We Do Have Sit Down Restaurants, A Greek Diner, Sports Bar, & Japanese Restaurant - Nearby Queens Restaurants and Neely's BBQ Block From Tram

Image of Roosevelt Island's Japanese Restaurant Fuji East

Crains New York Real Estate page introduced a profile of Roosevelt Island this week with:

Roosevelt Island gains favor as residential spot

Inhabitants of one-time backwater are psyched over parks, pending Main Street revamp that will enhance fast-growing New York City area.

Roosevelt Island resident Raye Schwartz took exception to a reporting mistake in the article concerning Roosevelt Island restaurants.

Image of Riverwalk Bar & Grill

Mrs Schwartz asks for a Just The Facts correction to the article by Crains and shares this letter she wrote to the writer of the article:

Hello Ms. Fung,

In your May 22nd Crains’s New York Business article on Roosevelt Island, you wrote:

“Right now, the island has only a couple of takeout eateries, including those at Hudson/Related properties.”

I invite you to visit the island so we can show you the error of that statement. There is a Japanese restaurant in the Hudson/Related development of Southtown. There is also Trellis, next to the church on Main Street, a full service restaurant…much like some of the better Greek Diners in Manhattan, with a multipage menu that can take an hour to read. Yes, they have a counter and offer delivery and takeout: but they also have a bar and seating, as well as full waiter/waitress service from breakfast through late dinners, seven days a week including holidays. Additionally, there is a sports bar/restaurant: Riverwalk Grille (also in Southtown), which is very much like some of the upper east side pubs, offering great burgers and similar pub fare.

While we would love a truly upscale restaurant here, remember that this is very much a mixed income community. Those on fixed incomes such as senior citizens, young families or recent graduates with big student loans, may not always want to, or be able to afford a fancy high priced restaurant. So, let’s remember the old girl scout ditty “make new friends but keep the old, one is silver the other is gold”. That must also be true of any retail mix on this “rock”, including our eateries!

Please issue a correction to your statement. I’m sure there are quite a few residents here who would be happy to show you around…and the tram ride is really fun (as well as a very civilized way to commute).

Thanks in advance.

Your truly,

(Mrs.) Raye Schwartz

Here's Trellis, the Roosevelt Island Greek diner with the multi-page menu Mrs. Schwartz mentions

Image of Trellis Diner from lenglekim

and let's not forget Roosevelt Island's pizza place, Nonno's Focacceria.

Image of Nonnno's Focacceria.

Also, there are some new restaurant choices close to Roosevelt Island in Queens. The NY Times reported yesterday on the developing dining scene in nearby Astoria and Long Island City neighborhoods.

... A great one is at the Queens Kickshaw: a grilled gouda sandwich with guava jam, black bean purée and pickled jalapeños ($10).

Another is the housemade brik at the North African Harissa Café: tuna, capers and an egg wrapped in a triangle of thin pastry dough, then fried until the egg yolk is thick and the pastry golden ($3.95).

Many new spots target the twin passions of younger locals: Sunday brunch and cheap beer. (One sports bar off Steinway Street, Canz, has 40 TVs and 200 beers, served up by “Canz Girlz.”

But among the restaurants that have opened in the last year or so are signs that the eating opportunities in Astoria and Long Island City could soon rival those in Williamsburg and Dumbo in Brooklyn. Bites like the spicy fried pickles at the gastro-pub Sweet Afton ($5); the caramel- and chile-tinged chocolate diablito cake at Pachanga Patterson ($6); the chirashi sushi, fresh as whitecaps, at Linn ($22) seem like tastes of things to come...

And don't forget that Memphis based Neely's Barbecue will soon open in New York City,

exact date not known yet, right near the Tram at First Avenue and 61st street. Yum, I am looking forward to this.

You Tube Video of Neely's BBQ