Cornell University Selects Roosevelt Island As Site For Proposed New York City Applied Sciences And Engineering School - Joins Stanford University As Preferring Roosevelt Island In Response To Mayor Bloomberg's Applied Sciences NYC Request For Proposals

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Cornell University has joined Stanford University in selecting Roosevelt Island as it's preferred site for a New York City high tech Science and Engineering University in response to Mayor Bloomberg's Applied Sciences NYC Request For Proposals. According to the Cornell Daily Sun:

... Cornell will propose developing the land on Roosevelt Island, which lies between Manhattan and Queens on the East River — across the water from the University’s medical school, Weill Cornell Medical College, Fuchs said.

Stanford is also focusing on the Roosevelt Island location and has outlined plans for 200,000 square foot residential towers and academic buildings centered around an open green space, with cafes, retail shops, an auditorium and gym on the edge of the East River, according to Crain's New York Business...

...  Fuchs said that Cornell will differentiate its proposal with an unusual academic organizational structure centered around research hubs, instead of traditional departments like those found on the Ithaca campus. The hubs will focus on areas such as global media, technology for a healthier life, trustworthy computing and built environment, he said.

The focused research hubs would adapt as time goes on and the campus grows, Fuchs said. The city is requiring that the campus contain 200 faculty and several hundred graduate students....

What was the deciding factor for Cornell to choose Roosevelt Island over the other proposed sites at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Governor's Island? DNA Info reports:

... Cornell would build its proposed campus on Roosevelt Island rather than the other sites the city offered — Governors Island and the Brooklyn Navy Yard — because Roosevelt Island is the only one easily accessible by subway, Fuchs said.

The island is just across the East River from Weill Cornell Medical College  — which recently broke ground on a state-of-the-art, $1 billion medical research complex on East 69th Street — and is already home to many employees who work there.

"We think it's important for the location to be easily reachable by train," said Dan Huttenlocher, Cornell's dean of computing and information science. "This is not the taxi or limo crowd. These are grad students. Mass transit is key to making it part of the fabric of the city."...

Cornell University is very familiar with Roosevelt Island having faculty and graduate student housing in Southtown's Riverwalk development. Cornell occupies the entire 465 Main Street Building and 88 of the 230 Riverwalk Place condo units at 455 Main Street.

Below is video of Cornell President David Skorton speaking on Cornell's intent to bring it's version of a state-of-the-art engineering school to New York City

You Tube Video of Cornell President On NYC Tech Campus

as well as more information on Stanford University's proposal for a Roosevelt Island Applied Sciences and Engineering School campus.