Today In History, In 1969 NYC Mayor Lindsay Announced Creation Of A Corporation To Develop "Welfare" Now Roosevelt Island - Watch 1966 Video Documentary About Welfare Island, 167 Acres Of Ruin And Shame.

According to the Roosevelt Island Twitterverse (X):

Today in 1969 Mayor Lindsay announced that he would form a public corporation to develop parks, recreation facilities, and housing to replace the decaying structures on Welfare Island - known as Roosevelt Island today #ThisDayInHistory pic.twitter.com/Rgg6kj5FwA

— NYC Dept of Records (@nycrecords) February 12, 2025

The history of the island's name, from the city council parks committee report attached to Local Law 49 of 1973, which changed the island's name from Welfare Island to Roosevelt Island: pic.twitter.com/35Wux6jtFT

— Daniel Golliher 🗽 (@danielgolliher) February 8, 2025

Watch this 1966 documentary, Welfare Island: Blight Of A City. 167 acres of ruin and shame.

 

Times have changed for Roosevelt Island.