Same Streets

A place in New York

Blackwell's Island

The City Hospital buildings on Blackwell's Island, seen from the Manhattan shore.Blackwell's Island
The City Hospital buildings on Blackwell's Island, seen from the Manhattan shore.City of New York / Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
The lighthouse at the island's northern tip, built in 1872.Blackwell's Island
The lighthouse at the island's northern tip, built in 1872.2017 · Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons

The narrow island the Queensboro Bridge steps across. The city had renamed it Welfare Island in 1921, the year before the novel is set, but Nick still uses the old name. It is Roosevelt Island today.

Visiting today

Roosevelt Island is reached by the aerial tram from Second Avenue at 59th Street, by the F train or by ferry. At its southern tip are the ruins of the old smallpox hospital and Four Freedoms Park.

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Blackwell's Island, New York — Same Streets