In 2007 Judy Berdy, opened the Visitors Center. She used a kiosk that once marked the entrance to the Trolley Station people took to get over the Queensboro Bridge. Now the Roosevelt Island Historical Society's Visitor's Center welcomes 60,000 visitors a year! Berdy herself first visited the Island in 1966 when she worked in the dental clinic at Goldwater Hospital. She was immediately charmed by the Island and moved here eleven years later....

In 1982, a small group of Islanders got together to form a board of directors for what later became Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance. Their first productions were held in the Goldwater Hospital auditorium.

Since then, thanks to a key phone call Diana Brill made to old friends, Nancy and Worth Howe, MST&DA has been able to run a children’s theatre, add a dance component, collaborate with many other Island organizations, and have taught and provided...

As a pediatrician, Dr. Katherine Grimm has watched over a generation of Roosevelt Island kids grow up, carefully guiding them through childhood’s bumps, ailments, and scary moments. Over the course of her 44-year career, she has also served as a faculty member and vice-chairman of pediatrics at Mount Sinai hospital and specialized in child abuse evaluations at the New York Center for Children. The Island resident also spent eight years serving on the...

I want to introduce you to RIRA’s Children, Youth and Education Ad Hoc committee (CY&E). Though we formed just last term, we've already accomplished a lot. You have probably attended one of our events, or read our Time Capsule interviews published in The WIRE. As our population continues to grow, this committee continues to be a voice for our younger and smaller constituents and their families.

Finding Leadership Opportunities 

The CY&E A...

In 2014, Rebecca Seawright became the first female to be elected to the State's 76th Assembly district, which includes Roosevelt Island. In the years since, she has fought to pass an Equal Rights Amendment bill, marched with Islanders, honored residents as Women of Distinction, and worked behind the scenes on many Island issues. She is up for election again on November 6.

As part of the ongoing Roosevelt Island Time Capsule project, Island teen Fr...

Since 2013, New York City Council Member Ben Kallos has represented Roosevelt Island, along with the Upper East Side and the rest of the City's Fifth District. Recently, high-school student Mark Strong Shinozaki interviewed the 37-year-old council member about growing up on the Upper East Side, his decision to go into politics, and his hopes for the future of Roosevelt Island. 

The interview is part of an going Time Capsule project, sponsored by the Ch...

In the fall of 2014, Trellis owner Kaie Razaghi and his son Alex closed the diner they operated in the heart of Roosevelt Island to begin a renovation project that was expected to last a few months. 

The overhaul took more than three years. 

Today, despite a new look and new name, the restaurant’s owners say the important things haven’t changed: their commitment to creating a neighborhood eatery and their love for Roosevelt Island. 

Island teens Bryan Cu...

In 2013, Jack McManus, a lifelong New Yorker and former executive officer at the NYPD, took over as director of the Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department. At the time, the department was in a state of upheaval following the sudden resignation of the previous director and community-wide protests objecting to the department’s aggressive policing tactics.  

Last month, Francine Elisaia and Mark Strong Shinozaki, 16-year-old Island residents, spok...

Known by many locals simply as “The Roosevelt Island Doctor,” Dr. Jack Resnick has built a reputation for bringing a small-town ethos to his big-city medical practice. The internist and former Island resident regularly makes home visits to sick patients and is a vocal advocate for keeping elderly and disabled patients out of the hospital as much as possible. In 1981, he also founded The Main Street WIRE to give Islanders a stronger voice in local matt...

In 2015, after working for years at the Southtown pizzeria then known as Nonno’s, Oscar Molina decided to take a chance. The Guatemala native accepted an offer to take over the restaurant at 455 Main Street, renaming it Piccolo Trattoria. 

Earlier this month, Island teens Bryan Cusick, Nathaniel Gillespie, and Dylan Marfey sat down with Molina and his wife Sulema to discuss the couple’s plans for the restaurant, what they love about Islanders, and thei...

On February 1, Mark Strong Shinozaki and Francine Elisaia, both 16-year-old Islanders, sat down with Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation President Susan Rosenthal to discuss her past experiences, her present accomplishments on the Island, and her vision for our future. The interview is part of an ongoing Time Capsule project spearheaded by Island teens in conjunction with the Children, Youth & Education Committee of the Roosevelt Island Residents’...