NYC Facts
What Was Blackwell's Island?
What Was Blackwell's Island?
Located in the East River, Blackwell's Island was renamed Welfare Island in 1921 and Roosevelt Island in 1973. In the past, the city build a number of institutions on the island, including a prison, an insane asylum and hospitals. Some hospitals remain, but the island began to be developed for residential use in 1968, and now has a population of about 12,000.