trip to roosevelt island

ok so this is not specifically food related, but hey we did eat lunch there. last weekend my adventure posse and i trekked out to the forgotten 6th borough (or maybe the 7th if you count jersey) basically to see what the hell goes on there. as we learned... not a whole lot.

(for non-NYers, and oblivious NYers, roosevelt island is a thin strip of land in the east river between manhattan and queens. it is directly under the queensboro bridge.)

roosevelt island motto: yes we have a fucking post office, you bastards

sadly, the tram is still inoperable so although we were willing, we were not actually able to risk life and limb by traveling that way. instead we took the Q102. tip for astoria folks: hop on at 31st st and 30th ave and you're on your way! manhattanites and those crazy brooklyn kids can ride the F train... F for FANTASTIC!

roosevelt island used to be the location of an insane asylum but that has been torn down. now there are 2 hospitals (doing mainly rehabilitation) and some high end condos. maybe some middle end condos too:

roosevelt island motto: not just for crazies anymore!

there is this walkway that goes around the whole island. it's really beautiful and you get great views of manhattan:

roosevelt island motto: suck it, central park

it's also really nice b/c there aren't too many people, and of the few that are around, many of them ride around in wheelchairs or scooters, so they basically have the walkways to themselves. everything is handicapped accessible too. even people in hospital beds can get around with ease:

roosevelt island motto: rated #1 on forbes's "best place to be
stuck in a hospital bed for 20 years" list

another cool thing about roosevelt island is that, since it is such a small community, they have a lot of open space, and they don't get a lot of visitors, they can do things like have a community garden. it's $35 a year and you get your own little space. they take trips to home depot and sing campfire songs and pledge their allegiance to el che and other hippie commune-like activities:

roosevelt island motto: we pay $35/year for a sunny garden space
that's bigger than your entire dark, smelly, cold apartment... and we don't
have to walk up 6 flights of stairs to get there

now onto the main event. the center of downtown roosevelt island:

roosevelt island motto: home of the original liberty bell

aside from the aforementioned post office, roosevelt island also has a grocery store (gristedes... boo), a gift and card shop, several beauty salons, an elementary and a middle school, a wine shop, a thrift store, and an assorted "random other shit" store stocking clothes, dvds, hair products, etc. everything is located on main street.

roosevelt island also has three restaurants. there is a takeout chinese place, a pizza place that was closed (and looked like it had been for a loooooooong time), and a diner/cafe type place (trellis). we chose the diner, pictured here, along with several menu items:

roosevelt island motto: few restaurant choices, many menu options

the cobb salad was not particularly exciting (case in point: boiled chicken)
but the vegetables were very fresh and ripe, especially the avocado and the tomato. from the community garden maybe?

the club sandwich (is that what this was? i can't remember) was standard NY diner fare

these roosevelt islanders knew what was up and avoided the restaurant scene altogether:

roosevelt island motto: bring your own slaughtered goat

finally, a few touristy roosevelt island "must-sees" to get you fired up for your trip:

blackwell house, the 5th oldest (i think) building in the city

lighthouse on the north end of the island

the dark underbelly of the queensboro bridge

on-location filming site of the movie titanic

overall, i highly recommend roosevelt island for a relaxing day away from the insanity of the city. open spaces, friendly people (what few people there are), and quiet surroundings will make anyone a happy camper. just remember to bring your own slaughtered goat.