This Hidden Island is New York’s BEST Kept Secret!

most people think of New York for the hustle and bustle of big city life but nestled in the heart of the East River there lies a Hidden Gem today we'll show you around Roosevelt Island possibly the city's best kept [Music] [Applause] [Music] secret all right M you grew up on Roosevelt Island why is this place so special oh my goodness just take a look at any map Point your eyes towards the center of that map what do you see on that map rosew Island that's all I'm saying it's that simple literally we're in the center of it all imagine the best city in the world and then imagine the center of that City it's not Time Square it's Roosevelt Island now I think the funnest part of getting to Roosevelt Island is taking the Aerial Tram this has turned into a bit of a tourist attraction but it's so worth it all right first time tourist taking this where do you line up if you're facing northwards you go towards the other door and then you hook a quick right to see what you want to see and what you need to see [Music] I'm always amazed that this costs only you know 290 this really does make you feel so small this is the apex of the ride I think this is probably around 100 ft or so if not [Music] more all right team well welcome to Rosevelt Island this is your first step in the new world M for those who don't know is Roosevelt Island part of Manhattan part of Queens its own Universe what are we talking about here I like that its own universe but technically it's part of Manhattan it's physically connected to Queens via the welfare Island Bridge or you can say the Rosal Island Bridge but this is its own microcosm break down the geography for us I mean this is a really small island right I'd say the lengthwise from north to south is just under 2 miles due to the extensions on both ends widthwise let's say around eighth of a mile I'd say how many people live here so that's under question right now I'd imagine it's around 13 to 14,000 let's say under 15,000 there's buildings in Manhattan that feel like they have more people than this outside of these million dooll views right here what are some of like the unique things that living in Roosevelt Island gives you the location more than anything the Tranquility that the location as well as the scenery provides as well as the transportation to get to the island and ultimately the security here you're living on an island so and you have your own security Force we do yeah we have the beautiful PSD Department the public safety department and they do a phenomenal job so there's not much crime here not too bad I'd say I mean I'm sure there's crime but I don't see it ever pretty much this is sort of trippy cuz we see the Queensboro Bridge on one side and then it feels like it bends to the other I will give Roosevelt alen a lot of credit you got views for days I'd say views for years you see the chaos of Manhattan there and you see traffic and I hear a siren and then look where we are not a soul inight and just chill this entire park was renovated maybe a couple of years ago by riok in order to make this island less susceptible to flooding when superstorm sendy Rolls by you know when you're driving on the FDR and you turn to your right like I always pay attention to the old small poox hospital here and many people probably have no idea what this is although I do think it's one of the most interesting things on Rosevelt Island I mean these ruins are so unique you at night time especially you will see this place all lit up looking ghastly no trespassing now I imagine this is the dream of many Urban explorers when I was a little younger growing up on this island I'd hear some stories here and there about certain fellas going inside and where maybe they shouldn't have gone inside all I know is if I was in there as a kid and I heard a branch break it would terrify me for life and this whole island was named Rosal Island because of FDR to show that that you know people can people can persevere through their through their disabilities I've actually never I've never seen this statue before was recently completed interesting here is a beautiful lawn so this is symmetry this is what Lou KH had in mind this gives me Washington DC Vibes right here like we some kind of big Memorial which which we are which we are here we've got the island's name s Franklin Delano Roosevelt the men that got us through World War II they call this the room that they what's the rent here I think if this was an apartment we' be talking about $100,000 a month I don't know yeah you see this enclosure over here the shelter for animals here there's a bunch of cat houses here the geese come by raccoons sometimes and all their local Wildlife I was just telling John over here that you are one of the Local Heroes of of this island oh my God thank you she's the caretaker how many cats do you have here 24 cats yeah fun fact I think I've seen more cats on the island so far today than [Music] people the preferred method to get around Roosevelt Island and get a city bike I've actually never done this here before I mean these are electric and literally this is zero effort you feel like it's 5° colder on this island cuz you're surrounded by water on all sides yeah I mean water has a high heat capacity so it maintains temperatures much better cooler in the summer but also colder in the winter exactly it's perfect I didn't I didn't even know the Roosevelt Island Bridge existed until right now when there's the UN in session all boat traffic is and Barge and ship traffic is redirected this way huh I would wake up to this every day and this is my most favorite building probably in New York so this is your favorite view in New York right here yeah I grew up to this when she's angry I'm angry so when she's feeling like everyone's us using her too much then I feel the [Music] same every video needs to have the local taking me to their rooftop for beer something I could definitely get behind yeah especially in New York City the capital of rooftops I had rooftop access for 9 years I miss it it's true oh my goodness I miss it a lot cheers to beers beers in Roosevelt Island to that I lived in Manhattan Island and you don't realize that you live in an island unless maybe you're living on the edges by the water but here you're reminded you're on an island every second you go outside I mean yeah this place is literally where you want to be this is where you raise a family this is where you grow up this is where you grow old this is literally Paradise this where you want to be this is the kind of view that most people wouldn't appreciate cuz we're looking at all these bridges that most tourists definitely have never heard of and even some New Yorkers and you got them all in a line on the East River all right so we have our picnic to go and uh we're walking right now on Main Street which probably only locals know about here right not tourists yeah tourists generally don't don't make it up here for some reason yeah basically this is the main street retail Corridor this is where all the locals go to eat to socialize for anything really so you got pizza you got ramen you got Mediterranean normally I say that neighborhoods feel like a city within the city I'm going to say this feels like a town within the city you only have 13,000 people living here all right so here's the million-dollar question if you get Uber Eats does it come from Manhattan Island or from Queens imagine like this poor guy in his electric scooter motorcycle is he going to take the tram is he going to go over the Queensboro take the poor guy will take the Queensboro and then take the welfare Island and then get lost so this this is the million dooll view where you have your lunch my schwarma rrap yeah myarm this this is probably the nicest place I've ever eaten a chicken shwarma in my entire life nicest view I wasn't expecting this to actually be one of the best sharmas I've had in New York City it's like so Random are you serious youve never even been there before yo it's that good oh I look forward to to this bowl now I think Crossing from that Island to this island my blood pressure's gone down really there's definitely something more relaxing in the air here yeah yeah I'd like to think so you ever feel isolated here in the best way possible so you you appreciate the isolation heck yeah that's why I go upstate like every weekend man you can't be live you don't you eat oh excuse my language of course yo everyone needs a breath of fresh air I think this is one of the most fascinating buildings on the island called The Octagon now this was built in 1834 as the New York City Mental Health Hospital also known as a New York City Lunatic Asylum ironically enough this has turned into luxury apartments where some may say you're a little crazy for paying $3,500 a month for a studio but you be the judge of that Mira who lives here now Fair bit of uh un related people perhaps delegates or staff of delegates how nice are the apartments as nice as it gets gets you a pool a gym and everything like and a bus that runs Express all the way to the train station I mean a free bus at that something that we can't look at is black Wales Penitentiary which was built on Roosevelt Island In 1832 so this is a big prison which was what came before Riker's Island we look at who lived on Roosevelt Island of the 19th century you've got prisoners you've got small pox patients you've got people in a lunatic asylum it was like New York's version of Australia I don't know it's got a dark history I've never thought of it this way but yeah yeah I guess it has I mean thankfully times have changed and those people they had some issues but maybe we should have understood them a bit better or they could have received better care I mean and speaking of uncovering bad conditions Nelly Blye famously went undercover in her world famous book 10 days in a mad house based off this octagon right here every time I've come to Roosevelt Island I've always made it a point to go to the northern tip to see this Lighthouse mhm why do why do you think people should come here this is one of the goals man you go to the South you go to the north you know designed by Renwick as well same guy that did the the small pox hospital as you call I call the Renwick ruins over there but they renovated this thing and now it's looking presentable and it's like I consider it the Beacon of Hope you know like they're on the island at least I mean I see a door do they ever open it up to the public never I don't know why that' be amazing to get I would love to get up there me too look at this yeah this is my preferred side I prefer Queens over Manhattan any day a story right yeah that that is a story yeah so that's preferred side the queen [Music] side all Mir the the best $20 cocktails that money can buy oh I hope so so this is the Panorama room part of The Graduate Hotel I'll be honest I did not expect Roosevelt Island to have something like this right nobody expects you know nobody expects Roosevelt to Island I have to say of all the things we've done today this is the most Manhattan part of Roosevelt Island right here and I'm not complaining yeah this is probably the one place that would get a lot of people from Manhattan Island over here just for this view cuz it is unique I'm not used to seeing the skyline from this angle here you're not going to see the city in the city you're going to see it from outside the city so whether it's Jersey Queens Brooklyn whatever it may be Staten Bronx man it looks better from the outside than it is in the [Music] inside our little Insider tip you can take the tram in and you can take the ferry out what we're going to do the ferry is never a bad idea I Roosevelt Island looks good from every angle even when you're not on it 360 the one piece of Tranquility in this world that island now that you've seen one of New York's best-kept Secrets I want to show you another the NYC Ferry for just $4 you're going to get some amazing sites that boat tours costing hundreds of dollars would show you as well watch this video next

Channel: Here Be Barr

Views: 28,454

Keywords: nyc, new york, new york city, roosevelt island, roosevelt island tram, here be barr, nyc neighborhoods, nyc neighborhood guide, nyc 2024, local nyc, where to go in nyc, hidden gems, secret places, new york travle guide, what to do in new york, nyc vlog, hidden places nyc, secret spots in nyc

Id: NLi9yhx6SRs

Length: 12min 44sec (764 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 24 2023