Roosevelt Island has long been a haven to people with disabilities.
photo: Marianne R. Lau

where  site • visit • tribute

the site on Roosevelt Island

The FDR Hope Memorial is located in Southpoint Park at the southern end of Roosevelt Island in New York City.

Named for FDR in 1973, Roosevelt Island has a long history of care and accommodation of people who are disabled. Learn more about FDR + polio + Roosevelt Island. 

At the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, just south of the Memorial site, is Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, which was conceived in the 1970s when the Island was renamed in honor of FDR. The four-acre park was designed by the great American architect Louis I. Kahn with landscape architect Harriet Pattison and finally built in 2012. The park features a larger-than-life-sized bronze head of FDR by sculptor Jo Davidson, which overlooks a sloping tree-lined lawn, and an excerpt from FDR's 1936 inaugural address — known as the Four Freedoms speech — inscribed on one wall of an open-air contemplative room.

Tens of thousands of annual visitors on their way to Four Freedoms Park walk by the site of the FDR Hope Memorial. There they will have an opportunity to appreciate the personal context in which FDR’s public achievements took place.

visit

Southpoint Park is open daily, year-round, from 6 am to 10 pm. 

Tram | FERRY | subway | bus

The Tram to Roosevelt Island departs from 60th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.

The Astoria Route of NYC Ferry stops on the east side of the island just north of the Queensboro Bridge.

The F train has a stop at Roosevelt Island. Check for occasional weekend route changes on the MTA website.

The Q102 bus (PDF map and schedule) travels from western Queens to Roosevelt Island. There's a stop at the Tram station.

From the Tram, ferry, or subway station, walk south along the west side of Roosevelt island about a half mile into Southpoint park. Continue south along the path. The FDR Hope Memorial is on your left before you reach the Smallpox Hospital ruin and Four Freedoms Park.

Driving

Get directions online or set your destination to the Roosevelt Island Bridge. Park in Motorgate Garage, which will be on your right at the Roosevelt Island end of the bridge. Take the elevator to street level, cross to the west side of Main Street, and take the Red Bus (five minutes; no charge) to the Tram station or, when available, to the Southpoint park entrance. From the Tram station, walk south along the west side of Roosevelt island about a half mile into Southpoint park.