Since the dawn of the 21st century, Roosevelt Island has been hailed as a sleek and very desirable strip of land rising from the East River. Located between Manhattan and Queens, Roosevelt Island is home to a handful of parks, Cornell Tech’s state-of-the-art campus, and numerous residential towers. The ruins of a Gothic building that once served as a hospital for smallpox patients on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island harkens back to a past which is very different from the present day.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Roosevelt Island—which was previously referred to as Welfare Island—was considered a quarantine spot for residents of New York that care forgot. Prisoners, recently arrived immigrants, and people suffering from virulent diseases such a smallpox were all consigned to Welfare Island.
In 1859, architect James Renwick, Jr. designed a Gothic hospital tailored to treat smallpox patients who did not have access to the smallpox vaccine—which was introduced in 1796. The Renwick Smallpox Hospital was intentionally built at the very edge of Roosevelt Island so that the patients would be as isolated as possible from the inhabitants of New York City.
As smallpox cases receded in the United States, the Renwick Smallpox Hospital was converted into a teaching hospital for nurses. In the mid-20th century, the teaching hospital relocated, and Renwick’s magnificent building—which looked like a stately castle—was abandoned and fell into disrepair.
Starting in the 1970s, there was a push to preserve what remained of the Renwick Smallpox Hospital. Currently, the Renwick Ruin—as architect enthusiasts call the structure—has no ceiling or floor. The Renwick Ruin is fenced off, but visitors can explore the perimeter and peer through the glassless windows at Manhattan’s modern skyline. The façade of the Renwick Smallpox Hospital can also be viewed via boat from the East River.
Visitors can reach Roosevelt Island by taking a ferry, subway, or aerial tram. Surveying the ruins of the Renwick Smallpox Hospital is a very powerful way to view a remnant of New York’s tumultuous past.
New York is celebrated as a sophisticated, modern city where some of the most elegant people in the world walk the streets. It is important to remember that New York’s evolution included many vulnerable people who risked everything in an attempt to improve their lives. The Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital is a calm spot to consider the many layers of New York’s complex and fascinating history.
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