After a hearty family brunch at our local diner, we spent most of the day exploring Roosevelt Island. It’s an incredibly family-friendly sliver of an island that lies in the East River, between the borough of Queens and the east side of Manhattan. There are approximately 12,000 residents, a good proportion of which are internationals working for the United Nations. The international community, urban planning and planned community aspects, and common good approach reminded me very much of some parts of Western Europe.
Zip code 10044 is considered part of Manhattan, but the reality is a most laid back, un-Manhattan experience:
* a single road with minimal traffic rings the island, and for a mere 25c you can hop on board a red, hybrid-powered bus to get around.
* pedestrians have right of way… always, no dodging required.
* there’s tons of pram-fiendly pavements (that’s stroller-friendly sidewalks to North American readers :0)
* more than half a dozen playgrounds, and that’s only the ones we walked by!
* green space everywhere — from courtyards in apartment developments, to the parks that top and tail the island, to the baseball diamonds and the greenbelt that rings the entire island along the walking/perambulating/jogging/cycling path.
It was a fun day, enriched by the fact that we had seasoned residents to take us on the tour. Thank you SS and FB for a lovely day on the place residents have dubbed, “the Little Apple.”
Technorati tags: Roosevelt Island New York
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