Football field at Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt Island only 240 meters wide and 3 miles long, was called by the Algonquin Indians as Minnahannock, until in 1647 he was bought by the governor Wouton Dutchman van twill that christened Island pigs. Already in the nineteenth century built a hospital for smallpox patients, a jail, a shelter for homeless and a lunatic asylum, which renamed it as Welfare Island (Island of Welfare). Currently, and after being renamed back to Roosevelt Island in 1973 and to obtain an urban reform designed by architects Philip Johnson and Burgee Hohn, houses a residential area for 9,500 inhabitants, with shops, restaurants, football, swimming and all necessary amenities. Roosevelt Island or Roosevelt Island, formerly known as Welfare Island (1921 to 1973), [1] and before that as Blackwell's Island, is an island in the East River in New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to the west and the borough of Queens to the east. Start from the east of 46th Street east to 85 in Manhattan, with about two miles long and a maximum width of 800 ft (243.84 m), and a total area of 147 acres. The island is part of Borough of Manhattan and New York County. Together with Mill Rock Island is the place Roosevelt County 238 New York, an area of 0.59 km ². [2] with a population of 9.520 according to Census 2000. [3] The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation estimated its population of about 12,000 in 2007. [4] The plot is owned by the city, but was leased to the Urban Development Corporation of New York for 99 years in 1969. Most residential buildings on Roosevelt Island are rental buildings. There is also a cooperative (Rivercross) and a condominium building (Riverwalk Place). A rental building (Eastwood) left the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program of New York, even though its residents are protected. Three other buildings are will be privatized, including cooperatives