Unbuilt New York: Welfare Island
#UnbuiltNewYork: Welfare Island
Victor Gruen’s plan for Roosevelt Island, New York (Metropolis Books) In the 1950s, what is now Roosevelt Island (named in 1971 after the wartime president) was arguably underused. Nicknamed “Welfare Island” because of the many alms houses, hospitals and even a lunatic asylum that were situated there, it was not considered a pleasant place to live. Victor Gruen, an Austrian-born architect known…