Opinions?

Who would want to live on an island off the coast of an island? Seems like exile.

Well, if you are one of the many workers in technology related services/ research and development, you might find it very convenient to live there. Cornell U. is setting up shop there with over $300? million funding for the new technology research and development center to be set up. This is all part of the city's plan under Bloombergfor NYC to be New Tech City. Also, science and technology core to be developed and expanded with NYU and Polytech Institute (merged with NYU) spearheading the movement in downtown Brooklyn.

On a personal note, I was inquiring about rentals there for S and the prices appear to be good compared to Manhattan for obvious reasons (maybe on a par with better parts of Brooklyn and Queens). I believe some buildings are older than others, with luxury buildings mixed in with buildings with more affordable housing.

The views are certainly nice from some units and it appears to have a "suburban feel" within the NYC but relatively easy access into Manhattan via tram or train. I also believe they have various events and things to do for residents. It does not appear to be a bad life style, especially if you are part of the new Cornell Technology Research and Dev. initiative or if you are interested in jobs in technology.

Also, you may be a little ahead of the curve if you plan to buy there before all the activity steps up. There are relative values there now, or there were a few months ago when I was looking. So, for the right person, especially in the technology sector, it might be worthwhile to take a ride over. I have been meaning to do so myself, though I am not in the technology field just because I like the idea of quiet in the midst of a busy city (yet with relatively easy access to the E. 59th St. area.

It may be right for you but you have to visit. I know people raised there and with family there who love it. And it is a very safe place. But you have to go there perhaps a few times to begin to "get" what living there means right now. It is not a pretty place all-in-all. Much of it has an institutional feel right now derived from the enormous mental hospital running down the center of a huge swath of the island, and also from what some would say is the island's extremely bleak architecture generally. But plans for the island are magnificent and it could be a very different place in the not too distant future.

It's very quiet on RI. There is very little retail and to get to Manhattan you have to get to the bottom of RI with their little red bus or walk. The subway is fine (if an extraordinarily deep station) but the tram only runs every 15 min non-rush and does not connect to the subway in Manhattan, so I wouldnt consider it unless I worked in the immediate vicinity of midtown east.

Roosevelt Island is an alternative to New Jersey

Kylewest: There is no mental hospital on the island. The Octagon at the northern end, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, has been restored, renovated and enlarged, is now an apartment building. there are two hospitals on the island, one at the northern end and the other toward the southern end. The latter will be demolished for construction of the new university. The enormous building running down the center of the island that I think you are referring to is also an apartment building, one of the structures dating from the mid-1970s, designed by Sert-Jackson in the Brutalist style, that, granted, is not in fashion at the moment.

crescent22: The subway station (F train) is in the middle of the island, not the bottom.'

It is a bit odd living on Roosevelt Island, but if one values quiet, safety and reasonable rent in close proximity to midtown Manhattan, it's worth considering.

It may become more attractive when the tech hub picks up, but the Soviet style architecture is a bit depressing. That said, the new anchor building by Morphosis has a lot of potential to radically change the character of the island. Frankly, it looks amazing in the initial mock-ups. (http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/roosevelt-island-2012-5/)

Ultimately, however, you may not want to live with 2,000+ Cornell undergrads (and grads). It'll make what NYU's expansion into GV look timid.

Gilligan's Island would have been a more appropriate name.
So close yet so far.
A three hour cruise.........

"crescent22: The subway station (F train) is in the middle of the island, not the bottom.'"

The island goes from about 45th to about 86th. So in a way 63rd street is in the middle. HOWEVER the housing goes from 78th to 58th, so its not cental for most residents. And walking 15 blocks south in Manhattan terms is not super convenient.

If you live at one of the new buildings right between the F and the tram its not worse than BPC, other than the expensive to/from Manhattan taxi rides.

Westviewer: I was wrong. You are correct--not a mental hospital. It is Coler-Goldwater hospital which I think is a rehab type facility.

Point of clarification... I looked at some units there previously, and a broker told me that the entire island is owned by the city and, thus, all residential bldgs. are on leased land--making them coops. And, if I recall correctly, the terms aren't very favorable (the city isn't issuing long leases?).

So, aside from the convenience and the imposing presence of the substance-abuse facilities, the issues surrounding the land lease status might also be a consideration.

No, no nyc212--not "rehab" as in drug. Rehab as in brains mushed up in a car crash or spinal injuries or amputations or strokes and such.

nyc212, they're not co-ops. They're leasehold condos. Like Battery Park City, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and a place in Queens, Roosevelt Island is another exception to NYS condo law.

Not that that erases your objection. When it takes hundreds of pages to describe the lessor/lessee relationship, and its current/projected costs, best stick to something straightforward.