Roosevelt Island, island in the East River Strait of New York City (United States), between the island of Manhattan to the west and the borough of Queens to the east, is going to open a hotel soon, the first on that thin surface a mile and a half long.
The hotel is called Graduate Roosevelt Island, and on June 1 it will open its doors to receive the first guests. It stands out for the 18-story tower, in which some 224 rooms will be distributed. Is located at the entrance to the innovative new Cornell Tech campus and belongs to the Graduate brand.
In fact, although it is property number 29 of these, it is the first in the city. “Being able to have a hotel in New York City still rooted in a campus, still rooted in a major university like Cornell … and really what is supposed to be the gateway to the tech industry for New York City. , it was really a unique opportunity for us”, Reveals the president of Graduate Hotels, David Rochefort, in a statement collected by CNN.
The secrets and details of the hotel
In just three months the Graduate Roosevelt Island will begin its activity and reservations are already open, with an initial rate of $ 219 per night and with security measures against the coronavirus. It is part of the Cornell Tech campus, opened in 2017, and is, therefore, closely related to the education and history of the island.
In the lobby you can already find nods to old-school education, with library tables, computers, lamps, and books on the ceiling, thus achieving that relationship with the past but from a more futuristic perspective. And at the reception, as a curiosity, there is a figure of a giant boy with aviator glasses holding a light bulb.
The access cards to the hotel rooms are designed as if they were university cards. The rooms themselves also have university paintings and the lamps are inspired by a science project by a Cornell student. There’s also references to actress Mae West, who spent some time locked up on the island in 1927 on charges of public obscenity, or the journalist Nellie Bly, also important person there.
Already up, on the roof, there is a futuristic bar and a space dedicated to events, with panoramic views of the island and the city and a menu created specifically by native New Yorkers.
A new attraction for an island with a past
Actually, the campus on which it is located is very recent. He is barely four years old. The attractiveness of the island dates mainly from the 19th century, when there was a penitentiary and work asylums, a smallpox hospital or an asylum for the mentally ill.
In fact, there the investigative journalist Nellie Bly entered, who pretended to be mentally ill to be admitted and thanks to that she was able to publish in 1887 Ten days in a madhouse to expose the abuses and poor conditions of the place.
In the buildings of the island there are still many traces and traces of that time, while recently innovative buildings are appearing of the XXI century. For example, there are still ruins of the smallpox hospital or a park with a lighthouse in the far north.
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