Editing Roosevelt Island (section)

==== 1990s developments ====
The opening of the [[Roosevelt Island station|Roosevelt Island subway station]], in late 1989,<ref name="Lorch 1989">{{cite news |last=Lorch |first=Donatella |date=October 29, 1989 |title=The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/the-subway-to-nowhere-now-goes-somewhere.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319210859/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/the-subway-to-nowhere-now-goes-somewhere.html |archive-date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> allowed further development to proceed.<ref name="Finder 1990" /> Officials announced the Southtown development in October 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peterson |first=Iver |date=October 12, 1989 |title=A Mix of Roosevelt Island Housing Planned |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/12/nyregion/a-mix-of-roosevelt-island-housing-planned.html |access-date=November 23, 2023 |archive-date=November 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123180142/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/12/nyregion/a-mix-of-roosevelt-island-housing-planned.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Designed by Raquel Ramati Associates,<ref name="Dunlap 1991">{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=March 4, 1991 |title=Big Developments Stalled in New York's Real-Estate Slump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/nyregion/big-developments-stalled-in-new-york-s-real-estate-slump.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425012409/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/nyregion/big-developments-stalled-in-new-york-s-real-estate-slump.html |archive-date=April 25, 2022 |access-date=April 25, 2022 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}</ref><ref name="Lebow 1989">{{cite news |last=Lebow |first=Joan |date=August 21, 1989 |title=Developer of Project on Roosevelt Island Off Manhattan Faces Unusual Challenge |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=1  |id={{ProQuest|398098510}}}}</ref> it was to consist of 1,956 apartments, split evenly between market-rate and affordable apartments.<ref name="Goldberger 1990" /><ref name="Lebow 1989" /> The development would span {{convert|19|acre}} and house up to 5,000 people.<ref name="Lebow 1989" /> The New York City Board of Estimate approved plans for Southtown in August 1990,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foran |first=Katherine |date=August 19, 1990 |title=Board OKs Roosevelt I. Plan |pages=35 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-board-oks-roosevelt-i-plan/135650521/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 }}</ref> but the project had been placed on hold by 1991 because RIOC had not been able to secure a developer.<ref name="Dunlap 1991" /> For much of the 1990s, no large buildings were completed on Roosevelt Island.<ref name="Ramirez 1996">{{cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |date=February 4, 1996 |title=Neighborhood Report;Roosevelt Islanders Fear Pataki Will Pull Plug |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-islanders-fear-pataki-will-pull-plug.html |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In part because of the lack of development, the island's population remained lower than expected, requiring it to be subsidized.<ref name="Stamler 1999">{{cite web |last=Stamler |first=Bernard |date=March 7, 1999 |title=Tempest on the River; It Was Supposed to Be an Urban Utopia. Today, Roosevelt Island Is a Battleground. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/07/nyregion/tempest-river-it-was-supposed-be-urban-utopia-today-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By the mid-1990s, the island had 8,200 residents, less than half the 20,000 that the state government had originally envisioned,<ref name="Ramirez 1996" /> and there were around 20 small stores.<ref name="Goldman 1998">{{cite web |last=Goldman |first=John J. |date=June 23, 1998 |title=Roosevelt Island Residents Wage Battle Against Development |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jun-23-mn-62699-story.html |access-date=March 23, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> To attract visitors, RIOC developed several recreational facilities and parks and sought to restore the island's oldest buildings.<ref name="Bazzi 1993">{{cite news |last=Bazzi |first=Mohamad |date=February 19, 1993 |title=Closeup They're Good Sports for Redevelopment Roosevelt Island Officials Tout Attractions |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |page=27  |id={{ProQuest|278581237}}}}</ref> RIOC also planned to remove about {{convert|1|acre}} of land to make way for a seawall.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lambert |first=Bruce |date=January 29, 1995 |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; Returning a Bit of the City to Nature |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/29/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-returning-a-bit-of-the-city-to-nature.html |access-date=March 22, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The architect [[Santiago Calatrava]] was hired to design a visitor center in the 1990s,<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Calatrava's American works in progress |last=Sullivan |first=Ann C. |magazine= Architecture: The AIA Journal |volume=84 |issue=12 |date=Dec 1995 |page=22 |id={{ProQuest|227854235}}}}</ref> but this was never built.<ref name="Roosevelt Island Historical Society 2020">{{cite web |date=March 24, 2020 |title=The Delacorte Fountain was here, The Calatrava Artpiece was not here |url=https://rihs.us/2020/03/24/tuesday-march-24-the-delacorte-fountain-was-here-the-calatrava-artpiece-was-not-here/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Roosevelt Island Historical Society}}</ref>

RIOC proposed selling off the Southtown site in 1997,<ref>{{cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; After 26 Years, Turbulence for an Urban Experiment |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 2, 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-after-26-years-turbulence-for-urban.html |access-date=March 23, 2024}}</ref> and the [[Related Companies]] and Hudson Companies signed an agreement to develop Southtown.<ref name="Hughes 2017" /><ref name="Garber 2024">{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|2923429272}} |title=Embattled Roosevelt Island leader put on leave from state post while allegations are reviewed |last=Garber |first=Nick |volume=40 |issue=5 |date=February 5, 2024 |page=11 |magazine=Crain's New York Business}}</ref> The plans for Southtown were subsequently redrawn;<ref name="Stamler 1999" /> the revised plan called for three buildings to the east of Main Street, six buildings to the west, and new recreational fields.<ref name="Hevesi 2001" /> Southtown's development also entailed reducing the size of the existing Blackwell Park, which prompted opposition from Northtown residents who used the park.<ref name="Hevesi 2001" /> A 26-story hotel with a convention center was proposed on the island in 1998, though this plan was controversial.<ref name="Goldman 1998" /> There was also growing discontent with RIOC.<ref name="Stamler 1999" /> As a result, mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] proposed having the city take over the island in 1999,<ref>{{cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |date=May 21, 1999 |title=Giuliani Plans to See if City Can Control Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/21/nyregion/giuliani-plans-to-see-if-city-can-control-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and state legislator [[Pete Grannis]] also proposed legislation to allow the island to govern itself.<ref>{{cite web |last=Friedman |first=Andrew |date=January 14, 2001 |title=Neighborhood Report: Roosevelt Island; Roosevelt Island Report: A Cry for Independence . . . |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/14/nyregion/neighborhood-report-roosevelt-island-roosevelt-island-report-cry-for.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A contractor was hired to build the first section of Southtown in May 1999,<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=May 31, 1999 |title=New York |magazine=Engineering News-Record |page=167 |volume=242 |issue=21 |id={{ProQuest|235667299}}}}</ref> and [[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]] indicated that it would build a tower in Southtown to house its staff.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sandler |first=Linda |date=December 15, 1999 |title=For Hospitals, the Emergency Is Housing --- Rise in Residential Prices Prompts Rush to Build Homes for Medical Staff |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |page=B18:1  |id={{ProQuest|398688398}}}}</ref>