Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple:  Cornell’s Future in New York City

Over the next two decades, Cornell will expand its footprint in New York City on Roosevelt Island, the site of the new technology campus, Cornell Tech. While the campus had its official inauguration last year, the full buildout will not be complete until 2037. Before demolition began to make way for the University’s new campus, The Sun’s editors the opportunity to tour the island to see Cornell’s future.

1. Welcome to the island | A tram transporting passengers from Manhattan arrives at Roosevelt Island.

2. Abandoned smallpox hospital | The ruins of a smallpox hospital, designed by James Renwick Jr. in the 19th century, are a designated historic site on Roosevelt Island.

3. Remember FDR | The FDR Four Freedoms Park, built in memory of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, opened in 2012.

4. Four Freedoms | American artist Jo Davidson created a bronze sculpture of FDR that stands in the center of the FDR Four Freedoms Park.

5. Site of the future | Cornell Tech Dean Daniel Huttenlocher points to the site where the first tech campus building will rise.

6. Big Apple | The east side of Manhattan | which houses Weill Cornell Medical College (center) — can be seen from Roosevelt Island.