Roosevelt Island’s Name Changes – A Short History

What did FDR, Marcus Garvey, and Roberto Clemente all have in common? They each had destinations re-named in their honor by NYC on July 19, 1973. In FDR’s case it was then Welfare Island which was being re-named. The Island bore the name “Welfare Island” for a mere 52 years as opposed to the Island’s prior name “Blackwell Island” which it bore for much longer. The second image below details this discontent with the name change to Welfare Island.