The now headless Roosevelt Island Lighthouse poses a dilemma. Once a lighthouse loses its head, is it still a lighthouse?

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

By any of its previous names – Blackwell Island Lighthouse, Welfare Island Lighthouse – the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse, over nearly 150 years, never lost its head. It’s historic plus, designed by James Renswick. Renwick also dreamed up St. Patrick’s Cathedral as well as the Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital, the skeleton now mostly stabilized in Southpoint Park.

This image is from the interim stage of restoring the lighthouse, a project overseen by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. Plans are for it being ready to celebrate its 150 birthday, next year.

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Rivercross and the Quiet Green Light

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Theo Gobblevelt Jan 9, 2026

Rivercross privatization was enabled in 2010. This matters now because the same governance structures that allowed Rivercross to privatize without formal conflict controls are still in place. The same public authority oversees land leases, settlements, and redevelopment decisions that affect every resident on Roosevelt Island today.

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