Walking in Four Freedoms Park yesterday, I remembered my first time. Talking with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, strolling down the muddy lawn, workers planting the linden trees. You think of treasure as gold, but it also grows from fertile soil. That soil, important these days, is freedom.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
FDR’s Four Freedoms Treasure
- Freedom of Speech and Expression: The right to express oneself without fear of censorship or retaliation.
- Freedom of Worship: The right to practice one’s religion without interference or discrimination.
- Freedom from Want: The right to economic security and basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter.
- Freedom from Fear: The right to live without fear of aggression or attack.
Imagine a world where those freedoms were breakthrough concepts. Now, much of the world takes them for granted. It’s not universal, and darker days aren’t so far off the horizon.
Winter Never far away
Freedoms are like treasure. They’re valuable, but you can’t always find them. Sometimes, they’re dormant, waiting to spring free.
Winters in New York feel stark, but the potential is always there, buds ready to open.
Bright colors of freedom
“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to loose…” – Kris Kristofferson.
Really?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address, now better known as his Four Freedoms speech, soared into a world where sexual orientation was set in stone. There was no LGBTQ pride. You were this or that, and if the suit didn’t fit, tough luck.
The Treasure of Welcoming
The seasons of four freedoms
You saw the starkness of winter above, but the treasure of the seasons reminds us of life vibrating with free expression.
Springtime in Four Freedoms Park, visitors increase as the Beeches and Lindens break out of winter.
Four Freedoms Park is New York City’s most serene space. The heat builds on the sidewalks. Tourists crowd every venue. But here, it’s different. Here, the treasure is the promise of peace.
In autumn, no treasure elsewhere matches the swelling colors of the meadow.
About those four freedoms
The ever evolving, welcoming park reminds us that freedom is about expression and welcoming. All tribes are one on the ground. We all have a place where we meet.
You Can’t Be All Three
April 9, 2026, during the full board meeting of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, Fay Christian said something that should have landed harder than it did. She wished RIOC were not responsible for the tram. Then she asked what it would look like if it were given to the MTA. That was not a passing comment.
