Not everything on Roosevelt Island announces itself with headlines. Some stories live in the silence between agenda items at a public meeting. Others hum beneath the surface, in the steam tunnels or the pause between two neighbors deciding whether to speak.
That’s where Tunnels lives. Known widely as Eleanor Rivers’s Tunnels, her fascinating narrative brings what we don’t see to life.
Led by the gentle and observant voice of Eleanor Rivers, the Tunnels stream explores the emotional undercurrents of Roosevelt Island. These pieces are not traditional reporting. They’re narrative moments, reflections, and quiet revelations that ask you to feel more than to know.
Tunnels is where we capture the soft truths—the ones that hide in overlooked architecture, the ones that linger in old documents, or hang in the room long after a public comment period ends. Here, Eleanor Rivers’s stories reveal much about the unseen parts of Roosevelt Island, particularly through Eleanor Rivers’s Tunnels.
How It Fits Into Our Four Streams
While the Wire asks the hard questions and Lighthouse builds the case with facts, and The Beat brings you into the now, Tunnels takes you on a journey through feeling, memory, and atmosphere.
It’s our most reflective and literary space. You won’t find recap or confrontation here. What you’ll find instead are stories that make you stop, look twice, and wonder how you hadn’t noticed something before.
Tunnels is also home to creative liberties—a place where writers may imagine context, provided it’s anchored in truth. It values emotional clarity over strict chronology. It trusts that how something feels can be as important as what something says. Eleanor Rivers’s Tunnels contribute greatly to this reflective space.
Articles from Eleanor Rivers
Eleanor is our guide through these underground stories. Her voice appears just twice a month, but the weight of her observations lingers well beyond that. Eleanor Rivers’s Tunnels have become essential reading.
Here are some of her recent contributions:
- NB-5: The Appointment of Mary — A delicate reflection on the arrival of new leadership, told with symbolism and patience.
- Pier Pressure: When Leadership Sinks — An emotional exploration of missed moments and what it means when no one catches the rope.
- The Landing’s Awning — A seemingly simple observation becomes a layered study of architecture, memory, and access.
- What Lies Beneath — A walk through Roosevelt Island’s forgotten corners, and what they tell us about attention, neglect, and hope.
Each of these is part prose, part documentary, and all deeply Roosevelt Island.
What’s Next for Eleanor Rivers’s Tunnels?
While Eleanor remains the soul of the Tunnels stream, The Daily is now supporting her reflections with companion pieces that add detail, context, or history to her stories. These articles won’t mimic her style, but they’ll expand on the moments she illuminates—adding research, quotes, or timelines to what she leaves gently implied.
This blend lets us offer the emotional truth and the structural truth side by side. And it invites more writers into the space without dimming Eleanor’s unique voice.
Want to Contribute to the Tunnels?
We believe everyone has a story worth telling—and some of the best ones are hiding just out of sight.
If you:
- Have photos of Roosevelt Island’s forgotten corners
- Know about an old system (like AVAC or underground piping)
- Can share a memory, a moment, or a murmur that might have gone unnoticed
- Or want to help research the people, places, or spaces Eleanor writes about…
We would love to hear from you.
Just subscribe to The Lighthouse and reply to the welcome email—or any Friday dispatch. Our editor, Theo, reads every message. If your insight or story fits, we’ll reach out to collaborate.
The Island isn’t just what we see on the surface. It’s layered. It’s complex. It’s quietly extraordinary.
And Tunnels is where we make space for that.
With quiet wonder,
The Daily Team
Fast Track At Home
The citywide election is weeks away. Buried under the personality talk is a proposal that promises speed: fast track approvals for “affordable housing.” Before Roosevelt Island voters decide what that should mean for New York, it’s worth asking what it already means here. Our island has been living inside a version of fast track for years.
