David Stone
Founder & Euro Editor
Navigating Apps with Changes in Memory: Join Our Study
December 2, 2025
Weill Cornell Medicine seeks older adults with mild memory loss for a study on improving navigation apps. Participation is valuable,...
RIOC’s Blackwell House Dilemma: Searching for a Path Forward
Blackwell House has been caught in an unsettling churn over the last few years. From opening after an expensive restoration to executive suite to quietly closed for most purposes – what comes next? by David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily…
RIOC’s Puffy Egos & Errors Diminish New Preservation Award
The Roosevelt Island Lighthouse won a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award, but error-prone RIOC bungled it immediately… before the puffy egos strolled in and made it worse. In a press release distributed internationally, the state agency that never gets it…
When Was the Smallpox Epidemic in America? End of the Trail
Here on Roosevelt Island in New York City, the Smallpox Hospital, a historic ruin, is an icon. It’s lit at night and stands out like a ghost to anyone passing along the East River. Its main section was designed by…
Is the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Finally Restored?
As photos by historian Judith Berdy show, the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse restoration is nearly completed. The heavy equipment is gone, and the glass and top platform are in place. With the construction fencing now gone, too, visitors can again enjoy…
The Smallpox Hospital, History in the Solitude of Winter
In the solitude of late winter, Roosevelt Island’s historic Smallpox Hospital exposes its graceful isolation, without leafy trees or tourists intervening. by David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News Stark elegance obscures its grim mission, but not so much in…
A Restored Piece of History: The Roosevelt Island Lighthouse
Amanda Matthews’s The Girl Puzzle, honoring Nellie Bly’s life and influence, brought a crowd, but the nearly restored Roosevelt Island Lighthouse reflects an impressive commitment to history. The Roosevelt Island Daily The authentic light makes it taller and more powerful….
The Smallpox Hospital, Its Dark Hues of Autumn
Stabilized, then abandoned by RIOC, the Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island’s vines lend it the dark hues of autumn. By David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News This main building, covered in tangles of vines, designed by James Renwick, Jr.,…
Oh, and one more thing… the Nellie Bly Monument Ribbon-Cutting is December 10th
RIOC’s vaunted Communications Team forgot to tell you; so, we will. Amanda Matthews’s The Girl Puzzle has its opening date. By David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily News Opening the Nellie Bly Monument: The Girl Puzzle Why should they tell…
ROOSEVELT ISLAND’S LIGHTHOUSE PARK, FROM THERE TO NOW AND…
As summer fades into autumn, interest in Lighthouse Park grows while Amanda Matthews’s Girl Puzzle inches toward completion. A lot of people have a lot of questions; so, let’s do a quick review. By David Stone The Roosevelt Island Daily…
A Headless Roosevelt Island Lighthouse… Is It Still a Lighthouse?
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…
David Stone
Founder & Euro Editor