Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park — Attraction in New York

This is a true New York Jewel that is seldomly visited by locals. It’s a Park, its Architecture, Its Landscape Design, Its Fresh Air, Views, Trees and much more.

The easiest way to get here is to take the Roosevelt Island tram from East 60th and Second avenue and to the South you start to see the Park BUT I recommend you take the subway and walk. Walk towards the Queensboro Bridge and you will have inspiring views of Manhattan to your right; the future Cornell-Technion University, Long Island City and the remnants of the Old Smallpox Hospital to your left.

The memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt was announced by Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Mayor John Lindsay in 1973, and yet due to financial instability, the death of its architect Louis Kahn, and changes within NY State leadership, plans for the memorial were put aside. Gina Pollara completed Khan’s work with the help of his detailed sketches in 2014.

My favorite way to make a grand entrance to the park is by using the stairs at the base of the triangle. As you go up you start to see the lawn, trees and perimeter walls converging on FDR’s bust made by Jo Davidson; all on a downward slope pointing to the river. To the right you see Manhattan, to the left Queens and in front one can see Brooklyn; the park is surrounded by water. Behind FDR’s bust you can see the Four Freedoms that were part of his 1941 state of the union address which are a tenet of American Values and still hold true after more than a half century: Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

I believe Khan would have wanted to make the park entirely out of concrete but the final version was completed with a magnificent granite-and lots of it. The park follows Khan’s signature architectural style: clean lines, intriguing perspectives, spare landscaping, triangular lines that draw the eye. All this makes for a one-of-a-kind experience very worthwhile visiting- even for...

A stirring testament to arguably the greatest American president and one of the most influential world leaders of the 20th century. Unbuilt even decades after its design by the famed architect Louis I. Kahn, the city finally managed to complete it about a decade ago, hence why it still feels so new and fresh even as it implements a classic design from a bygone era. Roosevelt devoted his life to the well-being of the ordinary American, advocating for the prosperity and well-being of all in an era defined by chaos and vast inequality. He saved this nation, navigating it through two existential crises that threatened to destroy its foundations. The relevance of his New Deal social programs still resonates today, providing a gleaming example that American leaders today can only faintly aspire to achieve, fighting for the poor and aged, preserving and protecting the environment, and defining this country as one devoted to progress and equality instead of greed, hierarchy, and backwards sectarianism. Admittedly, one could quibble with some of the design choices of the memorial, such as the enormous Roosevelt face at its center, but the memorial is none-the-less classy, well-designed, and importantly, dedicated to legacy of FDR and the freedoms he fought to defend and achieve. Positioned on the south tip of an idyllic, peaceful island, it is the greatest memorial to Roosevelt, and one that...

Four Freedoms Park stands as Louis Kahn's poetic farewell to architecture, completed nearly four decades after his death, with his sketches found in his coat pocket at Penn Station. The triangular slice of Roosevelt Island distills Kahn's monumentality to its purest form: a room without a roof, where angled walls of granite frame views of Manhattan's eastern face and guide visitors toward the colossal bust that anchors the space.

Like FDR's wartime vision itself, the park feels both intimate and vast. The processional approach down the tree-lined allée builds anticipation before revealing the dramatic "room" where that sky meets stone. Kahn's geometric precision doesn't overwhelm, instead, it focuses attention on fundamental human freedoms through the lens of soaring architecture.

Delightfully democratic touches abound: sprawling lawns perfect for picnicking, generous pathways, and benches positioned for contemplation. The site operates on multiple frequencies; meditative memorial, architectural pilgrimage, and breezy waterfront park.

★★★★★ Like stumbling upon a Greek temple in Queens; where modernism meets memorial, and Roosevelt's ideals get the monumental treatment they deserve. Kahn's last mic drop was worth the 40-year wait.

#ArchitecturalPilgrimage...