2. Roosevelt Island

FDR Four Freedoms Park, adjacent to the abandoned James Renwick-designed Smallpox Hospital

As Roosevelt Island changed hands from Dutch to English to American, it subsequently underwent the necessary nomenclature changes–from Manning’s Island to Blackwell’s Island to Welfare Island. The latter name hints at the island’s functional role in New York City’s history as a location for prisons, a lunatic asylum, and a smallpox hospital.

The lighthouse at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island was also designed by James Renwick