From The Peopling of New York City

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The people of Roosevelt Island can be described as a multi-ethnic close-knit community. Due to the Island's proximity to Manhattan, quiet atmosphere and clean air, property is highly sought after. In order to prevent overcrowding, a lottery system is in place for all people who wish to live on the island. This lottery also keeps renting prices very low when compared to nearby Manhattan. Many residents appreciate this system because it keeps the island from becoming too uptight and makes it available to all people, not only the rich.
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Of the people that we interviewed, many came from other countries and were not U.S. born. In addition, some of the people did not speak English and it was difficult to communicate with them effectively. Most people we spoke with said that they only worked in Roosevelt Island and lived in one of the five boroughs. There were several cars lying dormant around the island leading me to hypothesize that the people who did live on the island would work off the island. Our hypothesis was correct because according to the US Census Bureau a whopping 74% of workers use public transportation and the mean travel time to work is 34.8 minutes. This shows that most of the residents go off the island to work, because by using public transportation it would only take 20 minutes to circle the entire island.
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The 2000 US Census Bureau states many facts about residents of the island. The Demographics of Roosevelt Island are

One race 95.4%

White 49.2%

Black or African American 27.2%

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Asian 10.7% 

 Asian Indian 2.9%

 Chinese 1.5%

  Filipino 0.7%

  Japanese 1.7%

  Korean 2.3%

  Vietnamese 0.1%

  Other Asian 1.5%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.2% 

  Native Hawaiian 0%

  Guamanian or Chamorro 0.0%

  Samoan 0.0%

  Other Pacific Islander 0.1%

Some other race 7.8%

Two or more races 4.6%

Economically, the Island as a whole is well off, with less than 3% of the total population lacking necessary facilities and 4.2% receiving public assistance. Household incomes range from Less than $10,000 to $200,000 or more. The median household income is $49,976, $7982 more than the national average. On average, female full-time workers make $45,000 and male full-time workers make $61,000.

54.6% of the population aged 16 and older are employed and 53.7% of females are employed. 61.9% of the population work in management, professional and related occupations, 23.4% work in sales and office occupations, 71% work in service occupations, 5.8% work in production, transportation and material moving occupations and 1.8% work in construction, extraction and maintenance occupations. 71% of the people are private wage and salary workers, 7.6 % are self-employed and 21.3% are government workers.
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[1]

Roosevelt Island residents share a sense of community and brotherhood. "The Main Street Wire," the island's newspaper, constantly prints articles regarding the island's public affairs such as, the subway station's escalators, the tram, the FDR memorial, public lighting, new construction and other issues. Residents are usually active in voting for the Roosevelt Island government, which consists of the RIRA and the RIOC. This sense of community and activism may be due to the fact that the U.S. government drastically decreased public funds to Roosevelt Island during Governor Pataki's term. As a result, residents cooperate and vote to ensure the best for themselves and their homes. [2]


Click here to see the many diverse faces of Roosevelt Island http://www.nyc10044.com/pix/faces.html

References

  1. ↑ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=&geo_id=86000US10044&_geoContext=01000US%7C86000US10044&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=&_zip=10044&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=860&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=&show_2003_tab=&redirect=Y U.S. Census Bureau
  2. ↑ http://nyc10044.com/ The Main Street Wire

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