Many New Yorkers oft forget Roosevelt Island — the little strip of land sitting between Manhattan and Queens. But after accepting a bid from Cornell university, who will build a new, state-of-the-art engineering campus there, Roosevelt Island could get a whole lot more popular.
The NY Times says Cornell received a $US350 million gift to build the proposed campus, and NYC will pony up another $US100 million to go with the 2.1 million square feet of space. This science island will cost $US2 billion to complete, will prominently feature green amenities such as solar power and geothermal wells, and will house roughly 2,000 students.
Cornell hopes the science island will become an incubator for innovation, and more importantly, valuable patents. [NY Times via Curbed]