This local island was known as Hog Island and had farms as early as 1639. The king of England granted it to John Manning in 1668. In 1675, after John Manning surrendered Fort James, allowing the Dutch to briefly reclaim the city, the king of England exiled Manning to the island for cowardice and treason. Manning's son-in-law, Robert Blackwell, inherited the island, and the Blackwells owned it until 1828.
The city purchased it and built a workhouse, an almshouse, a madhouse, and a penitentiary (which housed both Boss Tweed and Mae West). In 1887, Nellie Bly famously went undercover to expose conditions at the island's lunatic asylum. In 1921, it was renamed Welfare Island. With its history, it was known as a "home for the unfortunate and suffering."
Today? Not so much.
Name that island.
Answer after the jump.
ROOSEVELT ISLAND
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