After A Four-Decade Delay, New York City's FDR Memorial Will Finally Open Next Week

In 1973, a skinny island in the East River was renamed Roosevelt Island in honor of the 32nd President of the U.S.

The same year, plans for a memorial for the late president, to be located on the tip of the island, were also announced. But after completing the design for the park, architect Louis I. Kahn died unexpectedly and years of financial hardship for the city sent the project to the back burner.

But on Monday, the memorial, called the FDR Four Freedoms Park, will officially open to the public. The plans were revived in 2005, and in 2010, philanthropist and Alphawood Foundation chairman Fred Eychaner donated $10 million towards the project.

The park, on the southern tip of the 2-mile-long island, will be accessible by subway, the Roosevelt Island tram (pictured), bus, and car. Ferry and water taxi service will eventually be added.

It's the only memorial dedicated to FDR in his home state, and the last work of Louis I. Kahn, an iconic architect.

The park celebrates the "Four Freedoms" advocated by FDR: Freedom of Speech and Expression, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

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