Topic summary
Randall's Island
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Randalls and Wards Islands.
Mid-2000s to present
The Randalls Island Connector footbridge opened in 2015, connecting the island with the Bronx. The George Rosenfeld Center for Recovery opened in September 2017 on Wards Island. Randall's Island Park received $950,000 in 2021 and another $22 million in 2022 for upgrades to Randalls and Wards Island's pathways. A short-lived migrant shelter opened at Randalls Island in 2022 and was replaced by a larger shelter in 2023. There was public opposition to the migrant shelter, which took up several soccer fields. One of the island's homeless shelters, the Clarke Thomas Mental Health Shelter, closed in 2022. Migrants began sleeping outside the Randalls Island migrant shelter following a series of violent crimes there, but the outdoor encampment was dismantled in August 2024. That October, the city government announced that the larger migrant shelter would close in February 2025. In September 2025, the Randall's Island Park Alliance began constructing a nature center for $6 million.