Skip to site content
group travel leader select traveler small market meetings

FDR Four Freedoms Park opens in New York City


Courtesy FDR Four Freedoms Park

NEW YORK — The new Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on a four-acre site at the tip of Roosevelt Island in the East River in New York City is the only memorial to the former president in his native state of New York.

The focal point of the memorial is a 1,050-pound bronze bust of President Roosevelt with the four freedoms espoused by him — the freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear — engraved on its south-facing side.

The bust stands at the entrance to a 60-foot-square open plaza of granite that looks across the East River at the United Nations building. The entrance of the triangular park is marked by five copper beech trees, and the lawn is flanked on both sides by 120 little leaf linden trees set in allees.

The four-acre park was dedicated on October 24, just a few days before Hurricane Sandy hit the New York area. The park received only minor damage and was reopened to the public in early November.

The park is accessible by subway, the aerial tramway, buses and automobiles.

www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org