Blackwell Island Light

The Girl Puzzle Monument honoring activist and journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, pen name Nellie Bly (1864-1922), is a public sculptural installation by American artist Amanda Matthews, CEO/Partner of Prometheus Art Bronze Foundry and Metal Fabrication. The installation is located on the northern tip of Roosevelt Island in Lighthouse Park (named after the Blackwell Island Light) in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The location is significant because of its proximity to the remains of the old Blackwell Island Asylum - The Octagon is the last remnant of the original building where Nellie Bly went undercover as a patient while working as a reporter at the New York World. Nellie Bly wrote of the mistreatment of patients at the asylum in a series of articles and then in 1887 had them compiled into a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) awarded to Amanda Matthews the project as the result of a widely published open call for artists. In a press release by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Susan Rosenthal (the then President and CEO of RIOC) stated, "The committee, made up of RIOC employees and community leaders, unanimously selected this bold installation that will not only represent Nellie Bly's time here, but her impact on the world." The initial unveiling was scheduled for 2020, but was rescheduled for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lighthouse Park is at the northern end of Roosevelt Island and its three acres includes Blackwell Island Light as well as a new public art piece called The Girl Puzzle honoring Nellie Bly and her work on the island's asylum.The park, which stretches from the lighthouse south to Coler Hospital, was designed by landscape architect Nicholas Quennell in 1977 following the lighthouse's decommission.

On March 11, 2018, a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the East River off the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, killing 5 people. Two passengers died at the scene, and three others were pronounced dead at the hospital. The pilot escaped the helicopter following the crash. The aircraft was operated by Liberty Helicopters for FlyNyon. Two people were from New York state; another two were from Dallas, Texas; and the fifth was from Argentina. The pilot is from Connecticut.

Coler Specialty Hospital is a chronic care facility on New York City's Roosevelt Island that provides services such as rehabilitation and specialty nursing. The hospital was formed in 1996 by the merger of two separate chronic care hospitals on Roosevelt Island. Goldwater Memorial Hospital, on the south end of the island, closed in 2013, while Bird S. Coler Hospital is still located on the north end of the island.

Carl Schurz Park is a 14.9-acre (6.0 ha) public park in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, named for German-born Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz in 1910, at the edge of what was then the solidly German-American community of Yorkville. The park contains Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor of New York.

Archibald Gracie Mansion (commonly called Gracie Mansion) is the official residence of the Mayor of New York City. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and 88th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan. The mansion overlooks Hell Gate channel in the East River.

Sunswick Creek is a buried stream located in Astoria and Long Island City, in the northwestern portion of Queens in New York City. It originated to the north of Queensboro Bridge and Queens Plaza in Long Island City, flowing north to the present-day site of the Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, and emptying into the East River. The creek was named for a term in the Algonquin language that likely means "Woman Chief" or "Sachem’s Wife." The mouth of the creek was settled in the late 17th century by William Hallet and Elizabeth Fones, who built a milldam at the creek's mouth to create a mill pond. Due to industrialization in Long Island City, the creek became heavily polluted and was covered-over starting in the late 19th century.

10 Gracie Square, sometimes styled Ten Gracie Square is a 1930-31 pre-war "white glove" co-op building constructed in Art Deco style. It's located on East 84th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side between East End Avenue and the FDR Drive. It is one of only 42 "good buildings" in Manhattan as designated by Tom Wolfe, and is known for its sixteen-room triplexes.Prior to the construction of the FDR Drive, which eliminated its river access, the building once had a residents' only yacht mooring on the East River. Prior residents include: Brooke Astor, Frances Schreuder, Jean Stein, Madame Chiang Kai-shek and Gloria Vanderbilt.

The Octagon, built in 1834, is a historic octagonal building and attached apartment block complex located at 888 Main Street on Roosevelt Island in New York City. It originally served as the main entrance to the New York City Mental Health Hospital (also known as the New York City Lunatic Asylum), which opened in 1841. Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, the five-story rotunda was made of blue-gray stone that was quarried on the island. The Octagon is the last remnant of the hospital, and after many years of decay and two fires, was close to ruin. After restoration, it has now been incorporated into the adjacent buildings to create a large apartment complex. Mistreatment of patients at the asylum was the center of the exposé by Nellie Bly in her 1887 book Ten Days in a Mad-House.

The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, located on the Upper East Side neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. The school is divided into lower (kindergarten – grade 4), middle (grades 5–8) and upper (grades 9–12) schools, with approximately 50 to 60 students per grade. In addition to being a member of the New York Interschool Association, Brearley is considered a sister school of the all-boys Collegiate School, the all-girls Spence School and the nearby all-girls Chapin School, with which it shares an after-school program and some classes.

Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor museum and public park where artists can create and exhibit sculptures and multi-media installations. It is located one block from the Noguchi Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, New York City. In addition to exhibition space, the park offers an arts education program, artist residency program, and job training.

Chapin School is an all-girls independent day school in New York City's Upper East Side neighborhood in Manhattan.