BIG DEAL: Felix von Perfall, 8, snaps a shot of the huge FDR bust at a dedication ceremony yesterday for the long-awaited Roosevelt memorial. (
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It took nearly four decades, but there’s finally a Roosevelt residing on Roosevelt Island.
A spectacular memorial to the nation’s 32nd president was dedicated yesterday at the southern tip of the East River island after more than 39 years of false starts and stops.
“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on, and we did,” declared former Ambassador William vanden Heuvel, chairman of the lengthy project, quoting FDR.
Some 500 guests led by former President Bill Clinton gathered at the four-acre site of Four Freedoms Park, which opens to the public next Wednesday, to celebrate its completion and marvel at the accomplishments of the leader who guided the United States through both the Great Depression and World War II.
Mayor Bloomberg described Roosevelt as “New York’s single greatest contribution to the preservation of our republic and the peace of our world.”
Gov. Cuomo told the crowd that FDR proved that government, much maligned these days, could be a “force for good” that makes people’s lives better.
With six Roosevelt grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the audience, Clinton spoke of how FDR dictated the four freedoms, for which the park is named.
Those freedoms — of speech, worship, from want and from fear — were proclaimed by Roosevelt in 1941 as the country emerged from the Great Depression and supported Great Britain’s war against fascism. They were later incorporated into the charter of the United Nations.
“Perhaps, ironically, it is altogether fitting that this day is delayed until a time we knew we could never take the four freedoms for granted,” said Clinton, in a reference to the threats to freedom around the world today.
Plans for the memorial were first announced on the site in 1973, when Nelson Rockefeller was governor and John Lindsay was mayor.
Among those in attendance that day were Robert Morgenthau Jr., who was to become Manhattan DA, and David Dinkins, who went on to become the city’s first black mayor. Both were also on hand yesterday.
Visitors to the Four Freedoms Park will be greeted by sweeping, 360-degree views, including of the UN that FDR was instrumental in founding.
Officials said the park was the heaviest stone-setting job ever undertaken in New York City, with roughly 7,7000 tons of stone placed there. There are also 261,000 hand-placed cobbles.
Designed by famed architect Louis Khan, the centerpiece of the triangular memorial is a 1,050-pound enlargement of a 28-inch bust of Roosevelt created by American sculptor Jo Davidson in 1933.
Impressive as it is, the president of the Roosevelt Island residents’ association told The Post he’s distressed that the project was done with no input from the community.
“We’ve never actually been asked what are views are in 39 years,” said Matthew Katz.
“We feel, as magnificent as the memorial is, it pretty much ignored the fact it’s on the same island as 14,000 people.”