In the 1890s
construction began on tunnels underneath the East River to link Manhattan and
Queens.
These tunnels were completed in
1907 and are now used by the Number 7 subway system. The excess landfill generated by this
construction work was used to build up a reef in the East River, just south of
Roosevelt Island and in front of the site now occupied by the UN
Headquarters. The man-made island measures
30 metres by 61 metres, and was originally named Belmont Island – in honour of
the tunnel project’s financier.
Seventy
years later, the island was unofficially adopted by a group called Peace
Meditation at the United Nations; UN employees; and followers of the guru Sri Chinmoy, who was the UN interfaith chaplain at the time. The group named the island in honour of U Thant, former UN Secretary General from Myanmar, who was a friend of the guru.
These days, U Thant Island is closed to the
public. It is managed by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and is protected as a sanctuary for
migrating birds, including colonies of double-crested cormorants.
