The station has two tracks and two side platforms. It is one of the deepest stations in the New York City Subway system, at about 100 feet below street level (approximately 10 stories deep). Due to its depth, the design of the station is also unusual. Similar to the stations of the Paris Metro and Washington Metro, Roosevelt Island station is built with a high vaulted ceiling. This can also be found on some of the system's other deep stations, including several in northern Manhattan on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line. Roosevelt Island also features a mezzanine visible directly above the tracks, common amongst stations on the Washington Metro, but not common in New York. The station is fully ADA-compliant, with elevators to street level. Fare control is in a glass-enclosed building off of Main Street.
At a April 14, 2008 news conference, Governor David Paterson announced that the MTA will power a substantial portion of the station using tidal energy generated by turbines located in the East River which are part of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project. The announcement affecting the station was part of a larger announcement where the MTA is looking to use sustainable energy resources within the system. [1]
