When the NY Central and the B&A merged in 1900 the island's activities became less important, though a new round house and coach yard was built even as many buildings were demolished.

[1] Also in 1903 the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad purchased outright the island from the van Rensselaer family for $6,000.

[1] Two years earlier the Rensselaer side approach and exit ramps for the Dunn Memorial Bridge were built on the southern part of the island, just north of Mill Creek.

[citation needed] The site of the Rensselaer City School campus is slated to be redeveloped as a mixed-use waterfront community, the developers (U.W.

The project would include offices, retail, restaurants, apartments, a promenade along the Hudson, and a marina carved from the waterfront; it is modeled on Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The project was dealt a setback in late 2009 when the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation declared that the project's marina would need to be reworked so as not to disturb he water celery along the shoreline, which is important for keeping the water clean and provides habitat for fish, it is rare along that stretch of the Hudson due to dredging of the shipping channel.

[12] This set-back, however, has not stopped the project; de Laet's Landing has been approved for a $1.4 million grant by the Empire State Development Corporation and the company planned on breaking ground sometime in the later half of 2010.