Can A Park Revitalize Governors Island?

Sometimes to move forward you have to look back. In this case, the City is looking at ways to invigorate Governors Island that New York Magazine is calling “radically old-fashioned.” That radical idea? Build a park.

Right now the Governors Island shoreline that faces lower Manhattan is lined with Park Service-run fortifications, landmarks and old military buildings. Those can be polished but not given a completely new identity. Dutch architectural firm West 8 created a mock-up for the park proposed for the other part of Governors Island. It’s a return to the philosophy that brought the City Central Park and Prospect Park- the idea that large areas of nature within huge urban areas is a civic responsibility and that the public good was and is worth investing in.

The project starts with the park rather than considering it an add-on to a large real estate project. The plans would create 87 acres of public space, including ball fields, hills and dales, and great views of the Statue of Liberty. At this point Leslie Koch, president of the agency that administers the island, uses a small budget to quietly promote activities like hammocks and free bicycles to New Yorkers looking to get away. It may be just the kind of radically old-fashioned idea to grow the Island’s presence in the future.

Governors Island in the '30s

Color Photo Credit: NY Mag | B & W Photo Credit: army.arch

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