1. Governors Island
Location: Governors Island
Built: 1806-1811
Architect: Lt. Col. Jonathan Williams
National Register Number: 85002435
Listed: February 4, 1985
Visited: July 21, 2007
Governors Island sits in front of the city's eyes and the back of the city's mind. 172 acres of island in the middle of New York Harbor, it surrounds dense thickets of New Jersey, Manhattan, and Brooklyn urbanity. And yet the island shares none of it, cut off from the surrounding landmasses, and groomed for over two centuries as a center for British, then American military operations rather than civilian life. It's been almost entirely off-limits to the ordinary citizen until the US Coast Guard ceased operations there in 1996, and even after control of about 13% of the island was ceded to the National Park Service, with the remainder put under the aegis of New York State, public access has thus far been sporadic, seasonal. This will change, and soon. 42 acres on the southern part of the island will soon be subject to sweeping redevelopment by the State of New York.
Five proposals for use of the land were unveiled in June, with a winning design to be announced this month; all of them assume the complete demolition of the structures currently standing, to be replaced by parkland featuring things like artificial mountains and marshes, agriculture, sporting facilities, research centers, and the like. The historic district, including the National Monument (composed of Castle Williams, Fort Jay -- more about them later -- and a few ancillary buildings), won't be touched (though maybe spiffened up a bit), but once the park becomes a reality, the rest of the island will likely receive more interest, and cease to be open secret it is now.
Built: 1806-1811
Architect: Lt. Col. Jonathan Williams
National Register Number: 85002435
Listed: February 4, 1985
Visited: July 21, 2007
Governors Island sits in front of the city's eyes and the back of the city's mind. 172 acres of island in the middle of New York Harbor, it surrounds dense thickets of New Jersey, Manhattan, and Brooklyn urbanity. And yet the island shares none of it, cut off from the surrounding landmasses, and groomed for over two centuries as a center for British, then American military operations rather than civilian life. It's been almost entirely off-limits to the ordinary citizen until the US Coast Guard ceased operations there in 1996, and even after control of about 13% of the island was ceded to the National Park Service, with the remainder put under the aegis of New York State, public access has thus far been sporadic, seasonal. This will change, and soon. 42 acres on the southern part of the island will soon be subject to sweeping redevelopment by the State of New York.
Five proposals for use of the land were unveiled in June, with a winning design to be announced this month; all of them assume the complete demolition of the structures currently standing, to be replaced by parkland featuring things like artificial mountains and marshes, agriculture, sporting facilities, research centers, and the like. The historic district, including the National Monument (composed of Castle Williams, Fort Jay -- more about them later -- and a few ancillary buildings), won't be touched (though maybe spiffened up a bit), but once the park becomes a reality, the rest of the island will likely receive more interest, and cease to be open secret it is now.
posted by Michael at
2:49 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home