The area is Governors Island, just 800 yards from the concrete canyons of southern Manhattan. The 172-acre former Coast Guard base has sprawling lawns and drop-dead views and has sat unused for so many years that many New Yorkers don't even know it's there.
New York has begun sending out requests for ideas from architects, builders and institutions for how to develop the island, which served as a military installation for most of the past 200-plus years. New York wants the island to be used for education, research and arts and culture, as well as for recreation and entertainment.
That means that even though it has some of the most enviable views of the lower Manhattan skyline, the group won't allow any residential development on the island, which could potentially be worth billions of dollars. But one of the guidelines is to make the island financially self-sufficient — it eats up $10 million a year in public money right now — so there will be a fairly significant commercial aspect, including at least one hotel and several restaurants and shops.
The federal government sold the island to New York state two years ago for $1 on the condition it wouldn't be used primarily for commercial purposes. It is connected to Manhattan by a short ferry ride.
Sometime this summer, Gipec will announce a program and development framework for the island and issue proposal requests to developers. By next year, the organization will sign contracts and construction will begin.
Gipec's plan will cover the 150 acres of the island that it owns. The island's remaining 22 acres are a monument owned and run by the National Parks Service, which contains Fort Jay and Castle Williams, two forts built just before the War of 1812 to protect New York Harbor. Some of the grand officers' houses on the island date back to the Jefferson administration.
The island's north end, where the monument is, will be preserved, while the south end, which is about 80 acres, is almost a blank slate. The buildings there are from the island's last military use as a Coast Guard outpost, and they aren't historically significant and can be torn down.
The development of Governor's Island is part of a larger plan to redevelop New York's East River waterfront and New York Harbor. Other projects include the redevelopment of a two-mile stretch of lower Manhattan's East River waterfront, the construction of a 1.3-mile-long Brooklyn Bridge Park on the Brooklyn waterfront and the rezoning of a 75-block industrial strip that runs along the river in North Brooklyn.
