Giving an Identity and Purpose to Governors Island

The New York Times takes a look at plans to redesign Governors Island, control of which was recently take over by the City of New York.

1 minute read

April 14, 2010, 9:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg

Critic Nicolai Ouroussoff reviews the plans and argues that the redesign will bring the island exactly what it needs -- an identity.

The City of New York "will push ahead with a plan that includes a 2.2-mile-long waterfront promenade and a 40-acre park, offers reassuring evidence that even in difficult times it is possible to get the tricky balance between public good and private interests right - or at least right enough.

The plan, by Adriaan Geuze of the Dutch landscape architecture firm West 8, calls for a park that, if realized, will eventually include a cluster of steep, artificially created hills that form a focal point at the park's center, visually tying it back to the city. Its wildly original array of parkscapes - including a 'hammock grove,' a grottolike shelter, playing fields and marshlands - will give the island the kind of strong identity it currently lacks."

FULL STORY: Governors Island Vision Adds Hills and Hammocks

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 in The New York Times

Government / Politics Land Use Landscape Architecture New York Parks New York City Governors Island View More

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