Governor’s Island

I got a tour of Governor’s Island this past week.  Wow.  The complete renovation of this island is the legacy that Bloomberg left.  It is not only impressive it is a testament to what a good Government can do.

I took the ferry, a $2 round trip ride from South Street.  There is a ferry that you can take from Brooklyn too.  The island is 172 acres .  When you exit the ferry there is a wall with the listings of all the amazing things happening on the island now and in the next few weeks.

Large buildings that at one time housed an entire marching band.   It was the Coast Guard that occupied the island for years.

Even the yellow houses where personnel lived.

What has taken place is the construction of an absolutely beautiful pristine park.   No dogs allowed but plenty of bike riding paths and places for children to play.  Even a beach area and food carts.

The views are jaw-dropping.

What is unique is how they are going to build out a community to use Governor’s Island.  Mostly working with non-profit organizations.  Currently they can rent the homes for $350 to put on exhibits such as the one above that is around costumes.  You can put on events there too.  It is just about getting a permit.

There is a building where artists have studios which is run by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Center .  There are also some schools including the Harbor School that is part of the NY public school system.  Parks to play sports on.   More schools coming.

They are still developing the island.  As there are more incubators and accelerators programs popping up around the city for not only the tech industry but up and coming designers and others it would be wonderful to see space for these programs.  People hunker down in those programs for months on end.  It would be really cool to be able to house those programs on Governor’s Island where the accelerator community could live and work for three or more months at a time.

Definitely worth taking the trip.  I happened to fly over Governor’s Island after I was there.  It is really nice to see it from the air and check out how beautiful it is.  You feel as if you are on a short extended vacation going out to the island which is literally a 5 minute ferry ride from NYC.  It is only going to get better and better over the next months and years to come.  What a wonderful updated addition to the NY landscape.