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De Bla­sio Admin­is­tra­tion Announces Next Step in Trans­for­ma­tion of Gov­er­nors Island into Year-Round Hub for Edu­ca­tion, Inno­va­tion and Recreation

Aug 24, 2018 4:02 pm

NEW YORK —Today, the de Bla­sio Admin­is­tra­tion offi­cial­ly ini­ti­at­ed the pub­lic review process for a rezon­ing of the south­ern half of Gov­er­nors Island. This effort has the poten­tial to unlock up to 4.5 mil­lion square feet of com­mer­cial, aca­d­e­m­ic, cul­tur­al and insti­tu­tion­al devel­op­ment that would com­ple­ment and finan­cial­ly sus­tain the Island’s pop­u­lar park, pub­lic pro­gram­ming, and cul­tur­al ameni­ties. This rezon­ing will draw on the City’s work to repur­pose his­toric build­ings with a focus on new devel­op­ment areas to sup­port the job pro­duc­ing indus­tries that rep­re­sent the future of the City.

“Gov­er­nors Island’s 43-acre park has made it the jew­el of New York Har­bor,” said May­or de Bla­sio. ​“The Island is now set to dra­mat­i­cal­ly expand its role in our city’s econ­o­my as we turn its south­ern half into a cen­ter of inno­va­tion and education.” 

“Thanks to almost a decade’s worth of sub­stan­tial city and phil­an­thropic invest­ment, Gov­er­nors Island is already a des­ti­na­tion for recre­ation, relax­ation and cul­ture for near­ly a mil­lion vis­i­tors annu­al­ly. This rezon­ing rep­re­sents the next step in mar­ry­ing the Island’s rich his­to­ry with its future role as a glob­al hub for con­ven­ing, the arts, tech, and edu­ca­tion,” said Ali­cia Glen, Deputy May­or for Hous­ing and Eco­nom­ic Development.

The pro­posed rezon­ing cov­ers 33 acres on the south­ern half of Gov­er­nors Island, across two zones pre­vi­ous­ly estab­lished for new devel­op­ment as part of a 2010 Park and Pub­lic Space Mas­ter Plan. The sites include a 7 acre par­cel on the west­ern side of the Island with sweep­ing views of the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty and an expan­sive 26 acre par­cel on the Island’s east­ern shore that togeth­er have 4.5 mil­lion square feet of devel­op­ment potential. 

The process out­lined today paves the way for new devel­op­ment to be inte­grat­ed into the south­ern half of Gov­er­nors Island that is tar­get­ed to sup­port the City’s efforts to fur­ther diver­si­fy its grow­ing econ­o­my. Each devel­op­ment has the poten­tial to allow unique and flex­i­ble floor­plates to sup­port new indus­tries that rep­re­sent the City’s future, such as life sci­ences, media and tech­nol­o­gy com­pa­nies. New struc­tures will be pre­dom­i­nant­ly low and mid-rise. 

While a fed­er­al deed restric­tion estab­lished as part of the 2003 trans­fer of the Island to New York pre­cludes any full-time res­i­den­tial uses on the Island, this plan will make way for more aca­d­e­m­ic and insti­tu­tion­al uses that will com­ple­ment the Island’s exist­ing char­ac­ter as a pop­u­lar recre­ation­al and cul­tur­al des­ti­na­tion. All rev­enue streams from future devel­op­ment will sup­port park oper­a­tions, main­te­nance and expand­ed access to the Island’s open spaces. 

Gov­er­nors Island has grown in pop­u­lar­i­ty among New York­ers, with a 65% increase in vis­i­tor­ship since 2014. Since the new park was com­plet­ed in 2016, the Island has expand­ed from a four month sea­son to a six month sea­son, and late nights on Fri­day and Sat­ur­days were intro­duced this year. With over 50 his­toric build­ings on the north­ern sec­tion of Gov­er­nors Island, the Island cur­rent­ly is home to two year-round ten­ants: the New York Har­bor School and the Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Council’s Art Cen­ter. Sev­er­al new ten­ants are also prepar­ing to move into build­ings on the Island year-round, includ­ing Space­works and the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project. 

With input from Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 and the Gov­er­nors Island Com­mu­ni­ty Advi­so­ry Com­mit­tee, guid­ing prin­ci­ples for future devel­op­ment were established: 

Com­ple­ment and enhance the park and pub­lic spaces and respond to envi­ron­men­tal conditions 

Con­nect and estab­lish a har­mo­nious rela­tion­ship with the park, esplanade and His­toric District 

Retain and frame views with­in the Island, and towards New York Har­bor, Low­er Man­hat­tan and the Brook­lyn waterfront 

Acti­vate build­ing edges along pub­lic spaces 

Pro­mote inno­v­a­tive design approach­es to achieve a high lev­el of resilien­cy and envi­ron­men­tal sustainability 

Encour­age flex­i­bil­i­ty to accom­mo­date a wide range of build­ing types and a mix of uses 

“This is a great project with impor­tant goals, and it’s anoth­er excit­ing step on the road toward mak­ing Gov­er­nors Island acces­si­ble to the pub­lic year-round,” said Man­hat­tan Bor­ough Pres­i­dent Gale A. Brew­er. ​“Projects like this one are worth get­ting right, with a thor­ough process that takes every­thing and every­one into account. All New York­ers inter­est­ed in the future of Gov­er­nor’s Island should fol­low this process, come to the hear­ing, and offer their ideas.” 

“This announce­ment rep­re­sents an oppor­tu­ni­ty to unlock the full poten­tial of an urban oasis that is quick­ly becom­ing an indis­pens­able resource for a grow­ing num­ber of New York­ers,” said Coun­cil Mem­ber Mar­garet S. Chin. ​“I look for­ward to work­ing with the Com­mu­ni­ty Board and oth­ers through­out Low­er Man­hat­tan to ensure that every oppor­tu­ni­ty is explored and that all con­cerns are heard through­out this process. Togeth­er, I believe we can cre­ate a Gov­er­nors Island with even more cul­tur­al and edu­ca­tion­al activ­i­ties, idyl­lic park spaces and play­grounds for all to expe­ri­ence and enjoy.” 

“Gov­er­nors Island is a rare and pre­cious resource for the entire city and region that inspires cre­ativ­i­ty and inno­va­tion,” said Michael Samuelian, Pres­i­dent of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“This next chap­ter presents an unpar­al­leled oppor­tu­ni­ty to acti­vate the Island with new edu­ca­tion­al and research facil­i­ties in a des­ti­na­tion unlike any­where else. We look for­ward to con­tin­u­ing our trans­for­ma­tion with a col­lab­o­ra­tive plan­ning process that will help ensure that this extra­or­di­nary open space is acces­si­ble and sus­tain­able not just today, but for gen­er­a­tions to come.” 

“Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 has long sup­port­ed the work of the Trust and our mutu­al goal to unleash the poten­tial of Gov­er­nors Island. Offer­ing a unique com­bi­na­tion of more open space along with eco­nom­ic and cul­tur­al dri­vers, all New York will ben­e­fit from this devel­op­ment. We look for­ward to work­ing with there Trust to max­i­mize the uses and ben­e­fits,” said Antho­ny Notaro, Jr., Chair, Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1.

Envi­ron­men­tal review and scop­ing for the South Island rezon­ing will begin this Sep­tem­ber. A pub­lic hear­ing will be held on Sep­tem­ber 26, 2018 at 6:00 PM at the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing locat­ed at 10 South Street in Low­er Manhattan. 

CON­TACT: pressoffice@​cityhall.​nyc.​gov, (212) 788‑2958