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#GovIsland365: What We Learned From New York­ers By Think­ing Out­side The ​‘Cube’

Nov 16, 2016 1:35 pm

For years, Gov­er­nors Island has been a sum­mer­time des­ti­na­tion for the arts, relax­ation, recre­ation and play for New York­ers and vis­i­tors alike. 

Today, the Island is mov­ing even clos­er to a ²⁴⁄₇, 365 day-a-year future. 

May­or de Blasio’s State of the City announce­ment ear­li­er this year offi­cial­ly ush­ered in a new and unprece­dent­ed chap­ter for the Island’s sto­ried his­to­ry: year-round acti­va­tion. In think­ing about the Island’s next chap­ter, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and NYCEDC launched #GovIsland365, a com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment cam­paign to solic­it feed­back about how peo­ple would use the Island once it opens year-round. 

The cam­paign kicked off on Sep­tem­ber 2 and gar­nered feed­back from New York­ers through two com­po­nents: an inter­ac­tive art instal­la­tion and an online survey. 

The results of the cam­paign are sum­ma­rized below: 

The Cube

An inter­ac­tive chalk­board instal­la­tion designed by NYC-based artist Amber Rae was on dis­play at Sois­sons Land­ing through the month of Sep­tem­ber. Attract­ing thou­sands of vis­i­tors, the Cube elicit­ed over 300 ideas from a wide range of peo­ple on how they would imag­ine work­ing, learn­ing, and play­ing on the Island as a year-round des­ti­na­tion. Ideas reflect­ed the diver­si­ty of Gov­er­nors Island’s vis­i­tors, but could large­ly be cat­e­go­rized into four main themes: 

• Active/​Outdoor Recreation
• Cul­tur­al Enrichment 
• Pro­fes­sion­al / Aca­d­e­m­ic Development 
• Reflec­tion and relaxation

Of course, there were the occa­sion­al young doo­dlers who loved shar­ing their artis­tic expres­sions on the Cube! 

Online Sur­vey

Over 1000 peo­ple took the sur­vey, offer­ing insight into how they would use the Island when acti­vat­ed as a year-round destination. 

A snap­shot of survey-takers: 

• Near­ly 75% were between 18 – 50 years old
• A vari­ety of indus­tries were rep­re­sent­ed, with the most respons­es com­ing from those in the arts, design, enter­tain­ment, sports and media fields as well as education.

Feed­back was wide-rang­ing, but some key insights emerged: 

• Sup­port for year-round acti­va­tion: The vast major­i­ty stat­ed that they would vis­it the Island year-round

“Gov­er­nors Island is an amaz­ing oasis in NYC and should real­ly be open year-round for every­one to enjoy”

• Inter­est in pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment options: ²⁄₃ of sur­vey users expressed inter­est in hav­ing more cor­po­rate and artist retreat options. Short-term skills train­ing was anoth­er expressed preference.

• Open to the idea of more schools on the island: Over 75% of sur­vey respon­dents were open to the idea of adding more schools to the Island, with 77% hold­ing par­tic­u­lar inter­est in ​“fun class­es” such as cook­ing or arts sub­jects, with an empha­sis on youth programming. 

“Why not make Gov Island a safe place for kids to find out more about what they want to do as young adults? Why not help kids get ready for the future by think­ing big?”

• Need for more con­ve­nient trans­porta­tion: Over 50% report­ed that lim­it­ed trans­porta­tion would be their main deter­rent to vis­it­ing the Island. Oth­er poten­tial deter­rents include lim­it­ed food, drink, retail options and indoor space. 

New York­ers also stressed the impor­tance of pre­serv­ing and enhanc­ing Gov­er­nors Island’s open space. 

“Gov­er­nors Island needs 2 things: decent places to eat and decent bath­room facilities.” 

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and NYCEDC thank every­one for their feed­back and active par­tic­i­pa­tion in the cam­paign! Amid all the ideas, one thing was clear: Gov­er­nors Island is a trea­sured City resource that must remain acces­si­ble to all as an escape from the hus­tle and bustle. 

As we advance towards shap­ing the Island’s next chap­ter, feed­back from the cube and sur­vey will help inform the vision for Gov­er­nors Island as a place for pros­per­i­ty, one where eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ty comes togeth­er with inno­va­tion, edu­ca­tion, and creativity.