Rising 70 feet above sea-level, the Hills give visitors a new relationship with the sea and sky, offering breathtaking never-before-seen views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. The opening of the Hills marks a new chapter in the transformation of Governors Island from an abandoned former military base to what is envisioned to be a year-round destination for recreation, culture and innovation. Read more about Governors Island's transformation.
With the completion of The Hills, Governors Island is ready for its next chapter. When funding becomes available, the Trust will complete the Park and Public Space Master Plan with improvements to Picnic Point and the 2.2 mile promenade. Over time, new tenants in the Historic District and Development Zones will bring activity and vibrancy to Governors Island 24-7.
An audacious feat of engineering, the Hills on Governors Island opened to the public in July, 2016. Rising up to 70 feet above sea level, the Hills are the culmination of the park and are New York’s newest landmark in the Harbor.
The first 30 acres of the West 8-designed park on Governors Island opened to the public in 2014. This first phase of park includes a sunny six-acre plaza; undulating pathways that cut through a 10-acre grove of hammocks and trees; and 14-acres of Play Lawn including two ball fields.
When Governors Island was transferred to the City and State of New York the northern half of the Island was land-marked, and President Bill Clinton designated 22-acres a National Park to be managed by the National Park Service. In subsequent years, The Trust for Governors Island was charged with stewardship and redevelopment of the remaining 150 acres, making way for a beautiful new park and a future educational, non-profit and commercial community.
For most of its history, Governors Island was a full-service military base for the US Army, then for the Coast Guard. Enlisted men and women and their families lived on the Island year-round. When the Coast Guard closed operations on Governors Island, they left a small town behind.
The 100-acre “cone” was added to Governors Island using spoils from the construction of the Lexington Avenue subway line. This new landform more than doubled the Island’s size, making room for an airfield, warehouses and military housing.
Governors Island was not always the ice cream cone shape you see today; it was originally an egg-shaped rock covered in nut trees, utilized as a fishing and ground for the Lenape tribe and early New York settlers. Governors Island’s long military history began when the colonial militia constructed an earthen-work fort, later to become Fort Jay, in 1775. In 1811 Castle Williams, the second of three historic forts on the Island, was built.
The Hills offer lush rolling landscapes, grassy overlooks, exhilarating slides, unforgettable views and a permanent installation by British artist Rachel Whiteread.
Rising up to 70 feet above sea-level, the Hills are an audacious feat of engineering and design that will forever transform New Yorkers’ relationship with the Harbor.
Grassy Hill, rising 25 feet, offers gentle slopes and views overlooking 30 acres of the new park.
Slide Hill, rising 40 feet, is home to four slides, including New York City's longest slide at 57 feet!
Discovery Hill, rising 40 feet, features ornamental trees and shrubs, as well as Cabin, a permanent site-specific installation by acclaimed British artist Rachel Whiteread, commissioned through Governors Island Arts.
Outlook Hill, rising 70 feet, offers both a winding, accessible path to a plaza at its summit, and a granite 'scramble' for those who seek a quicker ascent. Visitors can enjoy unparalleled, 360-degree views of the Statue of Liberty, New York harbor, Verrazano-Narrows bridge and city skyline.
will be planted across the four Hills. That’s an extraordinary number of plants!
To ensure survival in the harsh Harbor environment and a warming climate, the Hills’
of native or locally adapted species were chosen for their salt tolerance, root structure, and their ability to thrive in more southern hardiness zones.
When the Hills are complete,
will have been planted on Governors Island since 2012, more than doubling the number of trees here.
Slide Hill is home to the longest slide in NYC! It's 57 feet long and three stories tall.
The giant granite scramble on Outlook Hill is made entirely of
from the old Island seawall. In 2012, The Trust replaced 1 mile of seawall with more resilient rip-rap revetment
The Harbor-facing side of Outlook Hill is made of
– the same material used on your feet when you get a pedicure! Without it, the hill would be so heavy it would push the old Island fill below out into the Harbor.
The white seat-edge along the western faces of
are not only super comfy to sit on, they are also a resiliency measure to protect the Hills against wave action during projected flood events.
1,806 Subway Cars Worth of Fill Were Used to Create the Hills.
Beginning in 2012, the equivalent of roughly 2917 New York City subway cars full of material have been added to Governors Island. 1816 subway cars worth of fill were used to begin the Hills, including 306 subway cars of fill salvaged from demolition of structures on the Island. A train made up of that many cars would be almost 29 miles long!
To create the Hills,
of fill were added to only 10 acres of land!
of the fill used for the Hills is made up of recycled debris from the demolition of the buildings and parking lots on the Island.
The rest of the Hills’ fill material was floated down the Hudson River from a quarry in Dutchess County on 137 barges, keeping more than
off the streets of NYC
The Governors Island Park and Public Spaces Master Plan was conceived with a focus on resilient and sustainable development at every step of its design. The Hills are only the most visible icon of this design approach. All of the Island’s new landscapes demonstrate that with forethought, cities can adapt to a changing climate and rising sea levels while ensuring the public’s quality of life and access to the water’s edge.
Governors Island topography and 100 –year flood line prior to building the park.
Changes to the topography of Governors Island as part of the Park and Public Spaces Master Plan raise much of the landscape and long term plantings out of the 100 –year flood zone, ensuring a park that will survive into the next century.
The topography of the first 30 acres of park was raised up to 16 feet above the original Island elevation. This change creates a beautiful, undulating landscape with the hidden ability to protect the park from future floods.
While riding a bike or strolling through Hammock Grove, visitors encounter ‘ah-ha’ moments, hidden views and a young woodland landscape. Though they may not realize it, they are also experiencing newly created resilient topography and landscape.
The raised landscape also serves to lift root zones of new trees and shrubs planted in the park out of the flood zone. This is especially important for the long-term survival of trees in a flood event.
The perpendicular seawall on the western side of the Island was replaced with a riprap revetment to better protect the Island from wave action. When waves hit the riprap the angle helps dissipate the energy of the waves.
The new riprap revetment creates a sense of greater connection to the Harbor. In addition to better protecting the Island, the revetment will provide a more hospitable shoreline for marine habitat.
The beautiful white seat-edge you see throughout the park not only defines patheways and provides a comfy place to sit, it also protects the Hills against wave action during flood events.
Long before Superstorm Sandy, West 8, the designers of Governors Island’s new park, set out to create a resilient park. Using the most recent and accurate projections of sea-level rise in a changing climate, they designed a park that will thrive through the next century. And indeed, when Sandy hit in 2012 the park, still under construction, sustained almost no damage attesting to a design strategy ahead of its time.
Design
WEST 8, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, AKRF, Hart Crowser Inc., Pentagram, Tillotson Design Associates, Dagher Associates, Pine and Swallow Environmental, Northern Designs, Code Consulting Inc., Faithful & Gould, ETM Associates, Langan, SiteMasters
Construction
Turner Construction Company, Bedford-Carp Construction, The LiRo Group, STV Inc., SiteWorks, BrightView Landscapes, RR Irrigation, ADCO Electrical, Welding Works, Southside Precast, Layout Inc., Design Communications Limited