Posted on 02/17/2006 8:38:35 AM PST by presidio9
SEVEN minutes out of lower Manhattan, and I've landed in the downtown Twilight Zone. The clocks still run on Governors Island. The buildings appear recently painted.
A schedule still adorns a bus kiosk, announcing regular pickups and drop-offs. Signs announce the hours of a barber, a movie theater, a restaurant. A swing set looks as if a child has just run inside for lunch.
But there's no one alive here on this creepy and magnificent spit of land smack dab in the middle of New York Harbor's Upper Bay. Not if you don't count the Canadian geese who have full run of the place.
It's not just spooky. It's a crime.
I've taken a nearly empty ferry from the tip of Manhattan to this unsettling jewel that sits in the river, boasting spectacular views that no one can see.
The island that time forgot now presents a magical and unprecedented opportunity. Where else in New York can you find acres of virgin territory, ripe and available for development, observed Peter Fleischer, senior vice president of the Governors Island Preservation & Education Corp.
"We're very excited," he said.
We all should be.
Roaming the island yesterday, I was amazed to see the detritus of nearly 400 years in which the island was used as an Army base, an estate and, finally, as a Coast Guard base.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Put a Wal-Mart on it!..........
There may very well be 'Canadian' Canada Geese.
but it is Canada Goose or Geese.
NYC ping
Why os ot so hard for liberals to accept the fact that the best use for this land would be to renovate the golf course into a world-class links circuit right in the middle of Manhattan harbor. In that scenario, the historical buildings could be left alone, and the rest of the land could be left for 300 or so resort-type condos, which would sell for several million dollars each, depending on the quality of the golf course. There is also room for a resort hotel. NYC, would without question then be awarded a PGA Tour event (as a matter of fact, this is rumored to be the Westchester Classic's final year at Westchester Country Club). Donald Trump is incredibly annoying, but he could get this done yesterday. And the added revenue to NYC would be substantial.
I can see it out of my office window.
They don't like the idea that someone could actually afford to live there.........(unless it's them).......
Is it glorious?
Glorious?
It's pretty cool.
Might be glorious to have a world class golf course there. Except I wouldn't have the money to play on it anyway.
Last proposal I saw was for some sort of goofy apple-shaped tramway designed by some Spanish architect.
Monterrey California is probably the most beautiful place in the world. If you have never been there, the best way to describe it is that it doesn't look real. It looks like some idealized painting. Pebble Beach is there. It now costs over $400 to play one round at Pebble Beach. I have only had the chance to play there once, but I would do it again, and it is worth every penney. That being said, aside from the setting, Pebble Beach is not a particularly remarkable golf course. The world has one chance, ever, to set a World Class course in the middle of the harbor of the greatest city in the world, with the skyline as a backdrop. If they DID put such a course there, a once-in-a-lifetime round there would be a thing to remember. Life a $200 dinner at il Mulino.
Nothing else would work there. Having worked by Battery Park, I can only imagine how unpleasant Governor's Island is in the winter. I can't imagine wealthy people would want to live there just for the views. Putting Housing projects there would be a crime. We don't need another CUNY. We don't need casinos, and the problems associated with them. A public park is a nice idea, but would it really get the amount of use to justify it's existence?
A golf course on governor's island could be entirely financed along the Chelsea Piers model, and still end up being one more great feature that all NYers take pride in.
Ah man, going over to Gov Island in the early 80s with hubby's band to play a gig at the CG station was one of the highlights of our 8 years of travel. I have some of the most beautiful pictures that I took at night of the N.Y. skyline with the World Trade Center. It was the best view of NYC I've ever seen. I would love to see it restored so that everyone could enjoy it.
Note: I am not suggesting that Governor's Island be made into a private island. Pebble Beach is full of tourists who have no intention of playing golf.
I didn't think you meant that it would be private. As long as the public has access to it in some fashion. It is such a unique spot with the skyline on one side and the Statue of Liberty on the other. I'll never forget driving through Manhatten with our van and trailer, LOL. We were sooooo out of our element, never having been in Manhatten before. Hubby was very brave to take on that adventure. Oh well, he's a former Marine. Piece of cake. LOL.
Which is why something like a golf course would be perfect. As it is, nobody goes there right now, specifically because there is nothing there. It's a lot like David's Island, an abandoned military installation in the middle of Long Island Sound. A few hundred yards off shore of some of the most valuable residential real estate in the world, and it has been sitting unused for fifty years. Mostly because liberals go into an uproar any time somebody dares to suggest that the best use for this land is going to involve wealthy people on it.
Exactly what I was thinking. Calling Donald Trump. He's into golf courses so why not try one here?
thanx, bfl
I'm interested to know how you became in charge of the NYC ping list. Did you used to live here?
Twenty minutes northeast, in the Long Island Sound we have David's Island, location of the former Ft. Slocum. Every few years the city of New Rochelle/county of Westchester/or some developer express and interest in doing something with this abandoned island.
I've heard it is now home mostly to rats (makes Canada geese sound like a more desirable tenant). It has a colorful past as an army base/staging area, potential Con Ed nuclear plant site, a potential Trump mariana development, and even a WWII POW holding area.
All we see now from the beach clubs on the New Rochelle shoreline are overgrown grasses and the shells of some buiding and unusable docks. Another island, just minutes from downtown NYC.
See post 15.
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