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Gov­er­nors Island Named One of 13 Great Places by the Amer­i­can Plan­ning Association

Sep 25, 2019 1:28 pm

Wash­ing­ton, D.C. (Sep­tem­ber 25, 2019) — The Amer­i­can Plan­ning Asso­ci­a­tion (APA) has named Gov­er­nors Island in New York, New York one of six Great Pub­lic Spaces on APA’s annu­al Great Places in Amer­i­ca list, which starts the count­down to Nation­al Com­mu­ni­ty Plan­ning Month in October. 

“Over the past decade, Gov­er­nors Island has seen a remark­able trans­for­ma­tion from an aban­doned for­mer mil­i­tary base, closed to the pub­lic, into a vibrant hub of open space, recre­ation and cre­ativ­i­ty in New York City,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Thanks to proac­tive com­mu­ni­ty plan­ning, along with vision­ary lead­er­ship at the local, city, state and fed­er­al lev­el, today Gov­er­nors Island is a beloved resource for New York­ers and vis­i­tors alike, and a mod­el for great pub­lic spaces across the coun­try. We are thrilled to be select­ed as one of APA’s Great Places in 2019 and to be among great com­pa­ny with this year’s hon­orees. We thank APA and its lead­er­ship for this recognition.” 

APA’s Great Places in Amer­i­ca pro­gram rec­og­nizes the streets, neigh­bor­hoods and pub­lic spaces in the Unit­ed States demon­strat­ing excep­tion­al char­ac­ter, qual­i­ty and plan­ning — attrib­ut­es that enrich com­mu­ni­ties, facil­i­tate eco­nom­ic growth, and inspire oth­ers around the coun­try. The Great Neigh­bor­hoods, Great Streets and Great Pub­lic Spaces of 2019 are places that are unique and exem­plary in their suc­cess sto­ries of revi­tal­iza­tion, cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty, and strong com­mu­ni­ty connection. 

“The pub­lic spaces rec­og­nized this year demon­strate the impor­tance of plan­ning in cre­at­ing wel­com­ing, mul­ti-use spaces for the entire com­mu­ni­ty to enjoy and come togeth­er,” said Kurt Chris­tiansen, FAICP, APA pres­i­dent. ​“Gov­er­nors Island is a nation­al exam­ple of how imag­i­na­tive, resilien­cy-focused plan­ning can be applied to recre­ation­al pub­lic spaces.” 

For much of its his­to­ry, Gov­er­nors Island served as a U.S. mil­i­tary base at the cen­ter of New York Har­bor. When the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment sold the island to the state and city of New York in the ear­ly 2000s, the trans­fer sparked a vision to trans­form this for­mer Coast Guard instal­la­tion into a pub­lic recre­ation­al resource for the sur­round­ing com­mu­ni­ty. The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion cre­at­ed by the city of New York, was charged with the plan­ning and rede­vel­op­ment of the site. Through a series of com­mu­ni­ty plan­ning events sur­round­ing the design of Gov­er­nors Island’s park and pub­lic spaces, New York­ers shared their vision for an open space that pre­serves his­to­ry, edu­cates all gen­er­a­tions about sus­tain­abil­i­ty and envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship, serves as a haven for cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tions and safe recre­ation, and pro­tects against ris­ing sea levels. 

West 8 part­nered with Matthews Nielsen Land­scape Archi­tects to devel­op the Island’s Park and Pub­lic Space Mas­ter Plan, and the result is a new, 43-acre green par­adise with breath­tak­ing 360-degree views of the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty, the New York Har­bor and the dra­mat­ic New York City sky­line. Closed to the pub­lic for near­ly two cen­turies, the Island today is a pop­u­lar sea­son­al des­ti­na­tion with cul­tur­al activ­i­ties, events, pub­lic art, edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams and one of New York City’s first car-free recre­ation­al environments. 

Look­ing for­ward, Gov­er­nors Island is envi­sioned as a year-round, sus­tain­able cam­pus for learn­ing, arts and cul­ture and entre­pre­neur­ship with extra­or­di­nary open space. The trans­for­ma­tion of Gov­er­nors Island into a year-round com­mu­ni­ty is under­way with the addi­tion of a pub­lic high school and arts center. 

In addi­tion to Gov­er­nors Island, APA has also rec­og­nized the fol­low­ing Great Pub­lic Spaces in 2019: 

• Pio­neer Park – Mesa, Arizona
• Nepon­set Riv­er Green­way – Mil­ton and Boston, Massachusetts
• Mohawk Val­ley Gate­way Over­look – Ams­ter­dam, New York
• Gath­er­ing Place – Tul­sa, Oklahoma
• Dis­cov­ery Green – Hous­ton, Texas

Since launch­ing the Great Places in Amer­i­ca pro­gram in 2007, APA has rec­og­nized 303 neigh­bor­hoods, streets and pub­lic spaces around the coun­try. Designees are select­ed annu­al­ly and rep­re­sent the gold stan­dard for a true sense of place, cul­tur­al and his­tor­i­cal inter­est, com­mu­ni­ty involve­ment, and a vision for the future. 

For the sixth year, mem­bers of the pub­lic can sug­gest their favorite pub­lic space, neigh­bor­hood, or street to earn a ​“People’s Choice” des­ig­na­tion. Through­out Octo­ber, indi­vid­u­als can offer sug­ges­tions via APA’s social media chan­nels using the hash­tag #APA­great­places. APA will select five final­ists that the pub­lic can vote on via APA’s web­site. The ​“People’s Choice” win­ner will be announced Octo­ber 30, 2019.

For more infor­ma­tion about APA’s Great Neigh­bor­hoods, Great Streets and Great Pub­lic Spaces for 2019 and pre­vi­ous years, vis­it www​.plan​ning​.org/​g​r​e​a​t​p​laces.

Learn more about APA’s Nation­al Com­mu­ni­ty Plan­ning Month by vis­it­ing www​.plan​ning​.org/ncpm.