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Stay safe in the heat: Drink plenty of water, spend time in the shade, and visit the first aid station at Soissons Landing if you feel unwell. Click here for important warm weather visitor information.

Stay safe in the heat: Drink plenty of water, spend time in the shade, and visit the first aid station at Soissons Landing if you feel unwell. Click here for important warm weather visitor information.

Blog

May­or Bloomberg Announces Ground­break­ing for The Hills

Jul 25, 2013 5:11 pm
[cap­tion id=“attachment_7101” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]Rendering Courtesy West 8 Ren­der­ing Cour­tesy West 8[/caption] Today, May­or Michael Bloomberg held a press con­fer­ence on Gov­er­nors Island to break ground on The Hills, an excit­ing new phase in the Island’s trans­for­ma­tion. Made pos­si­ble by $36 mil­lion in pri­vate funds, includ­ing a $15 mil­lion dona­tion from Wendy and Eric Schmidt, The Hills are an extra­or­di­nary addi­tion to the 30 acres of new park and pub­lic spaces cur­rent­ly under con­struc­tion. Set to open in 2015, the four hills will cov­er 11 acres of the South Island and range from 28 to 82 feet in height. They will be posi­tioned along­side oth­er new aspects of the park also under con­struc­tion, includ­ing play lawns, gar­dens and forests. This engag­ing topo­graph­ic fea­ture will not only pro­vide New York­ers with a unique envi­ron­men­tal expe­ri­ence, but also pro­duce panoram­ic views of New York Har­bor. Unmatched per­spec­tives of Low­er Man­hat­tan, Brook­lyn, Stat­en Island and the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty will all be with­in the sight lights formed from this new land­scape. West 8, the firm respon­si­ble for design­ing the trans­for­ma­tion of the Island, bal­anced form and func­tion as pri­or­i­ties in the cre­ation of the Hills. In addi­tion to the aes­thet­ic appeal of the new fea­ture, the raised ele­va­tion will also pro­tect the Island’s veg­e­ta­tion against the threat of ris­ing sea lev­els. The Hills will also be acces­si­ble to vis­i­tors of all ages, with areas to slide, climb, rest, and play. With over $250 mil­lion invest­ed in the trans­for­ma­tion and improve­ment of the Island’s infra­struc­ture, The Hills rep­re­sent Gov­er­nors Island’s mis­sion to offer oppor­tu­ni­ties for New York­ers to inter­act with their inspir­ing sur­round­ings. ​“The con­struc­tion of these incred­i­ble Hills will con­tin­ue the trans­for­ma­tion of Gov­er­nors Island,” said May­or Bloomberg, ​“and will cre­ate a land­mark in New York Har­bor that will be enjoyed for gen­er­a­tions to come.” High-res­o­lu­tion ren­der­ings and ani­ma­tion avail­able for fur­ther information. 

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