Rooms Gone, Better View
Jun 30, 2008 7:09 pm
Like any other residents of New York City, people in the Coast Guard who were stationed on Governors Island loved having visitors, and liked it even better when those visitors didn’t mean you had to clean up the living room and dig out an extra set of sheets.
With that in mind, the Coast Guard built a Super 8 Motel on the Island in 1987, to provide a place for visitors to stay without imposing on friends and family. While the building featured remarkable views of Fort Jay and the Manhattan skyline, the building itself was not one of the Island’s finest. In fact, the Motel is one of only a handful of buildings in the historic district that is classified as an “intrusion” on the historic district. It might look innocuous, but intrusive it was.
Before
As part of our efforts to improve public access, GIPEC has begun the demolition of buildings to create safer conditions and more open space for visitors. On Friday June 27, GIPEC started this process by tearing down the Super 8. In a lopsided battle of building versus machine, the building was only able to last about 3 hours.
During, Part 1 During, Part 2 On July 5, the New York Philharmonic will be playing from a stage on what was the Motel, and by the end of the summer this former intrusion will be replaced by about 2 acres of new green space with an amazing view of the Fort and the skyline beyond. We’re pretty happy about the trade. 