What's Up with Governor's Island?

Another summer has gone by and I never made it out to Governor's Island. It's gotten me to wondering, what's up with that, anyway? Apparently, it's become bogged down in planning wish lists. According to Gotham Gazette, Governor's Island has been suggested for any number of overflow uses from relieving crowded schools, housing a new UN headquarters, and of course a stadium. Like the Brooklyn Bridge Park, which has been 25 years in the making, Governor’s Island is moving at a glacial pace, despite early optimism:

“We're not going to spend the next ten years debating what should happen here,” Randy Daniels, then the state's secretary of state and board chair of the preservation corporation, [said in 2003]. But by this spring, with progress seemingly stalled, Daniels had lost his optimism.

“It takes two years to clear your throat in New York,”

he told the Times. And earlier this month, Daniels prepared to leave the board, saying … “We truly don't know what it will be but we have a general idea of what it can be.”

Two and a half years later, and all they have is a "general idea of what it can be”? Why does everything have to be planned to death? With stunning views, vast open space and beautiful historic buildings, why can’t we just do one small thing at a time there, like open it up to the public more than a few weekends in the summer? Let people slowly but surely discover the place and see what happens.

Above photo of Nolan Park on Governor's Island.