Park and Public Space Master Plan | Governors Island Blog

The First New Trees Arrive on Governors Island

Posted on April 23, 2013 by sarahpelosidunn

New Trees for Governors Island – Image Courtesy of West 8

The first of what will eventually be 1,500 new trees in the new park and public spaces arrived on Governors Island last week. For now they’re potted up in “Liberty Village”, along the Buttermilk Channel, but eventually they’ll find new homes in Hammock Grove, Liggett Terrace, the Play Lawn, and even at Soissions Landing where we’re creating a new green welcoming area.

g 2013-04-19 first bare root trees up close

Bare root trees will live in pots while they acclimate to the Island.

Hammock Grove in particular will feature a mix of native and locally-adapted species including oaks, sassafras and magnolia. The new plantings for Phase One of the park and public spaces (currently under construction) are detailed here.

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | Tagged: trees | 2 Comments »

Trust for Governors Island President Speaks at the 2013 Gel Conference

Posted on April 18, 2013 by sarahpelosidunn

All staff members at the Trust sat on mock-ups of the new curb-style seating to determine what the ideal height and seat design is for maximum comfort.

Trust for Governors Island President Leslie Koch will be speaking at the 10^th Anniversary Gel Conference today in Manhattan. Gel spotlights the leaders in “good experience”: in tech, business, society, and art. Leslie will be sharing the story of how she and her colleagues at the Trust for Governors Island programmed and planned the new park improvements by watching how people chose to enjoy the Island’s unique offerings.

The new park was designed with our visitors’ experience in mind. All new features that will be used by the public when the park opens went through rigorous testing before final approval.

As a featured speaker at Gel, Leslie is in excellent company. Gel convenes innovators, influencers, and thought leaders across disciplines and functions that are interested in experience design. Gel is known for finding new voices and putting them on a major conference stage for the first time. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, performance artist Ze Frank, and many others debuted at Gel before speaking at other top events.

Filed under: Park and Public Space Master Plan, Things people do in parks, Upcoming Events | Tagged: experience design, Gel | 1 Comment »

Field Report: Half Full

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Ellen

With more than 100,000 cubic yards of general fill placed in the future Hammock Grove and Play Lawn, we’re already more than 1/2 way done with rough grading. Next comes rich topsoil for planting.

This is a photo of the GPS-guided bulldozer that pushes the fill into place.

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | 1 Comment »

Field Report: Turning Parking Lots Into Parks

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Ellen

It’s hard to imagine, but Governors Island had over 2,000 parking spaces before we began construction. But now, many unused parking lots are being transformed by the Governors Island Parks and Public Open Space project.

Last week, the crews started digging up the parking lot next to Soissons Landing (where Manhattan ferries land) to make the perimeter road safer and more comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists.

And the sea of asphalt surrounding the South Battery was torn up to make way for. . .

. . .a green resting spot along the Buttermilk Channel that highlights the impressive historic fortification.

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | 1 Comment »

Field Report: Hammocks Can’t Wait

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Ellen

The construction crews just topped off the fill in Hammock Grove. It still needs lots of dirt, grass, trees and paths, but we couldn’t wait. . .

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | Tagged: hammocks, naptime | 1 Comment »

Field Report: One if by Land; Two if by Barge

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Ellen

Some of the material for the new park and public spaces comes from demolished buildings, but some is fill material from other sources up the river. It arrives by barge, and this crane scoops it up from the barge and deposits it onto the Island.

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | Leave a Comment »

Field Report: What’s in this Time Capsule?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Ellen

While you were dancing the Macerena, the students of PS 26 were putting together this time capsule and saying goodbye to Governors Island, which closed as a Coast Guard base later that year.

The marker for the time capsule is encased in a wooden box during construction to protect it.

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | Tagged: Coasties, futurama, military brats | 2 Comments »

Field Report: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Ellen

Pieces of concrete foundation from old buildings and roads on the South Island are being used to create “rubble ramps” to help with the demolition of multistory buildings.

How’s this for green? Some of the demolition debris from the derelict buildings on the South Island is being used as “rubble ramps” to help demolition equipment reach the top of other buildings to demolish. Then we’ll re-re-use the concrete from the ramp along with the usable debris from the newly demolished buildings as fill for new topography in the Parks and Public Space Project.

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | Tagged: all falls down, breaking stuff, Demolition, Field Notes, rubble ramps | 2 Comments »

Field Report: Hair Club for Grass

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Ellen

Now that we have completed our new sanitary sewer, the contractors are spraying hydro-seed on the disturbed ground to stabilize it. Hydroseed is a slurry of seed, mulch and water that can be sprayed over a large area quickly. The slurry is colored green with a non-toxic dye, so they can keep track of where they’ve sprayed it. We’re planting grass in this area for erosion control, which is especially important to us in the middle of the harbor

Filed under: Construction, Park and Public Space Master Plan | Leave a Comment »

Field Report: Meet the Trees

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Ellen

As part of the Governors Island Park and Public Space Project, we’re set to plant thousands of new trees, with more than fifty different species. Trees are so important to park projects like ours that we buy the trees a year before we’re even ready to plant them, picking out exactly the ones we want to make sure they’re healthy and handsome (and available!). Since we’re planting far more trees and in greater diversity than any one nursery has on hand at any given time, members of our design team have been traveling far and wide on a “tree tagging” expedition. Trees destined for a new life on Governors Island next year are currently growing happily in nurseries in seven states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, Illinois and Oregon. Here’s a sneak peak at a few: