Here is the view of the front of the gantries. What should be on the back?

A few years ago, we held a contest on our blog to name the Island’s newest public space. And after we found a lovable cat on the Island, we asked you for suggestions of what to name her. Picnic Point is now one of the Island’s most popular spaces and Molly Brown is one of NYC’s most popular cats.

So, we wanted to ask for your ideas again.

The West 8 design team is hard at work completing the design of the Island’s new park and public spaces.  Construction is already underway to create these new areas that will open in 2013.

As a part of making Soissons Landing a new, welcoming gateway to the Island, the Trust for Governors Island will be re-painting the gantries, and adding the words “GOVERNORS ISLAND” in big, bold letters.

Now we need your help to figure out what to put on the back of the gantries, which visitors will see as they head to the ferry to go back to Manhattan.

Current view of the back of the gantries.

Give us your ideas! Let us know what your favorite choice is from those below or let us know something we haven’t thought of yet.

a)  MANHATTAN ISLAND

b)  GOOD BYE!

c) *Blank*

d)  Other: ______________________________

We will post an update in a few days with the public’s ideas and votes.

Vote now and help shape the future park and public spaces on the Island!

The event is organized by OHNY and the Center for Architecture Foundation. Other participating organizations this year are Architots, the Center for Architecture, Eldridge Street Synagogue, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, Governors Island, Isabel Hill (childrens book author), The Noble Maritime Collection, No Longer Empty (with paperJam), OHNY, Public Workshop and RoboFun. We hope to see you there!

Ringing the bell on the buoy is fun, but the new park and public spaces will feature even more exciting experiences for kids!

West 8's iconic wooden bicycle hanging out at the Maxxi, the National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome. The bike was designed by West 8 during the Governors Island Park and Public Space design competition.

News from West 8, designers of the new parks and public space here on Governors Island:

On May 20, the West 8 installation ‘Il Paradiso Nascosto’ (The Stolen Paradise) for the MAXXI Museum’s exhibition series Nature was opened to the public. The exhibition features an installation of transparent biopolymer tree silhouettes, whose light diffusion, subtle shadows, layered stratification and delicate movement creates a fantastical atmosphere. It is a light, sensuous installation whose counterpart, in the form of 21 cor-ten steel tree stump silhouettes, is found in the museum courtyard. The installation is accompanied by seven of West 8’s projects which share the same spirit of poetic narrative as a dialogue between the artificial and the natural: Liedsche Rijn park, the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier, the Bridges in Borneo-Sporenburg, the Botanic Bridge in Gwangju, as well as the more recent  Governors Island Park in New York, Miami Beach SoundScape / Lincoln Park, and the Madrid RIO urban plan.

While the iconic Governors Island bicycle may or may not take this exact form, the Park and Public Space Master Plan preserves the vision of free  iconic bicycles and movable furniture for all. To learn more about plans for the park and public spaces on Governors Island, and give us your thoughts, visit www.govislandpark.com.

Slide from Community Board presentation. Click image for link to full presentation.

Tonight, we’re checking in across the Buttermilk Channel at Community Board 6 to update them on the status of the Park and Public Space project. Trust staff and members of the West 8 Design team meet periodically with our neighbors in Brooklyn Community Boards 2 and 6, and Manhattan Community Board 1. We post presentations from each meeting on our main website the next day.

Over the past few summers, visitors have been telling us what they think of the park and public space design and what they want to see in these future spaces.

When looking through The New York Times the other day, I came across an ad for the Museum of Modern Art. The ad shows more than a dozen notes from MoMA visitors that say what they did on their visit to the museum.

The creativity that the visitors put into their drawings and thoughts reminded us of the wonderful Post-It™ notes that were left behind by our visitors over the past few years. We collected visitor feedback to  get information about what Governors Island visitors thought of the Park and Public Space Master Plan, and what they wanted to see in the final design.

Some creative Post-It™ notes from visitors are below:

The new public spaces will have a diverse array of trees and plantings that will attract birds

This visitor was likely inspired by the swings for all ages that we currently have at Picnic Point

This visitor captured the great views of Lower Manhattan as seen from the promenade.

"How many places in NYC can you see that big sky?"

Jamie Maslyn Larson from West 8  just sent us this amazing photo of last night’s sunset taken on her journey to the Island. She and other folks from the design team were out here to study the Island at nighttime. They gathered lots of useful data to inform the lighting strategy and design of the future park and public spaces. No reports of ghosts or zombies though. Darn.

It takes two Post-it(tm) notes to really capture the view.

Every Monday morning, we check in on the “What’s Happening on Governors Island? Exhibit” to read the comments and notes people leave us about the Park and Public Space Master Plan design. There is always a fresh crop of creative and smart ideas and comments,  but this morning we noticed a new trend. People were having so much to say that they were using two or more Post-it ™ notes.

This person REALLY doesn't understand how the hills fit into the design. That's good feedback. If you have questions about this hills, or other areas of the park, visit www.govislandpark.com

Kim Mathews of Mathews Neilsen Landscape Architects lead a tram tour on July 11.

[Editors' update: All of the design tours are full. Please check back for October Tours]

By popular demand, we are bringing our Park and Public Space Master Plan Design Tours back for a September encore. Earlier in the summer, dozens of visitors participated in tours of Governors Island lead by members of the West 8 design team and the Trust planning staff. The tours are a unique opportunity to meet members of the design team, learn about plans for 87- acres of park and public open space on the Island, and imagine the Island’s future transformation.

During the the one-hour long tours, particpants will tour the Island and discuss the vision for the design of the new spaces, including the Hills, Liggett Terrace, the Great Promenade, and green spaces in the Historic District, which are included in West 8’s design of the park and public spaces. If you are interested in one of the tours, please sign up in advance at http://govislanddesigntour.eventbrite.com/. All tours are first come, first served. Pre-registration closes the day before the tour. However, walk-up participants are welcome if space is available.

September Tour Schedule (please register in advance to ensure a seat):

Blair Guppy (West 8 ) : Saturday, September 11 / Tram Tour / 10:15 AM

Michael Beirut (Pentagram) : Friday, September 17 / Tram Tour/ 10:15 AM

Rachel Lazlo (West 8 ) : Saturday, September 25 / Tram Tour  / 10: 15 AM