Island that gave rise to New York was sold for US$ 1 – 05/14/2023 – Tourism

There’s a moment on the ferry ride from Manhattan’s South Street to Governors Island when the skyline behind us is the most eye-catching, its skyscrapers of glass, steel and concrete looming over the orange-colored harbor. slate.

There are eight minutes left to reach the destination. Governors Island (“island of the governors”, in Portuguese) has about 70 hectares and is only 730 meters away from the largest metropolis in the United States – New York. But the big city simply disappears from the visitor’s mind.

A 19th-century red sandstone fort and seafood restaurant welcome new arrivals. They recall the island’s past as a military bastion and show its current role as an urban recreation area.

Governors Island was home to the Native American Lenape people, who gave the island the name Paggank – ¬Walnut Island¬, due to the large amount of hickory and oak trees existing on the site.

One hundred years later, the Dutch arrived, who established the first settlement of their colony called New Amsterdam on the island. This is how the island, now uninhabited, was the birthplace of New York City.

Technically, Governors Island is part of Manhattan. But today it is perhaps New York’s best kept secret.

The leafy island is home to 11km of cycle paths; an urban farm of 4 thousand square meters; extensive lawns and gardens; slides the height of a three-story building; pumpkin crops; an ice skating rink; and all manner of picnic spots, playgrounds, and art exhibits.

And now the island is also pioneering an inspiring zero-waste concept that could show other cities how to achieve sustainability.

In late April, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the island will house a $700 million “living laboratory” dedicated to finding solutions to combat the crisis. weather.

“The concept and design of the park is really based on [na] sustainability and resilience,” says Clare Newman, President and CEO of the NGO Trust for Governors Island. The Trust is responsible for the governance of the island, in conjunction with the National Park Service.

Originally, Governors Island was 29 hectares. But the island more than doubled in size in the early 1900s, when 40 hectares of land were added, excavated from the Lexington Avenue subway station in Manhattan.

In 2007, this largely undeveloped area in the south of the island was redesigned to be more than just recreational space. The Trust saw the opportunity to “demonstrate for the whole city and, who knows, for the world how we can develop urban environments in a much more sustainable and adaptable way”.

This eco-friendly initiative is the latest chapter in the fascinating history of Governors Island.

historic island

The English arrived in New York in 1664, when they took the island from the Dutch. And, 11 years after the withdrawal of British troops in the American Revolution of 1783, the New York government began fortifying the harbor, building three forts on the island – Fort Jay, Castle Williams and the South Battery fort. The buildings helped to halt a British invasion in the War of 1812.

Under the control of the American government, the island became a military base, a quarantine post for religious refugees, a prison for Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, headquarters in World War II and, finally, a base of the American Coast Guard until 1996.

The island was then virtually abandoned for nearly a decade while the federal government debated what to do with it.

Governors Island has also witnessed many historic moments. In 1919, for example, Wilbur Wright – the eldest of the Wright brothers – took off from a strip of land in the southern part of the island for the first flight over water in the United States.

Composer Burt Bacharach regularly performed at The Officer’s Club on the island in the early 1950s, while US President Ronald Reagan entertained Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the 19th-century Admiral’s House in 1988.

In 2001, Governors Island was declared a National Monument. Two years later, it was sold to the City and State of New York for one dollar. And, in 2005, it was opened to visitors.

‘Zero Waste Island’

The bucolic outdoor space, so close to the metropolis, has turned Governors Island into a cultural and recreational destination.

The Liggett Terrace, just south of what was once the largest military building in the United States, is now home to a seasonal array of food trucks and other dining venues. They offer options ranging from East Asian fried chicken and pizza to African American cuisine in vegan versions.

In 2018, Governors Island gained 36 private tents for camping, overlooking the Statue of Liberty.

And, last year, the QC NY Spa was opened, where visitors can relax on an infrared bed, in the sauna, in the Turkish bath, or even in the outdoor pool, with a view of the helicopters that land in the financial center and the ferries crossing New York Harbor.

All sellers and companies opened on the island undertake to respect the Zero Waste Island initiative. They sign a contract that details, among other things, which materials are allowed and which are not.

All food establishments, for example, need to use compostable utensils. Newman claims they “make a big difference” in achieving the island’s zero waste goal.

The NGO Earth Matter NY is a partner of the Trust in the Zero Waste Island program. It takes all organic waste (including compostable utensils, food scraps and plant maintenance waste) and turns it into compost for the island’s gardens.

Paper, glass, plastic, aluminum and common waste are placed in different bins and processed separately.

“We arrived on the island with the idea of ​​recycling and creating this closed circuit”, explains the executive director and one of the founders of Earth Matter NY, Marisa DeDominicis. “Zero Waste Island really is our goal.”

In 2022, Earth Matter NY collected over 118 tons of organic waste – a 28% increase from 2021.

“When we select [os resíduos]sometimes it feels like detective work,” according to Andrea Lieske, Zero Waste Island program manager at Earth Matter NY.

When they find excess common non-compostable cups, for example, they check the bag they came from, examine which area of ​​the island the bag came from, and trace back to locating the source of the non-standard cups.

It is inevitable that some visitors will bring their own cups, but most originate from the island itself and therefore should be compostable.

In addition to requiring food vendors and other tenants to use compostable materials, the Trust has banned plastic bags and straws, as well as the sale of plastic water bottles on the island.

“This kind of thing makes a lot of difference to our flow of organic material,” says Lieske.

When they’re not strolling the sunny Hammock Grove woods or exploring the seasonal art exhibits on Governors Island, visitors can watch the zero waste initiative in action.

In the southern part of the island, Earth Matter shares space with a kindergarten and a bee sanctuary.

It is there that employees, volunteers and the chickens that live on site select the organic material, creating compost piles – some up to 2.5 meters high and 30 meters long.

During the natural decomposition process, the batteries reach a temperature of 67 °C. And after about 12 to 15 months, the compost is ready to be distributed among the island’s flowerbeds and gardens, as well as community gardens in New York parks.

But challenges continue to arise, even in this inspiring example of waste management that has become Governors Island. After all, “the amount of organic material will continually increase as the island develops,” predicts DeDominicis.

In 2022, the island was open to the public for the first time for an entire year. It attracted 939 thousand visitors – much more than the 600 thousand in 2021.

The construction of a new climate solutions research complex, with 37 thousand square meters, was recently announced, which was named “New York Climate Exchange”.

It is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the island when it opens in 2028.

To meet this future demand, the Trust will work with a waste consultant, focusing on the strict tracking and control of what leaves the island for landfills.

“Our goal is for it to be the lowest percentage humanly possible,” says Newman.

The Climate Solutions Center will increase foot traffic and possibly make it even harder to control waste, but the ultimate benefits are clear.

For Newman, “all this is part of the vision: we hope to have a truly global mini-city here on the island that is an example of how to form much more sustainable, resilient and adaptable urban centers”.

read the original version of this report (in English) on the website BBC Travel.