An 88 million square-foot development promising nearly $17 million dollars to our city over 20-30 years sounds amazing, but the logistics — building on a landfill, connecting Lower Manhattan to Governor's Island — complicate things. For one, this might mean saying goodbye to Governor's Island as an arts venue in order to say hello to a new hip extension of Manhattan. For another, there are tons of regulations that city planners, like those from The Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation's Center For Urban Real Estate (or TCGSOAPAPCFURE, for short) would have to navigate. Part of this strategic helmsmanship may include securing "air rights" (or the rights to build vertically more so than horizontally). Basically, this plan sounds cool but (at least for now) all too ambitious. With all of these rules developing at double the speed of the actual project, we won't stop ourselves from buying tickets to concerts at Governor's Island for years to come. What do you think? Worth the effort or too much trouble? (New York Times)
Photo: Via The New York Times