Thank you for the chance to submit written testimony regarding the proposed rezoning of Governor’s Island. Regional Plan Association (RPA) is a non-profit civic organization that conducts research, planning, and advocacy to improve economic opportunity, mobility, environmental sustainability, and the quality of life for those who live and work in New York and the rest of the New York City metropolitan region.
RPA played a major role in the transformation of Governors Island. Throughout the mid-1990s, we led and incubated the Governors Island Alliance, a coalition of more than 45 organizations dedicated to transforming the Island from an abandoned Coast Guard Base into a civic space and urban park. The coalition’s idea of redeveloping the island as a great civic space was the basis for its transfer to NYC-control. The self-sustaining principle - where future development on the island would generate revenue to maintain civic spaces and support infrastructure - was also key in ensuring the transfer to NYC.
After years of work, Governors Island opened for public use in 2005. Today the Island hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and it’s a major attraction in the city and region. RPA celebrates these important milestones, but we also recognize that there is more work needed before completing the vision for the Island that was developed over a decade ago. As such we are pleased to support the proposed rezoning and creation of the South Island Special District.
Background
Throughout the last decades, RPA has advocated and facilitated plans for Governor’s Island. We organized workshops, panel discussions, and tours, facilitating a process that ensured that the public interest determined the reuse of the Island. In addition, RPA fought against overdevelopment and proposals that were not consistent with these goals, including Mayor Giuliani’s proposition to place a casino.
While a casino was and still should be considered undesirable, the coalition of organizations advocating for transforming the Island did recognize the need to identify uses that would generate revenue for maintaining infrastructure in the service of public access and interest. Current maintenance operations include the Island bulkhead and piers, parks spaces, its ferry system, historic buildings, and all utility infrastructure. Under this vision, revenue for maintenance would come directly in the form of leases or other payments from for-profit uses and hosting uses that generate enough visitor traffic to support the ferry service and concessions. As such, the coalition identified potential uses and activities in four reinforcing program streams: Parks/Recreation, Art/Culture, Education/Institution, and Hotel/Conference Center.
In 2003 the federal government sold Governors Island to the people of the City and State of New York for a nominal cost. The self-sustaining principle was a necessary argument to convince both parties about the benefits of transferring the Island to local control. The City and Federal administration needed certainty that the transfer could be done in a way that would not represent a permanent fiscal burden or that the property would not fall into neglect. Without this self-sustaining principle, it is not clear that either party would have been amenable to transferring the property in the first place.
These and many other efforts contributed to the establishment of a 22-acre National Monument, the set-aside of an additional 40 acres for a public park, and adoption of design restrictions in the National Landmark Historic District.
RPA supports Governors Island proposal to create the South Island Special District
A change in the current zoning framework is needed to fulfill what was envisioned for the Island. Current allowable uses applicable to the south side of the Island under the existing R3-2 zoning only permit residential or community facility services. The currently allowed densities and use groups would not support the needed revenue generating programs to maintain the Island nor are they aligned with the goal of securing an anchor educational institution focused on climate research. The proposed land use changes would help fulfill the goals envisioned by the coalition twenty years ago. The special district would expand the Island’s open space, increase public connections between the park and waterfront esplanade, and add an additional layer of protection for all open space on the South Island. Controls for connectivity, urban design, historic sensitivity, height and bulk are written into the zoning, as well as protections to preserve view corridors from the park. All buildings across the development sites will strictly adhere to flood-resistant construction methods.
The rezoning would offer development and leasing opportunities that would anchor a global center for climate solutions in the heart of the harbor. Consistent with the uses identified by the coalition decades ago, the zoning framework would allow for a mix of academic, commercial, non-profit, cultural, convening and hospitality uses, anchored by a climate research and educational center. As New York Harbor continues to become a flashpoint for the impacts of climate change, RPA applauds the Trust’s decision of initiating this process.
While we understand the desire to designate specific urban design and use considerations applicable to the proposed development zones (eastern and western subareas), an overly prescriptive set of rules might have the unintended consequence of impeding the type research the center could perform when evaluating coastal resilience solutions. The new zoning should allow the research center to perform testing of construction techniques, evaluate structure typologies, and materials to investigate their effectiveness in climate adaptation and coastal resilience. Similarly, the zoning framework should ensure that the type of activities associated with prototyping and laboratory work are allowed and listed in the permitted use groups. These type of uses would allow for synergies and partnerships with local manufacturing facilities to flourish, particularly those located along Brooklyn’s waterfront in Sunset Park and in the Navy Yard. Given the goal of anchoring a research center for climate change solutions, we think it’s important to ensure that the zoning framework provides sufficient flexibility in terms of urban design and programming considerations.
With this zoning framework, Governors Island Trust is taking another bold step towards fulfilling the goals envisioned by the coalition over twenty years ago. RPA looks forward to supporting the plan throughout the remainder of the land use review process.
