West 8 to lead design team in planning of Governors Island

Governor Eliot Spitzer and I have completed the selection of internationally renowned design firms West 8 / Rogers Marvel Architects / Diller Scofidio + Renfro / Quennell Rothschild / SMWM to design Governors Island's future open space, including a new park and promenade. The team was one of five finalists chosen last January by the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) for a competition to plan three new open spaces on the Island: a two mile Great Promenade along the water's edge; a new major park located on the southern half of the Island; and an improved park design within the northern Historic District. Together, this area comprises 90 acres of parkland that will provide unique outdoor recreational activities for New Yorkers. The Great Promenade and forty-acre park will provide places to relax, play sports and explore, all with an incredible view of the Statue of Liberty. In the National Historic District, visitors can continue to enjoy acres of green space that include buildings and homes dating from 1810. Avi Schick has been nominated as the new chair for GIPEC. Schick is currently the downstate chief executive officer and president of the Empire State Development Corp.(ESDC) and chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. (LMDC). New York is re-embracing the waterfront for the first time in more than a century. This park on Governors Island will be at the center of this new era of waterfront recreation for New York City, and will complement the city's other great parks and recreation spaces. I am pleased that West 8's first major commission in the United States will be in one of the country's greatest cities. The West 8 team's competition entry highlighted the Island's unique characteristics and harbor location, and incorporated environmental sustainability. It featured new hills created from recycled materials, and free bicycles for visitors. The team imagined visitors riding free bicycles at the water's edge or climbing new hills to experience panoramic views of New York Harbor. Their ideas for the Historic District included restoring its landscapes and enlivening them with targeted improvements such as seating and new walkways which respect this island's historic character. West 8 is an internationally acclaimed landscape architecture firm and its leader, Adriaan Geuze, is one of the foremost landscape architects and urban designers in the world. This team was one of 29 who initially responded to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) last year. Other members of the team include Rogers Marvel Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Quennell Rothschild, and SMWM. Rogers Marvel's projects include the Studio Museum in Harlem and streetscapes for the New York Stock Exchange. Diller Scofidio + Renfro is a firm which recently completed the expansion of Lincoln Center, and is working on the High Line in New York City. Quennell Rothschild will contribute their landscape expertise from projects such as the Hudson River Park Master Plan, and finally, SMWM, a design and planning firm known for their urban waterfront design work in New York City and San Francisco, will also work on the design team. Michael Bloomberg is mayor of New York, N.Y.