Phase two of the three-part $250 million master plan to update Governors Island is officially complete. Two summers after the opening of phase one (the first 30 acres of parkland), Governors Island is ready to welcome even more company this year. The Hills’ debut this week marks the completion of the island’s West 8–designed park. Taking topography cues from master landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (Central Park, Prospect Park), West 8 won the 2007 international design competition for this project, and they executed it with New York’s Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects. The smallest of the four mounts, Grassy Hill, has an elevation of 25 feet and overlooks verdant parkland. Slide Hill stands 40 feet tall and, true to its name, is home to four slides for people of all ages to enjoy. Also topping out at 40 feet, Discovery Hill features a site-specific concrete installation, Cabin, by Rachel Whiteread. Most thrilling of the lot, and the destination that’s sure to draw the most visitors, is Outlook Hill, a 70-foot-high elevation that offers 360-degree views of the skylines of both Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York Harbor, and the Statue of Liberty. All of the Hills are man-made, composed partially of remnants from the island’s demolished nonhistoric structures.After serving as a U.S. Army post for nearly two centuries, Governors Island became the largest Coast Guard base in the world in the 1960s and was their home until 1996 when the majority of the island became a New York City Historic District.
The Statue of Liberty seen from from the newest addition to the island.
Now, after nearly a decade of being seasonally open to the public, the quiet island in the heart of the bustling harbor is ready to see and be seen.
