NYC-WTC_000230771

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Mike’s Right on Gov’s isiand I A great hope for city economy 800,000 square feet of potential office RJBUILDING NEW YORK space sitting completely empty. Gover­ z nors Island has about 800 residential units sitting completely empty. Governors Island has an elementary school that once housed 300 pupils sitting IN Mike Bloomberg's "Blueprint for Re­ completely empty. Building 400, exactly. O building New York.” the GOP candi­ 58 the same size as Stuyvesant High School, W date for mayor makes the following sits completely empty. I proposal for Governors Island: Could any of this space be used right : "We should build a major high school now on a temporary basis? Better to ask, O cn and university complex on Governors Is­ is there any reason it couldn't? The Gen- H land in partnership with one or more of eral Services Administration has kept the

J out great private universities," says the GOP nominee. "The room is there for athletic facilities, laboratories, work- buildings in excellent condition. You could move io tomorrow. Ferry service to the Eland could be ar- a, c: shops, classrooms, etc. ranged in a couple of weeks. (Ferry traffic . wC/3 “This would also free up many existing has picked up considerably in the harbor buildings in all boroughs for junior high ' since *the World.. _ . _ Trade Center attack and D school, elementary school is becoming a significant and special-education uses. Financing would be York’s^ tr^portation I*®*' Washington — Know where New York can get 172 acres of land, cheap? Reuters z o done through debt backed by sales-tax revenues after 2007 when MAC repay- 1211 tem.) So what’s the problem? Well first, the island fhing is that, with ownership finally re- solved, we could start planning to inte- plei in New York City. It is right at the heart of the Financial District — yet s M H ment obligation ends.” doesn't yet belong to New K^ate Governors Island into the long-term slightly apart. That quarter-mile of har­ 2 H At long last, somebody has taken notice. York When last consulted. Congress was reconstruction of the Financial District bor water would serve as a buffer from the hurly-burly of the city, giving it a w Governors Island is New York City’s asking New York to pay $500 million for That's why Bloomberg’s idea for a uni- M 1^ forgotten ace-in-the-hole for the recon­ an island that the city and state donated spectacular. The one thing quiet, academic atmosphere. co struction of Lower Manhattan. The city at no cost in 1800 "for the defense of the New York City lacks right now is an aca- All this could be easily integrated with has lost 30 million square feet of office nation.” demic center for research and technology a tourist route and waterfront commer­ wi space. Thousands of people have fled Battery Park City. Three elementary Six months ago. New York wasn’t very AU that has now Boston and SiUcon vJe'y have become cial district built between Fort Jay and Castle William, the island's two National S; O schools, one middle school and two high Historic Landmarks. The southern half of schooE are closed indefinitely. eV r... . ,, the two nodes of America’s Information the island — which is not historically o Although the middle and elementary If Sens. Schumer or Clinton or Mayor Age by implementing ideas developed at landmarked — could be used for parks o schools have found reasonable temporary Giuliani or Gov. Pataki or even President MIT and Stanford. Texas built a high- and recreation. I space. Leadership High (600 students), Bush would put their minds to it for 20 tech center in Austin from the ground up Mark Green, who purports to fancy o and the. High School for Ecouomics andI minutes. Congress could probably be per­ by pouring money into the University of high technology, ought to find this idea Finance (730 students) are doing split suaded tomorrow afternoon to give the Texas. North Carolina has. created a pow- interesting as well. But somebody should sessions at overcrowded high schooE up- Eland —back to New York as a reward for -------------------------- erful regional economy by building Re- get to work on it co town. ' . our current efforts in-manning the na- search Triangle Park. - New York meeds a new vision of hope co what docs GoVernors Isiand:have- to^> tion’&defenses. to IO

NYC-WTC_000230771