Govenors Island
April 11, 2002

By Henry J. Stern

    The prospect of Governors Island actually coming into the hands of the State and City of New York gives us a chance to make suggestions for its development.

    I think the Island should have a variety of uses - education first, but there should also be residential, commercial and recreational uses to create a community.

    The education part should include a teacher training college and graduate school, as well as an academy for school leadership, for educators and for people in mid-career who want to learn to teach and to manage. It is not only a good idea, it is what the President, Governor and Mayor want to justify the no-cost transfer of extremely valuable land.

    It would show, in a symbolic as well as a practical way, the importance of education in America and the value we place on having trained and qualified teachers, who are the key to children's learning. It could become a national magnet for people interested in education.

    The campus, however, should not exist in a vacuum, but as part of a small but vibrant community of residences, medium and low rise, offices and restaurants which would support the public open space and recreational facilities on the island, which could be shared with the college.

    A single purpose island suggests Alcatraz.  Multi-purpose planning has made Roosevelt Island an asset to the city. A variety of uses, centering on education, would make Governors Island a treasure.
 
 
 

Henry J. Stern is the director of NYCivic.