Global Courant 2023-05-07 20:20:12
There is a moment when you board the ferry from South Street in Manhattan to Governors Island when the horizon fades and takes up all your attention.
A 19th-century fort and stylish open-air oyster bar welcome you to Governors Island, nodding to its past as a military stronghold and its current incarnation as an urban playground.
The island, once home to the Lenape Native Americans, was called Paggank, or “Island of Walnuts,” due to its abundance of chestnut, walnut, and oak trees.
When the Dutch arrived, they established the first settlement of their colony of New Amsterdam here, making this now-uninhabited harbor island the birthplace of New York City.
Today, Governors Island (which is technically part of Manhattan) might be New York City’s best kept secret.
The leafy oasis is home to 11km of bike trails; an urban farm the size of half an acre; extensive lawns and gardens; slides three stories high; an ice skating rink in winter; and all kinds of picnic spots, playgrounds, and art installations.
The island is now pioneering an inspiring zero waste concept that could show other cities how to become more sustainable.
New York Mayor Eric Adams announced that the island would now be the site of a $700 million “living laboratory” dedicated to finding solutions to address the climate crisis.
Getty Images View of the playing fields on Governors Island with Brooklyn buildings in the background.
“The design and concept of the park really focuses (on) sustainability and resiliency,” said Clare Newman, president and CEO of the Governors Island Trust, which manages the island in conjunction with the National Park Service.
Although the island was originally 29 hectares, another 40 was added in the early 20th century using excavated soil when the city extended the Lexington Avenue subway station in Manhattan, doubling its size to the south.
In 2007, this largely undeveloped southern part of the island was reimagined as more than just recreational space, and the Trust saw it as an opportunity “to show the whole city and hopefully the world , how we can develop urban environments in a much more sustainable and adaptable way”.
This ecological initiative is the latest chapter in the fascinating history of Governors Island.
The English arrived in New York in 1664, when they seized the island from the Dutch. Eleven years after British troops withdrew at the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the New York government began fortifying the harbor by building three forts on the island: Fort Jay, Castle Williams, and South Battery, which helped to deter a British invasion in the War of 1812.
Under the control of the US government, the island became a military base, a quarantine station for religious refugees, a prison for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, an army headquarters during World War II and finally a Coast Guard base until 1996.
The island was then left largely abandoned for nearly a decade as the federal government debated what to do with the land.
The island also witnessed many historical moments. In 1919, Wilbur Wright took off from an airstrip in the southern part of the island in the first American flight over water.
Composer Burt Bacharach performed regularly at The Officer’s Club on the island in the early 1950s. President Ronald Regan hosted Mikhail Gorbachev at the 19th-century Admiral’s House in 1988.
In 2001, the island was designated a National Landmark and two years later, it was sold to the city and state of New York for $1. Finally, in 2005, it was opened to the public.
Getty Images
The bucolic open space, so close to the dense city, has made Governors Island a cultural and recreational destination.
Liggett Terrace, just south of what was once the country’s largest military building, is now home to food trucks, offering everything from East Asian fried chicken to vegan food and pizza.
In 2018, the Governors Island Collective set up 36 private tents with views of the Statue of Liberty. Last year, he opened the Spa QC NY, allowing guests to relax in an infrared bed, in a sauna or steam room, or in the outdoor whirlpool with views of helicopters descending on the district finance and the ferries that cross the port.
When they open, each of these businesses commits to the Zero Waste Island initiative, signing an agreement that details, among other things, which materials are allowed and which are not.
Everyone who sells food is required to use biodegradable utensils, which, according to Newman, “makes a huge difference” for the island to reach its goal of zero waste.
The non-profit organization Earth Matter NY is the Trust’s partner on Zero Waste Island, and collects all organic waste, including biodegradable utensils and food scraps along with yard supplies from handymen, and converts it in fertilizer for the gardens of the island.
Paper, glass, plastic, aluminum and common garbage are placed in other containers and processed separately.
“We came to the island with the idea of recycling and creating this closed loop,” explained Earth Matter NY Co-Founder and CEO Marisa DeDominicis. “What it’s really about is the Zero Waste Island.”
Last year, Earth Matter NY collected more than 250,000 pounds of organic waste, a 28% year-over-year increase from 2021.
Getty Images The green initiative is the latest chapter in the fascinating story of Governors Island.
“When we sort things out, sometimes it’s like detective work,” said Andrea Lieske, manager of Zero Waste Island at Earth Matter NY.
If they find an excessive amount of cups that are not biodegradable, for example, they will check which bag they came in and trace which area of the island the bag was picked up from, until they locate the source of the cups.
While some visitors inevitably bring glasses with them, most are from the island and therefore should be biodegradable.
In addition to requiring food vendors and other tenants to use biodegradable materials, the Trust has banned plastic bags, plastic straws, and the sale of plastic water bottles on the island.
When they’re not lounging around Hammock Grove, sunbathing or exploring the art installations, island visitors can see this zero-waste initiative in action.
On the southern part of the island, Earth Matter shares space with a teaching garden and a bee sanctuary. It is there that staff and volunteers (along with resident chickens) sort organic materials and create mountains of steaming compost, some up to two meters high and 30 meters long, reaching a temperature of 66°C in the process of burning. natural decomposition.
After about 12 to 15 months, the compost is ready to be distributed to gardens and parks across the island, as well as community gardens in New York City parks.
While Governors Island shines as an example of waste policy, challenges remain.
“The amount of organic matter will continue to increase as the island develops,” DeDominicis said.
Last year marked the first time the island had been open year-round, attracting 939,000 visitors, much more than the 600,000 in 2021.
The newly announced 37,000-square-meter campus, which will focus on climate solutions research and be dubbed the “New York Climate Exchange,” is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the island when it opens in 2028.
To meet these future needs, the Trust will work with a waste consultant and focus on closely tracking and controlling what goes off-island to the landfill.
“Our goal is to get that percentage as low as humanly possible and ultimately get to zero,” Newman said.
Although the Center for Climate Solutions will increase foot traffic and possibly make it more difficult to control waste, the ultimate benefits are clear.
As Newman said, “This is all part of the vision: to achieve here on the island a world-renowned mini-city example of how to make resilient neighborhoods much more sustainable and adaptable.”
This article was published on BBC Travel. click here if you want to read the original version (in English).
