New York Now:

MEMO
To:	Hon. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
From:	Bennett Voyles, New York Now Urban Design Group, PC.
Re:	Governors Island Redevelopment as: "INY LAND"

Enclosed please find our plan for Governors Island redevelopment, i.e. moving 57th Street to Governors Island, with supporting notes.

Plan of proposed redevelopment
Elevations of new office and hotel construction
Perspective view of redevelopment
Appendix: Expansion Possibilities

Overview

For many years now, Disney and other fantasy architects have created artificial environments that give visitors a safe way to sample a foreign culture without leaving home. They've built French villages in Florida, American main streets in Tokyo. There's even a casino in Las Vegas called New York, New York. It's tourism without terror, and people love it. By moving 57th Street to Governor's Island, the city would give visitors the New York they want without the New York they fear.

Drawing 1: Plan of Development

Once the location of the British governor's residence, the 175-acre island located in New York harbor is now the present home of 1600 Coast Guard personnel and their families. As a military post that has seen no action since 1776, Governors Island has a 220-year tradition of being a simulated place. This historic fact makes this development of a simulated 57th Street resort a not inappropriate change of use.

CLICK ON DRAWING FOR DETAIL VIEW

Drawing 2: Elevation

As particular facades are a nonessential feature to the midtown identity of 57th Street/ I

New Yorkland, we propose a design that emphasizes the iconography of existing theme stores and theme restaurants. Just one more way in which our 57th Street will improve on the original.

Benefits

Relocating 57th street to Governors Island would save tourists travel time between the Statue of Liberty and midtown
Reduce midtown congestion
Provide easy access to the Governors Island golf course and other wholesome outdoor recreation
Offer easy crowd control, and most importantly,
By allowing no chance of a quick escape by subway or taxi, tourists waiting for infrequent ferries would find themselves tempted to stay longer and spend more.

CLICK ON DRAWING FOR DETAIL VIEW

Drawing 3: Perspective View of Proposed Development

From Warner Brothers to the Brooklyn Diner, a simulated New York has already been built on 57th Street.¹ But is there any need for the big-city equivalents of Interstate tourist traps to occupy some of the most expensive real estate in the world? ² If long-time icons such as the Yankees can consider moving to a better location, why not the Hard Rock Cafe? And perhaps more to the point, why not the Brooklyn Diner, which will be no less an actual Brooklyn diner than it is now?

CLICK ON DRAWING FOR DETAIL VIEW

¹ Obviously, calling the relocated tourist destination 57th Street is no longer essential. For that matter, neither does retaining the name Governors Island. As our focus groups showed that 72 percent of the public had a negative association with the silent s in island ("It's crooked," said a Memphis man; "Looks sneaky to me," commented one woman from Minneapolis), we suggest building on existing brand recognition by renaming Governor's Island "INew Yorkland" ?

² Why there is no Wall Drug Chicago or Petrified Forest Paris

Appendix: Expansion Possibilities

Riker's Island could be converted into a bad neighborhood theme park. BarrioLand would be a place where people act out their fantasies of slum adventures in a safe, controlled setting. As an added benefit, the existing population need not be moved. In fact, the guarantee of meeting genuine criminals would be an added attraction to the expectations of sensation-seeking TV-saturated tourists, who would ordinarily be disappointed on a tour of a real New York slum by meeting so many non-violent, law-abiding people.
Times Square could be relocated to Fresh Kills, Staten Island. Conveniently located winter skiing down the slopes of the world's largest landfill is only one of the many attractions relocation would provide.
Sponsorships could of course be sold for any of these ventures. "MSNBC Times Square," for example, or "Colt 45 BarrioLand" are just two potentially lucrative possibilities.

What should New York do with Governor's Island?