Governor's Island, Governors Island is less than 10 minutes by ferry from Manhattan or Brooklyn, but until the beginning of the 21st century, few people have been there. From the 18th century, the island was owned by the military, from 1966 to 1996 - by the coast guard. After their departure, it was decided to turn Governors Island into a recreational zone: partly a historical one (two forts of the nineteenth century and other monuments have been preserved there), partly a park. In 2007, the competition for the park masterplan was won by the Dutch West 8, and in 2014 the first phase of the project was completed - 12 hectares: a promenade, a grove with hammocks and 1,500 new trees, a sports area with two dirt playing fields. At the same time, new entrance zones at the berths, lamps, signs and inscriptions according to the Pentagram project were created, which also covered the historical part.
This summer - a year ahead of schedule - opened the last 4 hectares: a key part of the park, consisting of four artificial hills. They reach heights of 8 to 21 meters, and from their peaks you can admire the circular panorama of New York Harbor, including Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey City. It is also now the point of land where the Statue of Liberty is best seen.
The hills are "wrapped" in rings of paths, along which visitors climb upward, discovering a new view at every turn, and at the top - a comfortable platform for rest. Flora - more than 860 trees of 32 species and 41,000 bushes of 19 species - are planted in terraces. For each slope of each hill, its own landscaping scheme was developed, taking into account the proximity to the coast and the spray of salt water, the angle of inclination, the degree of sunlight, etc. Trees and bushes, like curtains, form perspective views of the surroundings and the harbor. Various types of oaks were chosen as key trees, birch and pine trees, sumac (chosen for its bright red autumn foliage), sassafras were also used. Among the bushes are sumach bushes, American tseanotus, naked holly, geylussakia, cage, blueberries.
The hills are made up of demolition debris from the demolition of residential buildings and car parks at the site of the park, common fill material and pumice. The use of such a light material as pumice is due to the fact that the island itself was partially poured artificially at the beginning of the 20th century (soil extracted during the construction of the metro was used), and due to the additional load it could “crawl”.
The four hills embody the four key themes of the park. The 8 m high herbal mound is designed for relaxation - right down to sleep. Roller coaster hill (height 10 m) - play area, there are 4 roller coasters, including the longest in New York (over 17 m). The Hill of Discovery (12 m) is dedicated to art: it houses the sculpture "The Shack" (2015) by the famous British artist Rachel Whiteread. It is a concrete cast of the interior of a modest house, which at the same time reminds of a hermit and shows itself as a New York harbor. The highest hill, Panorama Hill (21 m), is dedicated to the views: it is from its top that they are the most spectacular. Another feature of it is the "scramble" track for a more extreme ascent upward than the serpentine: it is lined with granite blocks left over from the breaker wall.
