I found Koch’s talk about Governor’s Island very interesting. As she mentioned, the island is situated in close proximity to Manhattan and Brooklyn yet it is often overlooked and was “literally not on the map” in 2000. Koch’s ideas for the future of Governor’s Island seem a creative use of the space and will allow more ideas and programs to take place.

I first heard of Governor’s island through Macaulay’s orientation which took place there. Soon afterwards my parents ‘discovered’ the island on a map of New York’s biking trails. We biked to the ferry and took it to the island, where we discovered a “car free bike oasis,” as Koch calls it. Indeed, Koch presented several statistics about the number of people who come to visit the island which show that the majority bike there. I think it was a clever idea to bring bikers onto Governor’s Island since a large space for biking without cars is something that New York is missing. The access to bike rentals and convenient ferries to carry bikes really encourage people to come to the island for biking, as it influenced my parents and me.

Bringing biking to the island was a start to making it a popular destination, but there was still the question of what to do with the large amount of free space. After visiting the island a few times, it seems an ideal place for a college university since there are many empty historic buildings and lots of open grassy space while still being in New York City. As Koch mentioned, there is currently a high school and arts program that both take place on the island, but it seems that the area would be ideal for a university.

Instead Governor’s Island is composed of “flexible free space for programming.” I think this is also an ingenious idea for the use of the island, since such an area is another element that Manhattan is lacking. An eclectic mix of events and recreation programs come to Governor’s Island and bring in large amounts of visitors.

When the Parks Department of New York City took over Governor’s Island, Koch mentioned that they were not allowed to use the space for private ventures such as casinos or land developers but had to make an educational use for the island. I agree with the bike and programming space that were implemented on the island, but I wonder why such a stipulation was made. Infrastructure on the island such as hotels or casinos would draw even more visitors and huge amounts of revenue. A casino on Governor’s Island would draw people away from Atlantic City and could have a very positive effect on New York’s economy.

Given the task of making Governor’s Island a popular destination, Leslie Koch did a great job in choosing things for the island that could not be found in the city. The free space for biking without cars draws many visitors and the creative space brings people with unique ideas to the island and allows visitors to experience new things. The future of the island looks great as well. Koch spoke about plans to add a hammock groove and build a large park area for even more recreation space.