Preparing to Create New York's New Public Space

Brian Davis talks with Adriaan Geuze of the landscape architecture and urban design firm West 8 about a proposal for the future of the space.

"Brian Davis: The idea of a new public park on Governors Island has generated a lot of excitement in New York City. Every year more and more people visit, and recently Mayor Bloomberg said that the Island "can become one of the world's greatest public places, and we're committed to making it happen." How do you see the Island's potential right now?

Adriaan Geuze: I like to think of Governors Island in terms of the narrative of New York. Public life in New York City has traditionally been focused not out to the sea but in on the land - the view has been more inward than outward regarding public space. For centuries the water's edge was given over to infrastructure, like highways, and to shipping and industry. But now the city's political leadership is looking to the waterfront as the location for the next generation of public spaces, of public parks. So this is new, and it's a great moment in the city's history. It promises to define our time, to make it distinct from earlier eras."