By Leela de Kretser
Managing Editor
The city will take full control of Governors Island in a land deal with the state that officials claim gives them control of 172-acres of prime real estate at "fire sale prices."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Sunday that the city would take over development and operation of the island, which will become a major public park in New York.
Using $41.5 million that New York has already committed, about 87 acres of Governors Island will be left as public park space, sitting alongside a 2.2 mile promenade that will be built along the waterfront in the next few years.
The island could also be developed. The New York Harbor School, a public high school devoted to maritime studies, is already slated to open its classrooms there and NYU is considering a Governors Island campus as part of its expansion plans.
The city has claimed in recent years that it was hampered by the state in developing the island.
Under the shared control agreement between city and state, both governments had to pay for development jointly. The depletion of Albany's coffers in the past couple of years meant that the city was unable to continue the development it wanted to see at the island, even though it had the money to put up.
"This puts the city more firmly in control of our own destiny," Mayor Bloomberg crowed.
