Governors Island

While many New Yorkers may flock to Governors Island weekends during the summer for a day of leisure and relaxation, this island also serves as a place of rigorous academic study and environmentally focused projects for the students of the New York Harbor School, a public school located in the historic buildings on Governors Island. This unique school that uses the New York City waterways as an educational tool and as a way to instill environmental ethics and skills in the students of the Harbor School.

How would you for this to be your daily commute?

This past week I was treated to a trip to Governors Island with my coworker Katie to pick up some shell for an oyster restoration project she is working on at Soundview Park in the Bronx. Katie needs shell to put on a man-made reef in hopes of recruiting native oysters which have largely been decimated in this areas as result of poor water quality, pollution and over-harvesting. 

Stepping of the Ferry Katie and I were greeted by Pete, a Auquaculture teacher at the Harbor School. In addition to teaching students from all over Manhattan, Pete also works with the students on maintaining the Aquaculture operation at the harbor school. The students here are a large part of spawning the oysters that are used for restoration throughout New York. 

As Katie and I shovel shell into mesh bags Pete tells us that in addition to a normal course load, the students at the Harbor School also learn how to scuba dive, spawn oysters and build boats. Wish I could have gone here!

Beautiful Surprises in the City

As part of my attempt to discover New York and the distinct neighborhoods of Manhattan I try to go for long walks with no real destination in mind; I just walk in one direction, turn onto streets that appeal to me, and see where they lead me. Today my aimless wandering led me to the “Time Landscape” a garden or ‘urban forest’ created in 1965 by Alan Sonfist. 

The garden; photo from:http://newyorkdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2006/04/time-landscape-taste-of-nature.html

The garden, at the corner of Laguardia and West Houston immediately caught my eye as distinct from many of the other manicured and perfect gardens around the city. The name “Time Landscape” alludes to ecosystems and how they change and evolve over time. The garden is intended to emulate the pre-development ecosystem in New York City and Sonfist’s design integrates the element of time by creating plantings to represent each succesional stage in the landscape. The garden starts out with just grasses and early sucessional species, and then transitions to shrubby, light-loving species, and ultimately into the northern hardwood trees that once dominated this entire area.

Virtual tour of this amazing "living monument," the footage does not do it justice. Check it out for yourself if you get the chance!

As I walked through the garden I was immediately struck with the profound message that this landscape provides to New Yorkers. While New Yorkers may appreciate and enjoy the many gardens and green spaces around the city, the aspect of time and its relationship to the plants present is completely absent. Plants are chosen to have interest year round, dead plants are immediately removed from the landscape, and while the garden may change seasonally, it creates an artificially static landscape. How can we portray in a sexy and appealing matter this aspect of time in the landscape to the average, non-ecologist New Yorker?