New York Harbor
The Island, first sighted by Verrazano in 1524, served as a military defense position from 17th century through the 1960’s, and housed the nation’s largest Coast Guard base between 1966 and 1995. In the early 1900’s, it was more than doubled in size to its present 172 acres with fill from the subway excavation. The Island is thus naturally divisible into two parts: the original land mass at its north and the landfill to the south. The northern part, a designated National Historic District, is home to mature trees and many buildings of merit, including six individual NYC landmarks. The southern part, although an exceptional site, is poorly planned and full of banal buildings; this is the area that we proposed for the UN.
The nearly 93-acre Historic District to the north would be developed as a public park with the six designated NYC landmark structures open to the public. The remaining buildings on the north side of Division Street would house an Institute of International Studies affiliated with a NY academic institution. The vast Liggett Hall Barracks would house offices and act as the symbolic core of the Institute. The historic homes and Colonel’s Row houses would become housing for visiting scholars.