Governors Island: The Death of Motel 8

New York, NY - CartLegger - Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 : goo

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Its summer time again, so welcome back to Governor's Island! With the approval of the redesign plans for the island, things are starting to happen for the islands long term potential. But in the very short term, there's going to be a lot of demolition. the Motel 8 is one of the first buildings to go.

There is a saying among former island military residents about the hotel. Governor's Island, the nations oldest continuous military installation, may have a lot of cannons in its fortifications. But the Motel 8 was the only spot on the island that ever saw any action!

The motel was built in 1986 for the use of the US Coast guard and their families. Since its a new building, it can be demolished, even though it is in the national historic zone that encompasses the Northern end of the island.

All this is being done to make was space large enough for the New York Philharmonic to be able to perform on the Island's Parade's Groundsm, while still allowing for over a 100,000 guests on the green south of Fort Jay. You can read more about that here:

goingcoastal.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/philharmonic-to-give-summer-concert-on-governors-island/

Its hard to describe the mix of emotions at seeing a building, however forgettable, be ripped apart before your eyes. In the long run, few will remember it was here, but let us not forget to honor its noisy passing.

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Sal: Awesome pictures! Please get more!

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