M.A.G.I.C statement below
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 9:30 AM The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hear the Trust For Governors Island’s (TGI) proposal for new outdoor lighting for Governors Island (GI). It includes completely out-of-character intimidating 35ft light poles with obtrusive overly bright lighting for the historic district.
People are needed to testify against at least the GI historic district portion of the current proposal and advocate for a design that preserves the welcoming small village nature of these areas. More details and images below.
[ NEW: Proposed lighting demonstration Slideshow ]
– Send written testimony to testimony@lpc.nyc.gov (written testimony is accepted until 12 noon on the Monday before the Tuesday hearing/meeting, but strongly recommend submitting by 5 PM on the Friday Oct 7th before the hearing)
– Sign up to speak at https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/hearings/hearings.page (Signup NOW ACTIVE. Closes at 7 AM on the day of the hearing.)
– The hearing via Zoom: Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 9:30 AM:
Hearing info, zoom link, call-in numbers, and presentation materials:
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/hearings/hearings.page
– GI is item #5 on the agenda:
The final estimated GI agenda item time will be posted on the LPC website the Friday before the hearing.
From Metro Area Governors Island Coalition (M.A.G.I.C.) co-founder Roger Manning:
We urge LPC not to approve the current proposal for replacement of existing lighting in Governors Island historic district.
The proposed “Moonlight + streetlight” design [image 1 below] for the Historic district in no way reflects the historic character of Nolan Park, Colonels row and adjacent areas and exceeds illumination needs. The proposed giant 35 ft high light poles and fixtures are intimidating, intrusive, and overly bright. A key benefit of our “country place in the city” is getting away from oppressive city lighting. The massive southern yellow pine poles are radically out of character for the historic district.[images 2 and 2a below]
We’ve seen the test lighting that is set up in Nolan park turned on [image 3 below]. It is not “natural” in effect, but extremely intrusive – particularly the ‘moonlight’ feature – even if they reduce from two to one moonlight fixtures as is being considered.
Except for image 3 below, the images in the TGI’s presentation under-represent the brightness of the proposed lighting. The images of the currently darkened Nolan Park area are a product of this year’s dramatically reduced-by-neglect lighting – perhaps to promote the proposal?
It’s possible to provide unobtrusive lighting to particularly unique places such as Governors Island. The South Cove lighting in Battery Park City is an example. The Trust for Governors Island’s plan of using spread out massive light poles with wide reaching light is unsuitable for Governors Island. Also flooding the historic district’s parade ground area with light destroys one of the island’s favorite dramatic views (that of Fort Jay with nighttime Manhattan in the background).
Visit Brooklyn Bridge Park at night to see how obtrusive this proposed type of lighting is and how inappropriate it is for historic Governors Island.
Image 1 – the test installation of the proposed lighting for the GI historic district:
Image 2:
Image 2a:
Image 3:
From the TGI presentation page 14:
It really is this bright. Imagine being on that porch.
Image 4:
Currently active GI historic district lighting:
