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Governors Island National Airport?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 11, 2009
Modified Nov 11, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 11, 2009
Modified Nov 11, 2009
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Congressman Fiorello LaGuardia once declared: "No greater monument to the life and activity of the Republic can be imagined than Governors Island as a national airport."
Today the Daily News looks back at one of the ideas for the island that never quite came to be, saying that when it was "nothing but a run-down firetrap of an old Army post, the War Department refused to let it go anyway, despite demand after demand from air-minded LaGuardia that the big Army polo field be ceded to the city as a flying field suitable for mail and passenger service just minutes away from Manhattan's business center."
Talk of ferries, subways and even filling in the upper bay between the island and the Battery (making it not an island at all) were discussed. However, by the time LaGuardia was Mayor he gave up the fight to build the airport there... which is probably good because what would those have folks who inhabited the secret town there have done?!
Back in the day there was an airstrip on the island, and a monument commemorating its early aviation history can still be found there. The News says that after all this time, no good use has been found for the island... but where else are '20s era parties going to be thrown?
Related: Check out the future of Governor's Island here, and of course the Central Park Airport idea.
Tagged
airport
development
governors island
laguardia
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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