Turf War

New York City’s smaller islands offer a bit of a headache. For every Rikers Island or Hart Island, which fulfill their functions ably—the city’s prison and potter’s fields, respectively—there is an Ellis Island, which provoked a legal dispute between New York and New Jersey that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Or a Governors Island, which nobody seems to know how best to utilize. Or a Randall’s Island, which, despite all of its advantages, is mostly known for controversy these days. Read more

RANDALL’S ISLAND QUIETLY TRANSFORMS

The controversy over the future of Randall’s Island is not over yet.
Last fall, the often forgotten patch of turf at the confluence of the East and Harlem Rivers fell briefly under the public spotlight when a proposed deal would have given independent schools priority in using new playing fields in return for $45 million toward construction and maintenance costs. That agreement set newspaper columnists and community activists atwitter with indignation, but the outcry died out after Read more