Firefighting on Governors Island

Now that the election is over we can get down the the business of the "Next Big Building Thing." Luckily, we already know what it is going to be: Governors Island. The News has written about it. So has the Post. So it comes as no surprise that today the Times would have a nice piece on the Island. What is surprising though is just how sweet that piece is. Where the tabloids focused on the upcoming developer wars that Dan Doctroff is going to orchestrate, the Grey Lady looks at the quiet and calm life of the 13 FDNY firefighters who are stationed on the island.

How quiet is the life of a firefighter on Governors Island? So quiet that when they discuss the fires they've seen on the island since the FDNY took over from the Federal Firefighters in 2003 the "big one" refers to the time that a gardener's leaf-sucking truck got too close to some foliage and became "fully involved."

Beyond the jokes the piece also provides a nice look at what is essentially a very small-town community that happens to have one of the best views of Lower Manhattan in the world. Makes us think that maybe the minimum build island concept isn't so bad after all...

Photograph by Vincent Laforet for the NY Times