Mayor Bloomberg broke ground this morning on a new park on Governors Island called "The Hills." The Hills will feature... you guessed it, hills! But how big will these hills be? Quite big. The tallest hill will have an 80-foot summit, giving park visitors a 360 degree view of New York harbor, the Statue of Liberty, and Downtown Manhattan.
The Hills, which were designed by the landscape architecture firm West 8 as part of the Governor's Island master plan, will be made of recycled construction material and call back to an earlier era of park design.
“Once planted, The Hills will be a part of the island’s natural landscape. Much like the manmade hills Olmsted and Vaux designed in Central Park a century and a half ago. And they’ll be built resiliently taking into account our changing climate,” Bloomberg said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
The Hills will mostly be funded by private donations, the largest of which came from Google boss Eric Schmidt, who we imagine is bound to enjoy using The Hills to pick up women and take them to his soundproof love-den.
His wife, who was at the groundbreaking with him (errrr, that's awkward), told reporters that, “I do believe that this place will become one of the best-loved places in New York City." There will be four hills in total, including a hill that will have slides coming down the side. Three other parks on Governors Island are scheduled to be opened sometime later this year, while The Hills will open to the public in 2015.
(NYC Mayor's Office Flickr)
