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BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKOWITZ PROVES GOVERNORS ISLAND IS BROOKLYN

Photograph by Kathryn Kirk
	In photo: Borough President Marty Markowitz argues that Governors Island should belong to Brooklyn.

On November 17, 2003, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz hosted a public meeting at St. Francis College on the future of Governor's Island, sponsored by the National Park Service and the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. Borough President Markowitz called Governors Island “a national treasure” and applauded the federal, state and city governments for reaching an accord that will retain this property for use by the public in perpetuity. He praised the Park Service and the Corporation for giving Brooklynites an opportunity to participate in this planning process and made a compelling case for considering the island Brooklyn territory, pointing out that Borough funding is based on both population and land area.

“While Governor’s Island is supposedly, technically, a part of Manhattan, I need to tell you; it should be part of Brooklyn. The basis for my belief lies in both history and geography. Anyone can look at a map and see that the island itself is much closer to Brooklyn. In fact, in colonial times, before the Buttermilk Channel was dredged, Brooklynites would walk their cows across during low tide. And island residents counted on Brooklyn’s farmers to feed them before and after independence. The historic ties between this island and this Borough are strong and, absent other definitive documentation, use of the land establishes ownership.”