The “Special Governors Island District” established in this Resolution is designed to promote and protect public health, safety and general welfare. These goals include, among others, the following specific purposes:

(a)        to promote public use and enjoyment of the Island as a recreational destination that draws upon its location in New York Harbor with singular views and natural beauty;

(b)        to encourage educational and cultural uses such as the arts, music and dance which bring the public to the Island to enjoy cultural events in a unique setting of historic buildings and green spaces;

(c)        to promote public use of the Island for water-related recreational and educational activities that benefit from the unique Island setting;

(d)        to preserve historic buildings in the historic district and encourage their renovation and redevelopment for appropriate educational, cultural and commercial uses;

(e)        to facilitate commercial uses including, but not limited to, hotels, restaurants, retail, arts and crafts galleries and related uses that are compatible with the educational, cultural and recreational uses of the Island and with the primary use of the Island by the public as a recreational resource;

(f)        to provide additional opportunities for new development in defined areas of the southern part of the Island with connections to and an appropriate relationship with publicly accessible open spaces and the Governors Island Historic District;

(g)        to provide flexibility of architectural design within limits established to preserve views and activate buildings along publicly accessible open spaces;

(h)        to create a network of publicly accessible open spaces that provides pedestrian connections and view corridors and provides a community amenity that takes advantage of the unique geography of the Island; and

(i)        to promote the most desirable use of land and thus conserve the value of land and buildings, and thereby protect the City’s tax revenues.