Big news: Governors Island will stay open year-round, seven days a week starting Nov. 1, the day after the regular season ends. New hours will be 7a to 6:15p, which is a slight shift from the current hours that start at 10a.

The goal, I believe, is to make it more accessible to the anchor university and research institution they are trying to attract to the upzoned sections of the island. The city approved a rezoning that will allow buildings as tall as 225 feet for the 33 acres on the Brooklyn-facing side of the island. (See more images from the original plans here.)

In June, the city released an official request for expressions of interest for what it is calling a Climate Solutions Center for the western development site, which would allow for up to one million square feet of development, including adaptive reuse of historic buildings. (The deadline for respondents was yesterday.) The Trust and the city will make available up to $150 million of capital funding for the project, which must “make a positive contribution to the island’s physical campus; existing community of users, tenants, and partners; and financial sustainability.”

It must also include a core academic and/or research use and may include other allowable uses such as office, hotel, dorm, cultural “to they extent they support the mission of the Center and Institution.”

It will be exciting to have winter access to the island, which, if it ever snows in New York City again, will be great. In addition to the Governors Island ferry from the Battery Maritime Building, the NYC Ferry will serve Governors Island daily beginning with the launch of the Coney Island Route this fall. On peak summer weekends, NYC Ferry will serve Governors Island via dedicated shuttle to Yankee Pier from Wall St./Pier 11. A launch date for weekday NYC Ferry Service to Governors Island will be announced soon.