THE GOVERNING ISLAND
Lesia Topolnyk
2024 Fall Residency
In 1637, the Dutch controversially acquired Governors Island from the Lenape, the indigenous people of New York City. For them, the agreement likely represented a temporary use permit rather than a permanent transfer of land. Consequently, the Lenape were forcibly removed from their ancestral territory, while Manhattan emerged as a symbol of capitalist expansion, made possible by the geological forces that form its bedrock.
Governors Island has historically served as both a protector and an extension of the city’s influence, reflecting Manhattan's reliance on surrounding territories. Over time, it has evolved from Indigenous foraging grounds to a colonial outpost, then a military stronghold, and now a “sustainability hub”—an urban entity dependent on energy grids, pipelines, waste flows, and other infrastructure to meet the city’s needs.
But what if the island resists? What if it asserts its own agency and becomes an active force rather than a passive entity? This project explores the possibility of Governors Island resisting New York’s legacy of control and expansion, claiming agency and redefining its role.
In this vision, we imagine a day when Governors Island breaks free to “occupy” Manhattan. Through a series of dynamic interventions using materials sourced from the island, it travels to Manhattan, claiming space and agency and ultimately “governing” as it moves. Like a Trojan horse, the intervention travels along Broadway—originally a Lenape trade route and culminating at the site of Manhattan's sale to the Dutch—this act symbolically “purchases” Manhattan, inviting the public into a critical dialogue that redefines New York’s narrative with values that existed before the island’s sale. Here, Governors Island becomes Governing.
Governors Island has historically served as both a protector and an extension of the city’s influence, reflecting Manhattan's reliance on surrounding territories. Over time, it has evolved from Indigenous foraging grounds to a colonial outpost, then a military stronghold, and now a “sustainability hub”—an urban entity dependent on energy grids, pipelines, waste flows, and other infrastructure to meet the city’s needs.
But what if the island resists? What if it asserts its own agency and becomes an active force rather than a passive entity? This project explores the possibility of Governors Island resisting New York’s legacy of control and expansion, claiming agency and redefining its role.
In this vision, we imagine a day when Governors Island breaks free to “occupy” Manhattan. Through a series of dynamic interventions using materials sourced from the island, it travels to Manhattan, claiming space and agency and ultimately “governing” as it moves. Like a Trojan horse, the intervention travels along Broadway—originally a Lenape trade route and culminating at the site of Manhattan's sale to the Dutch—this act symbolically “purchases” Manhattan, inviting the public into a critical dialogue that redefines New York’s narrative with values that existed before the island’s sale. Here, Governors Island becomes Governing.
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