Ecology Village

The marsh like estuary, Jamaica Bay
acts as a transitional intermediary. It is
a zone through which the ultra civilized
New York meets with wilderness- or
some simulacra of it. Hardly the image
of the untouched federal wilderness
preserve, present day Gateway sees
both current and past influences from
a modern international city. Indeed, its
landscape is defined by a patchwork of
human interventions from covered land
fills to eroded sandy beaches dredged
redefined from sand dredged from the
bottom of the East River.
This entry attempts to address this ebb
and flow interface between
development and nature through a
concept already present at Floyd
Bennett Field- that of the Ecology
Village. Unifying Gateway requires the
obvious solution of adding access and
infrastructure to the park through
subways, ferries and buses- it is
inaccessible except to weekend
warriors otherwise. This proposal
aggressively seeks to expand on the
transportation pathways currently
available. In defining where the
infrastructure accommodates the
re-expansive human colony, we can
predict where growth will likely be, its
focal points, and expansive paths
which it may take. We encourage this
growth but push for strategy that
allows accommodation for existing flora
and fauna as well as allowing for
human cohabitation.

-Michael R Tom
Spring 2007