Writer Comes Up With Idea For 'Frankenborough' In New York Harbor
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Whether it is finding a place to live, a place park your car, or even just a place to walk or bike, it all requires space.
And with space at a premium in New York City, one man is suggesting it is time to create a sixth borough, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
The idea being hypothetically proposed is a "Frankenborough" – a new manmade island out in New York Harbor. Writer Jon Methven pitched the idea on the website The Awl.
Writer Comes Up With Idea For 'Frankenborough' In New York Harbor
He suggested that the "hypothetical sixth borough" could be placed in the Upper Bay of New York Harbor – at a location such as between Liberty and Governors Island, or adjacent to Red Hook, Brooklyn.
In pitching the idea, Methven noted that a proposal had been launched last year to create a floating park in the Hudson River.
"If it is possible, financially and technologically, to build a three-acre park in the river west of New York City, then why isn't it possible to construct an artificial island at a higher elevation than downtown Manhattan that would serve as New York City's sixth borough?" Methven wrote. "Many of the city's problems—real estate prices, developers purchasing blocks at a time, the astronomical cost of parking a car, or even a bicycle, even shoreline erosion—are problems of space. So why not just build more space?"
Methven also noted that New Yorkers have been "playing mad scientist with Mother Nature for centuries," noting that when the Dutch arrived in the 17th century, Manhattan was only a barrier that protected the mainland. He also pointed out several past ideas, including two plans to fill in the East River to link Brooklyn and Manhattan, and another plan to fill in the Hudson River and link the city with New Jersey.
Schuck asked some people what they thought of the idea.
"If it was more green space, then I think it would be good," one man said.
Another man, Julio, joked that he would name the borough after himself and be in charge, but added that the proposal would cost too much money.
