A local representative for Lower Manhattan wants to hold the Khalid Shaikh Mohammed trial on Governors Island, a protected park and former military base off Lower Manhattan parallel to Red Hook in Brooklyn.
One of my favorite memories of the summer was running along the southern edge of the island and reading on its grassy knolls. I worry that what the court will save in security by holding the trial on an easily secured island, the public will lose in terms of a recreation spot that’s free to enter, quick to get to and a hidden cultural treasure.
But what do you think, Paul Brady?
The current problem of “What should we do with Governors Island?” certainly won’t be resolved by barring visitors yet again—and by extension reducing the amount of information the public has about this unique green space.
Further, I find it surprising that the CB1 chairwoman would want to discourage people from coming to—and spending money in—her district, particularly when Governors Island is drawing record numbers of visitors.
And if this show trial is meant to prove the power and fairness of our justice system, should we have it on an island that served as a prisoner detention center during the presidency of Lincoln, who famously suspended habeas corpus and detained Confederate sympathizers without trial?
