New York’s city government is asking developers to submit proposals to revitalize and redevelop Governors Island, a 175-acre parcel of land that sits just south of Manhattan, and which has been virtually abandoned since the Coast Guard pulled up stakes ten years ago. “In asking developers to take the lead, government officials risk quashing creativity at the outset. More broadly, their appeal raises questions about how American cities — New York in particular — are approaching large-scale urban development these days, handing over enormous swaths of public land to private interests.”