The city is wresting control of Governors Island from the state in order to move forward with redevelopment of the prime real estate.
The deal, details of which will be announced tonight, is similar to one made last month for control of Brooklyn Bridge Park, in which the Bloomberg administration agreed to fill $55 million of the project’s $120 million shortfall.
Governors Island is slated to undergo a major facelift and be reborn as a tourist attraction, officials said.
Under the agreement, the city will control nine of the 13 appointments to the Governors Island Operating Entity – a nascent board tasked with planning and supervising 150 acres of the island.
Construction is set to begin in 2012 for a 2.2-mile promenade along the water’s edge, open space for parkland and a renovation of the National Historic District.
The city will now be able to spend $41.5 million in previously earmarked money on the renovation.