A Community Board 1 committee is backing Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to turn an increasingly popular but cash-strapped Governors Island into a city-operated park.

Today, the city shares control of the island with New York State by way of a joint public benefit corporation. But the state could barely foot its part of the expenses in 2009, and will likely struggle again in the new year. If the city's Department of Parks and Recreation takes full control, the mayor has vowed, it will commit millions of city dollars to developing and maintaining the park.

“Last year we were in a little bit of a quandary, because we didn’t have funding until [State Assembly] Speaker [Sheldon] Silver went and lobbied for us to get the money to operate Governors Island,” said Bob Townley, chairman of CB1’s Waterfront Committee. Governors Island, located one-half mile from Lower Manhattan, is within Community Board 1’s district. On Dec. 21 the committee passed a draft resolution supporting city control of the island only if it commits to expanding ferry service to and from the island as well as adding to its ball fields and indoor recreation spaces.

The resolution also calls for Community Board approval of all future construction on the island.

“We’re saying we’re not opposed to the city exercising more control over the island, provided they really do all of these things,” Townley said.

Earlier this year, as the state struggled to find a way to fund its share of the 172-acre island park’s $12 million operating costs, Bloomberg said he was willing to reroute city funds originally earmarked for renovations of the Jacob Javits Convention Center to pay for development and maintenance of two city/state projects: Governors Island and Brooklyn Bridge Park. In exchange, the state would take on the Javits Center project and give up its interest in the two parks. Both Gov. David Paterson—who had not included funding for the island in the state’s 2009 budget—and State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver resisted the idea at the time. (Silver, instead, convinced Paterson to reinstate $6 million for the island in the budget.) But Silver appears now to be reconsidering his position.

“He’s indicated that he’s not opposed to a city takeover,” said Paul Goldstein, director of Silver’s district office. “[Silver] does recognize that there are ongoing funding concerns and that trying to get regular funding has proven difficult. I think he’s interested in exploring ways to develop a more permanent funding stream for the island.”

A spokeswoman for Gov. Paterson deferred comment to the Empire State Development Corporation. Calls to the ESDC were not immediately returned.

What to do with Governors Island, a US Coast Guard outpost from 1966 until 1996, has been at issue since the city/state-run Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) took control of 150 acres of the island in 2003. Open to the public during the summer and early fall, the park has become an increasingly popular daytrip for tourists and residents. In 2009, GIPEC estimated more than 275,000 people—up from around 8,000 in 2005—visited the island for the art exhibits, concerts, youth sporting events low-cost bike rentals. The Governors Island Alliance, a coalition of about 50 community groups, cultural and educational organizations with an interest in the island’s development, has also supported the city’s bid for control of the island.

“While the city and the state have made a tremendous amount of progress, we’ve gotten to a place where the island is starting to feel like a part of the city,” Rob Pirani, executive director of the Governors Island Alliance, said during the Dec. 21 CB1 meeting. “The decision-making process for the island seems a little broken. We think the island would be better off with a single owner and a single management structure.”