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Please be advised: Slide Hill is temporarily closed for planned maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please be advised: Slide Hill is temporarily closed for planned maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Blog

Announc­ing the 2013 Sea­son on Gov­er­nors Island

May 16, 2013 6:44 pm
GIA Family FestivalGov­er­nors Island’s sum­mer sea­son is right around the cor­ner. This year, pro­gram­ming will take place through­out the His­toric Dis­trict while we con­tin­ue con­struc­tion on the south­ern end of the Island. Fer­ries will once again bring vis­i­tors from Man­hat­tan and Brook­lyn, or you can also take the East Riv­er Fer­ry to the Island. Gov­er­nors Island is open every Sat­ur­day, Sun­day and hol­i­day Mon­day (Memo­r­i­al Day and Labor Day) from May 25 through Sep­tem­ber 29. As always, you can bring your own bike to the Island or they can rent one here. We will again be host­ing a vari­ety of food ven­dors each week­end, locat­ed in the King Avenue Food Court in the His­toric Dis­trict. New Pro­grams and Exhibits! We’re wel­com­ing sev­er­al new pro­grams to the Island this year, includ­ing the New York His­tor­i­cal Society’s  WWII & NYC: Pho­tog­ra­phy and Pro­pa­gan­da, which will paint a vivid pic­ture of New York City life in wartime through pho­tographs, posters, a Vic­to­ry Gar­den hands-on activ­i­ties for all ages begin­ning July 13th. The Brook­lyn Pub­lic Library, New York Pub­lic Library, and Queens Library are part­ner­ing with the Uni Project, New York City’s portable out­door read­ing room, to pro­vide books, learn­ing activ­i­ties, and chil­dren’s pro­grams through­out the sum­mer. Vis­i­tors will be able to bor­row books ​“in house”, reg­is­ter for library cards, sign up for sum­mer read­ing, learn more about the Uni, and find out about what’s hap­pen­ing in each of the three New York City pub­lic library sys­tems. Bike New York will also offer class­es where vis­i­tors can learn to ride and brush up on their bike skills. The high­light of the 2013 sea­son will be a French fes­ti­val of vin­tage car­ni­val rides and carousels, open­ing in mid-July. The fes­ti­val will take place in Nolan Park. More details about the fes­ti­val will be released lat­er this season. Jazz Age Festival Your Favorites Return! This year we’re wel­com­ing back some of our favorites includ­ing the Jazz Age Lawn Par­ty, FIGMENT’s mini-golf, Tree House and City of Dreams Pavil­ion, and the Uni­cy­cle Fes­ti­val. The Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil will host a series of exhibits and open artist stu­dios through­out the sea­son. Vis­i­tors can also enjoy guid­ed pro­grams with the Nation­al Park Ser­vice, explore Cas­tle Williams and Fort Jay and expe­ri­ence spe­cial youth pro­grams. Sum­mer 2013 in the His­toric District  All pro­gram­ming this sum­mer will take place in the Nation­al His­toric Dis­trict. The south­ern half of the Island, includ­ing Pic­nic Point, will be closed (with the excep­tion of hard hat tours). This will allow us to con­tin­ue our con­struc­tion of 30 new acres of park and pub­lic spaces, work on the Island’s sea­wall and potable water pipe, and demo­li­tion of non-his­toric build­ings. The clo­sure of the south­ern por­tion is nec­es­sary to ensure the safe­ty of the pub­lic and an on-time com­ple­tion of these projects, allow­ing us to improve the island for the next gen­er­a­tion. Biking through the Historic DistrictNew Ways to View Con­struc­tion Progress!  Those who would like to check in on our con­struc­tion progress are in luck! There will be a View­ing Plat­form at Liggett Arch where vis­i­tors will be able to see the entire 30 acre con­struc­tion site. The park and pub­lic spaces under con­struc­tion include live­ly plazas, a shady botan­ic for­est, two ball fields and expan­sive lawns. In addi­tion, we will be offer­ing free hard hat tours for the pub­lic on the last full week­end of each month. For a full sched­ule of events and pro­grams, up-to-date fer­ry sched­ules, infor­ma­tion on our con­struc­tion tour pro­gram, and down­load­able maps, please vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.com. Look­ing for­ward to see­ing you on the Island! Images cour­tesy Arsenic & Old Lace (by Patrick Michael Hugh­es), the Gov­er­nors Island Alliance, and istolethetv.
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