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Pump­kin Point Returns to Gov­er­nors Island This October

Sep 21, 2023 10:14 am

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island today announced the return of Pump­kin Point, a free annu­al pump­kin patch and fall fes­ti­val on Gov­er­nors Island. Locat­ed in his­toric Nolan Park, Pump­kin Point will bring over 10,000 pump­kins of all shapes and sizes to the Island’s his­toric dis­trict, trans­form­ing the idyl­lic set­ting along with its nat­u­ral­ly stun­ning fall foliage into a delight­ful­ly autum­nal escape with free pro­grams and activ­i­ties for vis­i­tors of all ages. Vis­i­tors are invit­ed to pick out their own pump­kins (free with sug­gest­ed dona­tion) on the week­ends of Octo­ber 21 – 22 and Octo­ber 28 – 29, 2023, from 10am to 5pm. 

“Fall is one of the best sea­sons to come explore Gov­er­nors Island. Whether you’re com­ing to check out the beau­ti­ful foliage adorn­ing our 3,500+ trees, explore pub­lic art­works amidst the chang­ing sea­sons, or to enjoy one of New York City’s biggest pump­kin patch­es, there is some­thing for every­one here on the Island this fall,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“We invite all New York­ers to hop on the fer­ry and enjoy the incred­i­ble line­up of free pro­grams at Pump­kin Point 2023!”

“We are so excit­ed to host Pump­kin Point on Gov­er­nors Island once again this year. This beloved pub­lic event wel­comes thou­sands of fam­i­lies to cel­e­brate autumn with pump­kin pick­ing, trick-or-treat­ing, free pub­lic per­for­mances, arts and crafts, and so much more,” said Pat­ti Davis, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island. ​“We have an enter­tain­ing line­up of kid-friend­ly pro­gram­ming that we can’t wait to share with our vis­i­tors! It is a tru­ly mag­i­cal expe­ri­ence to bask in the beau­ty of Gov­er­nors Island while enjoy­ing a fun-filled fall day.”

This year’s fes­tiv­i­ties will include plen­ty of free fall moments, pump­kin paint­ing, and craft­ing activ­i­ties, as well as a rotat­ing sched­ule of spe­cial events and per­for­mances from Won­der­Spark Pup­pets, Bub­bledad, Brook­lyn Mag­ic Shop, and more to be announced. New for 2023, Pump­kin Point is part­ner­ing with Brook­lyn Book Bode­ga to bring a fall book cor­ner to Nolan Park. Books will be avail­able to take home on the final Sun­day of the event (Octo­ber 29). Nick­elodeon will bring new life to the his­toric Admi­rals House through larg­er-than-life dec­o­ra­tions that will fea­ture char­ac­ters from PAW Patrol, Sponge­Bob SquarePants, Mon­ster High 2, and more, pro­vid­ing an excit­ing pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ty and dai­ly give­aways for kids (and kids at heart). Island vis­i­tors will be able to trick or treat at the Nolan Park hous­es on Sun­day, Octo­ber 29 — cos­tumes encour­aged, fea­tur­ing can­dy from Tony’s Cho­colone­ly along­side oth­er sweet treats. Food will be avail­able for pur­chase onsite from Gov­er­nors Island ven­dors each weekend. 

A full sched­ule of each weekend’s events and ven­dors can be found online at www​.gov​is​land​.org/​p​u​m​p​k​i​n​-​point. Any pump­kins left over from Pump­kin Point will be com­post­ed on Gov­er­nors Island by Earth Mat­ter, which runs a Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter at the Urban Farm on Gov­er­nors Island.

Pump­kin Point is co-pre­sent­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island. Gen­er­ous sup­port for the event is pro­vid­ed by Nick­elodeon, Tony’s Cho­colone­ly, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

In addi­tion to Pump­kin Point, vis­i­tors can enjoy a ros­ter of new events and activ­i­ties all month long: Gov­er­nors Island Arts will present two free week­ends of per­for­mances, ¡Harken! by Modesto ​“Flako” Jimenez Sep­tem­ber 29-Octo­ber 1 and Indige­nous Enter­prise Octo­ber 7 – 9; Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Council’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island will be open through Octo­ber 1 with a day of free pub­lic pro­grams on Sep­tem­ber 30; the Island will par­tic­i­pate in For­est for All NYC’s sec­ond annu­al City of For­est Day with a vol­un­teer activ­i­ty and guid­ed tree tour on Octo­ber 14; FAD Mar­ket will hold their final fall pop-up on Octo­ber 21 and 22; NYCRUNS will hold their annu­al Haunt­ed Island 5K and 10K race on Octo­ber 28; the Gov­er­nors Island Arts Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence will present their final month­ly THIRD Sat­ur­days cel­e­bra­tion on Octo­ber 21; QC NY Spa is open dai­ly with dozens of well­ness expe­ri­ences and two large heat­ed pools; and more. See a full event cal­en­dar at www​.gov​is​land​.org/​t​h​i​n​g​s​-​to-do.

Gov­er­nors Island is open to the pub­lic dai­ly from 7am to 6pm. Trust for Gov­er­nors Island-oper­at­ed fer­ries run dai­ly from the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan. Sea­son­al Brook­lyn fer­ry ser­vice oper­at­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island also runs Sat­ur­days and Sun­days through Octo­ber 29 from Red Hook/​Atlantic Basin and Brook­lyn Bridge Park/​Pier 6. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org.

Vis­i­tors are encour­aged to reserve tick­ets for Trust-oper­at­ed fer­ries in advance. Round-trip fer­ry tick­ets cost $4 for adults. Gov­er­nors Island fer­ries are always free for chil­dren 12 and under, seniors 65 and up, res­i­dents of NYCHA, IDNYC hold­ers, cur­rent and for­mer mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers, and Gov­er­nors Island mem­bers. Fer­ries before noon on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days are free for all. There is no sur­charge for bicy­cles or strollers at any time.

NYC Fer­ry also serves Gov­er­nors Island week­days on the South Brook­lyn route and week­ends via the Gov­er­nors Island Shut­tle from Wall Street/​Pier 11. For tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion and full sched­ules for NYC Fer­ry, vis­it www.ferry.nyc.