Blog

Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Announces 20^th Sum­mer Sea­son Open to the Public

May 19, 2025 3:44 pm

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island today unveiled its sum­mer sea­son cal­en­dar with a host of events and expe­ri­ences in hon­or of the Island’s 20^th year open to the pub­lic. The pro­gram­ming announced today high­lights the extra­or­di­nary range of events, cul­tur­al offer­ings, and recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties that have made Gov­er­nors Island a beloved des­ti­na­tion since first open­ing to the pub­lic in the sum­mer of 2005. This mile­stone sea­son cel­e­brates two decades of trans­for­ma­tion — from a for­mer mil­i­tary base into a thriv­ing pub­lic oasis — with a line­up that includes immer­sive pub­lic art instal­la­tions, open-air con­certs and food fes­ti­vals, unpar­al­leled recre­ation­al and edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties, world-class sport­ing events, and more. 

“Gov­er­nors Island is an extra­or­di­nary exam­ple of what is pos­si­ble when we invest in acces­si­ble, equi­table pub­lic spaces that serve all New York­ers,” said Deputy May­or for Hous­ing, Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment, and Work­force Adol­fo Car­rión Jr. ​“From cli­mate inno­va­tion and arts pro­gram­ming to small busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties and recre­ation, Gov­er­nors Island embod­ies the very best of New York City’s cre­ativ­i­ty and resilience. The Adams admin­is­tra­tion is proud to cel­e­brate twen­ty years of pub­lic access to this won­der­ful place – and is excit­ed for the upcom­ing sum­mer sea­son ahead.”

“Over the past two decades, Gov­er­nors Island has grown from a hid­den gem into a vibrant pub­lic resource that reflects the spir­it and diver­si­ty of New York City,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“As we cel­e­brate 20 years of pub­lic access, we are thrilled to hon­or the Island’s remark­able evo­lu­tion while con­tin­u­ing to offer the high-qual­i­ty and acces­si­ble events, pro­grams, recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties, open space, and arts and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences that make Gov­er­nors Island a tru­ly sin­gu­lar des­ti­na­tion. We hope to see you on the fer­ry this summer!”

Gov­er­nors Island first opened to the pub­lic in June 2005 for the first time in two cen­turies, wel­com­ing 8,000 vis­i­tors across four sum­mer week­ends. The pub­lic sea­son expand­ed to four months the fol­low­ing year and five months in 2008. The Island wel­comed its inau­gur­al year-round ten­ants, the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School and Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil, in 2010. The same year, the Gov­er­nors Island Park and Pub­lic Space Mas­ter Plan was released, pro­vid­ing a roadmap for improve­ments to ameni­ties and land­scapes as well as a new park on the Island’s south­ern end. The first 30 acres of the South Island Park opened to the pub­lic in 2014, and the park’s cul­mi­nat­ing fea­ture — The Hills — opened to the pub­lic in 2016. 

In 2020, the Trust and the New York City Mayor’s Office announced a vision to cre­ate the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions, a com­mu­ni­ty to accel­er­ate cli­mate solu­tions for cities on Gov­er­nors Island. In April 2023, fol­low­ing a two-year com­pet­i­tive process led by the Trust and the City of New York, The New York Cli­mate Exchange was select­ed as the anchor research and edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tion for this ini­tia­tive. After open­ing to the pub­lic year-round in 2021, Gov­er­nors Island cel­e­brat­ed a major mile­stone in 2024, wel­com­ing more than 970,000 indi­vid­u­als — the largest num­ber of annu­al vis­i­tors in the Island’s history. 

OPEN SPACE, AMENI­TIES, AND ATTRACTIONS

As Gov­er­nors Island cel­e­brates 20 years of being open to the pub­lic, it con­tin­ues to serve as a vital resource for all New York­ers. The Island is open dai­ly, offer­ing vis­i­tors access to 120 acres of expan­sive open space just min­utes from Low­er Man­hat­tan and Brook­lyn. The Island’s 43-acre, award-win­ning park — rec­og­nized for its inno­v­a­tive, cli­mate-resilient design — fea­tures rolling lawns, vibrant land­scapes, and ample space for pic­nick­ing and out­door recre­ation. Ham­mock Grove’s rec­og­niz­able red ham­mocks com­ple­ment sev­er­al expand­ed path­ways nes­tled among a young urban for­est, and The Hills offer urban hik­ing paths along­side unpar­al­leled views of Low­er Man­hat­tan and New York Harbor

Bike rentals from Blaz­ing Sad­dles are avail­able dai­ly for vis­i­tors to explore the Island’s sev­en miles of car-free bike paths, with Free Bike Morn­ings every week­day between 10am-12pm and free bike lessons on select sum­mer week­ends. The Island is also home to three CitiBike docks, locat­ed at each fer­ry land­ing and at Pic­nic Point. 

Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment, includ­ing Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams, will open Fri­day-Sun­day and all Fed­er­al Hol­i­days from 10am-5pm start­ing Memo­r­i­al Day Week­end for both ranger-led and self-guid­ed tours. The Urban Farm — home to GrowNYC’s teach­ing gar­den and Earth Mat­ter NY’s Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter and Soil Start Farm — is open week­ends from 12 – 4pm; play:groundNYC’s Adven­ture Play­ground, a unique kids-only space imag­i­na­tion and explo­ration, is open every week­end from 12 – 4pm. 

Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil (LMCC)’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island will hold pub­lic pro­grams and open stu­dios through­out the sum­mer along­side their annu­al Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val; the Insti­tute for Pub­lic Archi­tec­ture (IPA) will hold open library hours and exhi­bi­tions every week­end; Col­lec­tive Retreats is open through Novem­ber for overnight stays in their glamp­ing-style accom­mo­da­tions along with din­ner and drinks at their Sun­set Ter­race cock­tail bar and Three Peaks Lodge water­front restau­rant; and QC Spa New York is open dai­ly with two heat­ed out­door pools along­side saunas, steam rooms, relax­ation treat­ments, mas­sages, a full-ser­vice bistro, sen­so­ry saunas, a salt room, and more. 

Vis­i­tors will also be able to wit­ness inno­v­a­tive cli­mate solu­tions in action on Gov­er­nors Island this sum­mer — a record-break­ing 17 dif­fer­ent cli­mate pilot­ing projects will be vis­i­ble through­out the Island. Pilot projects will host live demon­stra­tions and work­shops sev­er­al week­ends dur­ing the sum­mer months, with com­mu­ni­ty demon­stra­tion days to be announced. The New York Cli­mate Exchange will also offer tours and info ses­sions, with dates to be announced. 

The Trust will offer wheel­chair-acces­si­ble tram ser­vice, free and avail­able to all guests. These elec­tric acces­si­bil­i­ty vehi­cles will depart from Sois­sons Land­ing and Yan­kee Pier Fri­day through Sun­day from Memo­r­i­al Day to Labor Day, stop­ping at sev­er­al key loca­tions through­out the Island. 

EVENTS

Gov­er­nors Island remains one of New York City’s most unique loca­tions for events of all kinds. See a selec­tion of upcom­ing ear­ly sum­mer events below, with more to be announced through­out the season:

• Gov­er­nors Island Nature Insect Walk – May 30
• Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Council’s Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val – May 31-Octo­ber 26
• Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix – June 7 – 8
• NYC Laven­der Fes­ti­val – June 7 – 8
• Jazz Age Lawn Par­ty – June 14 – 15, August 9 – 10
• Porch Stomp folk music fes­ti­val – June 21
• FAD Mar­ket Gov­er­nors Island pop-ups – June 21 – 22, July 19 – 20, August 16 – 17
• The Great Nosh NYC Pic­nic Fes­ti­val – June 22
• NYCRUNS Fire­crack­er 5K & 10K – July 5
• NYC Poet­ry Fes­ti­val – July 12 – 13
• Sun­dae Ser­mon Music Fes­ti­val: A Best of the Boros Pre­view – July 19

FOOD VEN­DORS

Gov­er­nors Island is a grow­ing culi­nary des­ti­na­tion with a diverse mix of cuisines avail­able to vis­i­tors dai­ly. New offer­ings this year include food at Threes Brew­ing, pow­ered by Brook­lyn-based Grand Army Bar, as well as Pizze­ria Fan­tas­ti­ca — a reimag­ined con­cept in Colonels Row from the Piz­za Yard team.

Return­ing ven­dors include Island Oys­ter, Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny, Lit­tle Eva’s, Taco Vista, Fauzia’s Heav­en­ly Delights, Threes Brew­ing, Sea Bis­cuit, Car­reau Club, Tokyo Drum­stick, La Newyork­i­na, Mak­i­na Café, On Tea Road, and more. The Food­ie Spot — a part­ner­ship with the New York City Hous­ing Author­i­ty (NYCHA)’s Office of Res­i­dent Eco­nom­ic Empow­er­ment and Sus­tain­abil­i­ty — will return to Liggett Ter­race for the fifth year in a row, spot­light­ing small busi­ness­es owned by grad­u­ates of NYCHA’s Food Busi­ness Path­ways pro­gram. Misi­pas­ta x Gov­er­nors Island, an inti­mate out­door sum­mer din­ner series pow­ered by Resy fea­tur­ing food from chef and restau­ran­teur Mis­sy Rob­bins, returns for the fifth sum­mer in a row June 10-August 29. 

Open Dai­ly

• Island Oys­ter – Mon­day-Fri­day, 11am-8pm; Sat­ur­day-Sun­day, 10am-8pm (week­end hours until 10pm begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny in the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing fer­ry ter­mi­nal – Dai­ly, 7am-2pm (open until 4pm begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny at Liggett Ter­race – Week­ends, 10am-5pm (open dai­ly begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Lit­tle Eva’s – Week­days, 11am-5pm; week­ends, 11am-6pm
• Mak­i­na Café – Week­days, 9am-3pm; week­ends, 10am‑4:30pm
• Pizze­ria Fan­tas­ti­ca (for­mer­ly Piz­za Yard) – Dai­ly, 10:30am-5pm
• Taco Vista – Dai­ly, 12 – 4pm
• Three Peaks Lodge at Col­lec­tive Retreats – Dai­ly for Hap­py Hour, din­ner, and bar service

Open Week­ends and Select Weekdays

• Brigs Sweet Shop – Week­ends, 10am-4pm
• Car­reau Club – Week­ends, 12 – 6pm
• Fauzia’s Heav­en­ly Delights – Week­ends, 11am-6pm
• The Food­ie Spot – Fri­day-Sun­day, 11am-5pm
• La Newyork­i­na – Week­ends, 12 – 7 pm
• On Tea Road – Week­ends, 12 – 5pm
• Sea Bis­cuit – Week­ends, 12 – 7pm
• Threes Brew­ing – Week­ends, 11am-6pm 
• Tokyo Drum­stick – Week­ends, 11am-6pm (open Wednes­day-Sun­day begin­ning July 2)

GOV­ER­NORS ISLAND ARTS

Through pub­lic art works, the annu­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence pro­gram, and pub­lic events and pro­gram­ming, Gov­er­nors Island Arts — the arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram pre­sent­ed by the Trust — cre­ates trans­for­ma­tive encoun­ters with art for all New York­ers, invit­ing artists and researchers to engage with the Island’s lay­ered his­to­ries, envi­ron­ments, and archi­tec­ture. Vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org/arts to view the program’s pre­vi­ous­ly announced sea­son of cul­tur­al offer­ings includ­ing group show Rest/​Play, the New York pre­mière of Tou­ki Delphine’s Fire­bird, and more. 

VIS­I­TOR INFORMATION

Gov­er­nors Island’s sum­mer hours will return begin­ning May 23, 2025. From Memo­r­i­al Day through Labor Day, the Island will remain open until 10pm Sun­day-Thurs­day and 11pm Fri­day-Sat­ur­day, with the South Island Park — includ­ing areas like The Hills, Ham­mock Grove, and Pic­nic Point — remain­ing open until dusk. From Labor Day through Memo­r­i­al Day, the Island is open dai­ly from 7am to 6pm. 

Trust for Gov­er­nors Island-oper­at­ed fer­ries run dai­ly between the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan and Sois­sons Land­ing on the Island. Trust-oper­at­ed fer­ries also serve two Brook­lyn loca­tions dur­ing the sum­mer months — Pier Six in Brook­lyn Bridge Park and Atlantic Basin in Red Hook. These routes run direct­ly to Yan­kee Pier on Gov­er­nors Island from each loca­tion every Sat­ur­day, Sun­day, and hol­i­day Mon­day from May 23 through Sep­tem­ber 14, 2025. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, vis­it the Gov­er­nors Island website.

Vis­i­tors are encour­aged to reserve fer­ry tick­ets in advance of their trip through the Gov­er­nors Island web­site. Round-trip fer­ry tick­ets cost $5 for adults. Fer­ries oper­at­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island are always free for chil­dren 12 and under, old­er adults 65 and up, res­i­dents of NYCHA, IDNYC hold­ers, cur­rent and for­mer mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers, and Gov­er­nors Island mem­bers. Fer­ries before 11am on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days are free for all. There is no sur­charge for bicy­cles or strollers on Trust-oper­at­ed fer­ries at any time.

The Trust also offers free fer­ry fares for non­prof­it and com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions, youth camps, and senior cen­ters. To inquire about group vis­its, orga­ni­za­tions may email groupvisits@​govisland.​org.

NYC Fer­ry ser­vice to Gov­er­nors Island on the South Brook­lyn route oper­ates on week­days and non-sum­mer week­ends. On sum­mer week­ends dur­ing the high­est rid­er­ship sea­son, NYC Fer­ry will con­tin­ue to oper­ate its ded­i­cat­ed sea­son­al shut­tle from Pier 11/​Wall Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan. NYC Fer­ry rid­ers may take any route to Pier 11 and trans­fer to the shut­tle for free, or NYC Fer­ry rid­ers may trans­fer for free at either Atlantic Ave/​Pier 6 or Red Hook/​Atlantic Basin to Trust-oper­at­ed Brook­lyn fer­ries. For tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion and full sched­ules for NYC Fer­ry, vis­it the NYC Fer­ry web­site, www.ferry.nyc.

The Gov­er­nors Island 2025 sea­son is gen­er­ous­ly sup­port­ed by The Black­stone Char­i­ta­ble Foun­da­tion, Bloomberg Phil­an­thropies, and STIHL Inc.

“For the past two decades, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island has played a vital role in trans­form­ing this pub­lic resource into a vibrant and acces­si­ble recre­ation­al and edu­ca­tion­al space,” said Con­gress­man Dan Gold­man. ​“By devel­op­ing Gov­er­nors Island into a ver­sa­tile des­ti­na­tion serv­ing a wide range of pur­pos­es, the Trust has cre­at­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties for recre­ation, cul­ture, and con­nec­tion for all New York­ers. I look for­ward to join­ing them this sum­mer for their excit­ing line­up of events.”

“Gov­er­nors Island is tru­ly one of our city’s hid­den gems, and it is hard to believe that this is the 20^th sea­son that it will be open to the pub­lic,” said U.S. Rep. Jer­ry Nadler. ​“I am hon­ored that I worked on reac­quir­ing the Island from the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, and that New York­ers today have this won­der­ful park in the cen­ter of the har­bor to play, explore and relax in. It is tru­ly an incred­i­ble one-of-a-kind New York attraction.”

“For two decades, Gov­er­nors Island has been the per­fect warm-weath­er escape for New York­ers and tourists – there’s more than 120 acres of open space, recre­ation­al activ­i­ties, arts and cul­ture, fam­i­ly pro­gram­ming, and local his­to­ry,” said Man­hat­tan Bor­ough Pres­i­dent Mark Levine. ​“With a five-minute fer­ry ride, you can escape the con­crete jun­gle for a day. I encour­age every­one to take advan­tage of this unique get­away and bask in all that Gov­er­nors Island has to offer.”

“As we mark 20 years of Gov­er­nors Island being open to the pub­lic, I’m proud to cel­e­brate all that this space has become — a hub for recre­ation, edu­ca­tion, cli­mate inno­va­tion, and cul­tur­al vibran­cy,” said Coun­cilmem­ber Christo­pher Marte. ​“For Low­er Man­hat­tan res­i­dents and New York­ers across the city, the Island has trans­formed into an acces­si­ble refuge from the pace of city life, while also serv­ing as a site for for­ward-think­ing cli­mate and sus­tain­abil­i­ty work. I look for­ward to see­ing even more fam­i­lies, stu­dents, and work­ers take the fer­ry this sum­mer to enjoy every­thing this unique space has to offer.”

“The secret is out: in the two decades since it first opened to the pub­lic, Gov­er­nors Island has become one of New York’s great pub­lic spaces, and a place filled with art, edu­ca­tion, sci­ence and recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties,” said State Sen­a­tor Andrew Gounardes. ​“It’s a tru­ly spe­cial place and a much-need­ed oasis in our city where New York­ers can learn, explore and sim­ply enjoy the out­doors. I’m look­ing for­ward to spend­ing time there with my own fam­i­ly this summer.”

“As a father and a life­long New York­er, I’ve always seen Gov­er­nors Island as a place where fam­i­lies, stu­dents, and neigh­bors from every bor­ough can come togeth­er to enjoy the best our city has to offer,” said Assem­bly­man Charles D. Fall. ​“Whether it’s through open space, cul­tur­al events, or cli­mate edu­ca­tion, the Island con­tin­ues to inspire and con­nect us. I’m proud to cel­e­brate 20 years of this incred­i­ble pub­lic trea­sure — and I look for­ward to many more sum­mers of shared memories.”

“I’m thrilled that Gov­er­nors Island has reached the 20-year mile­stone! It is with­out a doubt one of the most spec­tac­u­lar­ly beau­ti­ful spots in New York City,” said Coun­cilmem­ber Lin­coln Restler. ​“I hope Brook­lynites take advan­tage of the easy fer­ry access and enjoy extend­ed evening hours and won­der­ful sum­mer pro­gram­ming on Gov­er­nors Island!”

“For more than twen­ty years, Gov­er­nors Island has been a hid­den gem in our back­yard — wel­com­ing Low­er Man­hat­tan res­i­dents and vis­i­tors alike, and shin­ing as an unpar­al­leled oasis of green space, cul­ture and com­mu­ni­ty!” said Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 Chair, Tam­my Meltzer. ​“We are so proud to cel­e­brate the 20^th sum­mer sea­son with the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, show­cas­ing the bucol­ic park­land and nature, deli­cious fes­ti­vals, inspir­ing art, unfor­get­table con­certs, and inno­v­a­tive cli­mate lead­er­ship. From pic­nick­ing with friends and fir­ing up the bar­be­cue at Pic­nic Point to drift­ing away in Ham­mock Grove, explor­ing the Urban Farm’s gar­dens, or dis­cov­er­ing new works at the LMCC Arts Cen­ter and Artists in Res­i­dence stu­dios — there is so much to do and see, it tru­ly is the place to enjoy all sum­mer long. I urge all to not miss the boat (or the free, wheel­chair-acces­si­ble tram ser­vice) as we can’t wait to see fam­i­lies, neigh­bors, and vis­i­tors enjoy­ing the beau­ti­ful gar­dens, lawns, and all that our urban oasis offers while sad­dling up for bike rides and soak­ing in the spir­it of adven­ture on this extra­or­di­nary island!”

“I’m pleased to wel­come vis­i­tors back to Gov­er­nors Island this sum­mer sea­son,” said Nation­al Park Ser­vice Man­hat­tan Sites Super­in­ten­dent Shirley McK­in­ney. ​“We will con­tin­ue to allow self-guid­ed pub­lic tours of the his­toric forts. Park Rangers will be on site to answer ques­tions and pro­vide infor­ma­tion to our guests.”