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Stay safe in the heat: Drink plenty of water, spend time in the shade, and visit the first aid station at Soissons Landing if you feel unwell. Click here for important warm weather visitor information.

Stay safe in the heat: Drink plenty of water, spend time in the shade, and visit the first aid station at Soissons Landing if you feel unwell. Click here for important warm weather visitor information.

2017 Friends of Gov­er­nors Island Gala

The Friends of Gov­er­nors Island 2017 Gala will hon­or the six women who led the trans­for­ma­tion of Gov­er­nors Island into the incred­i­ble pub­lic space it is today: for­mer First Deputy May­or Pat­ti Har­ris, past Board Chair of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Ron­ay Men­schel, past Trust Pres­i­dent Leslie Koch, phil­an­thropist Wendy Schmidt, past Trust Vice Pres­i­dent for Plan­ning, Design and Con­struc­tion Ellen Cavanagh, and past Trust Vice Pres­i­dent for Plan­ning and Design Bet­ty Chen. Michael R. Bloomberg will be a part of the event. 

Inspired by an 1862 pho­to­graph of the six men who cre­at­ed Cen­tral Park, this year’s Gala com­mem­o­rates a par­al­lel achieve­ment for open space in New York City. Born in the heart of New York Har­bor 155 years lat­er, Gov­er­nors Island’s inno­v­a­tive park was imag­ined and built by an extra­or­di­nary group of six women.

The Gala pro­vides an oppor­tu­ni­ty to cel­e­brate these vision­ar­ies, as well as the many oth­er women who made the dra­mat­ic new park pos­si­ble – from archi­tects and plan­ners, to elect­ed offi­cials, part­ners, staff and volunteers. 

Now enjoyed by 600,000 vis­i­tors annu­al­ly, Gov­er­nors Island’s new land­scapes were designed to thrive for cen­turies by address­ing cli­mate change head on. Funds raised at the Gala will sup­port ongo­ing resilien­cy mea­sures and help care for the more than 2,300 trees and 50,000 shrubs in the new park. 

Join us to cel­e­brate this his­toric moment, sup­port Gov­er­nors Island’s con­tin­ued trans­for­ma­tion, and ensure that all New York­ers can take advan­tage of this shared space for years to come. 

For more infor­ma­tion on how to become an ear­ly sup­port­er of the Gala by join­ing the Host Com­mit­tee, con­tact Mer­ritt Birn­baum at merritt@​friendsgi.​org or 646.832.3367.