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2017 Friends of Gov­er­nors Island Gala

Jun 29, 2017 4:12 pm

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.