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Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage to Open Decem­ber 17

Dec 2, 2021 8:56 am

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island today announced the launch of the Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage, trans­form­ing his­toric Colonels Row into a des­ti­na­tion for sea­son­al ameni­ties. Open­ing Decem­ber 17, the Vil­lage will include a 5,000-square foot skat­ing rink for vis­i­tors of all ages to enjoy, along with sea­son­al activ­i­ties, fes­tive win­ter lights, games and food and drinks along­side warm­ing fire pits. The rink will be open Fri­days, week­ends and New York City pub­lic school hol­i­days, with oth­er activ­i­ties open sev­en days a week. 

“We are so excit­ed to wel­come all New York­ers to the first pub­lic win­ter sea­son on Gov­er­nors Island. From ice skat­ing to hot choco­late by the fire, the Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage will pro­vide vis­i­tors of all ages with plen­ty of cold-weath­er fun and fes­tiv­i­ties while serv­ing as an amaz­ing kick-off to our inau­gur­al win­ter sea­son,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“In addi­tion to the city’s most dra­mat­ic skat­ing back­drop, Vil­lage vis­i­tors will enjoy some of the amaz­ing food trucks and excit­ing pro­gram­ming that makes the Island a great place to vis­it all year long.” 

In addi­tion to the rink, the Vil­lage will fea­ture bike and sled rentals from Blaz­ing Sad­dles NYC and win­tery activ­i­ties includ­ing lawn games like corn­hole, can jam and giant Jen­ga; fire pits; win­ter arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram­ming and a sparkling dis­play of hol­i­day lights through­out his­toric Colonels Row. The Trust will also dis­play a his­toric Coast Guard-era fire truck at the Win­ter Vil­lage, pro­vid­ing a charm­ing pho­to op for visitors. 

Lit­tle Eva’s will anchor the Win­ter Village’s food and bev­er­age options and will debut a new sea­son­al menu, com­plete with warm drinks and new takes on their clas­sic com­fort food like brats, veg­an chili, fish and chips and more. An eclec­tic array of week­end food trucks, plus Joe Cof­fee — open dai­ly inside LMCC’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island and in the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing fer­ry ter­mi­nal — round out the Island’s win­ter eats.

The ice rink will be open Fri­days from noon to 5pm and Sat­ur­days and Sun­days from 10am to 5pm, with extend­ed hours avail­able for youth, adult and non­prof­it sports leagues and asso­ci­a­tions (inter­est­ed orga­ni­za­tions should email info@​govisland.​org). The rink will also fea­ture events, activ­i­ties and ​“Free Admis­sion Fri­days,” with admis­sion fees waived for all vis­i­tors every Friday.

“Ice skat­ing beneath the tow­er­ing trees, grab­bing a hot choco­late over a roar­ing fire, or sim­ply admir­ing the hol­i­day light dis­play — what could be a more charm­ing way to spend a win­ter after­noon?” said Mer­ritt Birn­baum, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Gov­er­nors Island is already New York City’s favorite des­ti­na­tion for fun in the sun, and we look for­ward to wel­com­ing vis­i­tors to expe­ri­ence a whole new sea­son of activ­i­ties in this spe­cial place.”

In Sep­tem­ber, May­or Bill de Bla­sio and the Trust announced that start­ing in 2021 Gov­er­nors Island will be open to the pub­lic year-round for the first time in his­to­ry. Gov­er­nors Island is open dai­ly from 7am to 6pm and is acces­si­ble by fer­ry. Fer­ries oper­at­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island run dai­ly from the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Man­hat­tan. A round trip fer­ry tick­et costs $3 for adults and is free for seniors 65 and over, chil­dren 12 and under, NYCHA res­i­dents, IDNYC hold­ers, for­mer and active mil­i­tary ser­vice­mem­bers and for every­one on week­ends before noon. Fer­ry reser­va­tions and sched­ules can be found at gov​is​land​.org/​ferry.

Gov­er­nors Island’s award-win­ning park is open to the pub­lic every day, along with restrooms, recre­ation activ­i­ties like bike rentals and Ham­mock Grove, The Hills, Pic­nic Point and more. The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island’s pub­lic art com­mis­sions, includ­ing work from Duke Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Mark Dion and Mark Hand­forth are also cur­rent­ly on view through­out the Island.

Start­ing lat­er this year, NYC Fer­ry will serve Gov­er­nors Island dai­ly, year-round begin­ning with the launch of the Coney Island Route. NYC Fer­ry will serve Gov­er­nors Island’s Yan­kee Pier via the South Brook­lyn Route, expand­ing direct access from Red Hook, Atlantic Ave/​Brooklyn Bridge Park-Pier 6, DUMBO/​Fulton Fer­ry, and Cor­lears Hook in the Low­er East Side for Gov­er­nors Island vis­i­tors and grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of ten­ants. NYC Ferry’s week­end shut­tle ser­vice from Wall Street/​Pier 11 will con­tin­ue to serve Gov­er­nors Island on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days until the launch of this extend­ed service.