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Hal­loween in the Har­bor: Gov­er­nors Island Pump­kin Patch and Trick-or-Treat­ing Returns this October

Sep 26, 2018 2:04 pm

Our much-antic­i­pat­ed Hal­loween pro­gram­ming line-up is here! 

Pump­kin Point, one of New York City’s only pump­kin patch­es, will return for its sec­ond year dur­ing the last two week­ends of Octo­ber with free fall-themed, fam­i­ly-friend­ly fun! Chil­dren and fam­i­lies are also invit­ed to come in cos­tume for free Trick-or-Treat­ing at the his­toric hous­es in Nolan Park on Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 27, from 1 – 3PM.

“This Octo­ber, Gov­er­nors Island is the eas­i­est way to enjoy an afford­able fall get­away for vis­i­tors of all ages,” said Michael Samuelian, Pres­i­dent of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“From the col­or­ful chang­ing leaves through­out the Island’s sprawl­ing new park spaces to a sea of orange pump­kins in his­toric Nolan Park, fall is in the air on Gov­er­nors Island and all New York­ers are invit­ed to take a short fer­ry ride to delight in Hal­loween in the Harbor.” 

Return­ing for its sec­ond year, this time in his­toric Nolan Park, Pump­kin Point will bring thou­sands of ripe fall pump­kins to Gov­er­nors Island. The patch is free to vis­it, and small and medi­um-sized pump­kins can be hand­picked and pur­chased for a small dona­tion that ben­e­fits the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island. Sur­round­ed by beau­ti­ful fall foliage and the vil­lage-like atmos­phere of for­mer officer’s homes, this free fall spec­tac­u­lar will include free live music, and pump­kin paint­ing with the Children’s Muse­um of the Arts. Vis­i­tors can enjoy a fall beer gar­den and tasty treats includ­ing warm cider, mini pump­kin pies, ​“ghoulash” by Island ven­dor Lit­tle Eva’s, Blue Mar­ble ice cream and more. Pump­kin Point will be open from 11AM-5PM the last two week­ends of the 2018 sea­son, Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 20 through Sun­day, Octo­ber 21 and Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 27 through Sun­day, Octo­ber 28. 

In addi­tion to Pump­kin Point, Gov­er­nors Island will host its sec­ond annu­al free Trick-or-Treat­ing on Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 27. Fam­i­lies are encour­aged to dress up in cos­tume and wan­der from porch to porch of the his­toric for­mer offi­cers’ homes of Nolan Park, where the Island’s arts and cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions, staff and vol­un­teers will hand out free can­dy and oth­er treats. Trick-or-Treat­ing will take place Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 27 only from 1PM-3PM. 

“We’re offer­ing all New York­ers the chance to expe­ri­ence a true ​‘small town Hal­loween’ feel­ing with­out leav­ing the City,” said Mer­ritt Birn­baum, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Every­one is invit­ed to our car-free oasis to crunch through the autumn leaves, trick-or-treat at real wood­en porch­es, and pick the per­fect pump­kin to take home.” 

In 2017, Gov­er­nors Island extend­ed its sea­son through Octo­ber 31 for the first time. Last Octo­ber, near­ly 50,000 vis­i­tors enjoyed the Island’s spec­tac­u­lar park spaces, fall foliage and Hal­loween pro­gram­ming. This year, Gov­er­nors Island is open to the pub­lic sev­en days a week through Octo­ber 31 from 10 AM to 6 PM week­days and from 10 AM to 7 PM weekends. 

This year’s Pump­kin Point and Trick-or-Treat­ing events are pre­sent­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island. Gen­er­ous sup­port for the events is pro­vid­ed by Bloomberg Phil­an­thropies. Any pump­kins left over from Pump­kin Point will be baked into pump­kin pies and donat­ed to The Bow­ery Mis­sion, which serves home­less and hun­gry New York­ers, or com­post­ed on Gov­er­nors Island by Earth Mat­ter, which runs the Island’s Com­post Learn­ing Center.