Blog

Sum­mer 2024 on Gov­er­nors Island: What You Need to Know

May 21, 2024 10:30 am

May 21, 2024

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island today announced a robust cal­en­dar of excit­ing and wide-rang­ing pro­grams on the Island for this sum­mer that promise to offer excit­ing expe­ri­ences for New York­ers of all ages and vis­i­tors from around the world. This year’s pro­gram­ming high­lights the breadth of activ­i­ties, events, and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences that can be enjoyed dur­ing the warmer months on Gov­er­nors Island, includ­ing live music, food trucks, and pub­lic art installations.

“Gov­er­nors Island has long been the epi­cen­ter of arts, cul­ture, and sum­mer fun in New York Har­bor,” said New York City May­or Eric Adams. ​“As we pre­pare for warmer weath­er in the months ahead, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island has got New York­ers cov­ered for free events and pro­grams, expand­ed hours, open space, and icon­ic views. Vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org for more infor­ma­tion, or grab a fer­ry tick­et and head over to Gov­er­nors Island for fun activ­i­ties and deli­cious food this summer.”

“Gov­er­nors Island con­tin­ues to offer unique cul­tur­al, edu­ca­tion­al, and recre­ation­al resources on 172 acres in the heart of New York Har­bor, and this sum­mer sea­son hosts even more excit­ing pro­gram­ming than ever before,” said Deputy May­or for Hous­ing, Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment and Work­force Maria Tor­res-Springer. ​“We encour­age New York­ers and vis­i­tors alike to enjoy the attrac­tions on the Island — from gor­geous views of the city sky­line to unique music and shop­ping expe­ri­ences to ath­let­ic events in beau­ti­ful open space — before the end of warm weath­er this year.”

“Gov­er­nors Island con­tin­ues to grow as an acces­si­ble, year-round des­ti­na­tion — offer­ing unpar­al­leled open space, thought-pro­vok­ing arts and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences, some of our city’s best culi­nary offer­ings, a diverse com­mu­ni­ty of ten­ants and ameni­ties, and more for our near­ly one mil­lion vis­i­tors,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“It’s going to be an excit­ing sum­mer on the Island, and we encour­age all New York­ers to hop on the fer­ry and check out every­thing we have to offer this year.” 

VIS­I­TOR AMENI­TIES AND ATTRACTIONS

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

The Urban Farm — home to GrowNYC’s teach­ing gar­den, Earth Mat­ter NY’s Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter and Soil Start Farm, and the Bee Conservancy’s bee sanc­tu­ary — is open week­ends from 12 – 4pm with free tours the first Sat­ur­day of every month. play:groundNYC’s Adven­ture Play­ground, a unique kids-only space imag­i­na­tion and explo­ration, is open every week­end from 12 – 4pm. Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment, includ­ing Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams, is open Wednes­day-Sun­day and all Fed­er­al Hol­i­days from 10am-5pm start­ing Memo­r­i­al Day week­end for both Ranger-led and self-guid­ed tours. 

Col­lec­tive Retreats is open dai­ly for overnight stays, and QC NY is open dai­ly with two heat­ed out­door pools along­side saunas, steam rooms, relax­ation treat­ments, mas­sages, and more. QC NY will also debut expand­ed ameni­ties this July, includ­ing a new bistro, sen­so­ry saunas, a salt room, and more. 

Vis­i­tors can expect to wit­ness inno­v­a­tive cli­mate solu­tions in action on Gov­er­nors Island this sea­son, includ­ing Cir­cu­lar Econ­o­my Manufacturing’s solar-pow­ered Micro­Fac­to­ry, Pulse Grids’ unique solar POW­ER­DOME, Vycarb’s car­bon mon­i­tor­ing tech­nol­o­gy in New York Har­bor, and the inau­gur­al cohort of the Trust’s annu­al Cli­mate Solu­tions Chal­lenge win­ners, announced in March 2024. Pilot projects will be open for live demon­stra­tions and work­shops most 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. 

OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION

Vis­i­tors can enjoy Gov­er­nors Island’s 120+ acres of open space dai­ly. The Island’s award-win­ning, cli­mate resilient park offers rolling lawns and plen­ty of room for New York­ers to spread out for pic­nick­ing and recre­ation, includ­ing over sev­en miles of car-free bike paths. Ham­mock Grove’s 40+ pub­lic ham­mocks and path­ways nes­tled into the foliage of this young urban for­est pro­vide a relax­ing retreat. The Hills fea­ture unpar­al­leled views of the har­bor and land­marks, like the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty and the sur­round­ing Low­er Man­hat­tan and Brook­lyn skylines. 

Pop­u­lar year-round activ­i­ties — like bike rentals with Blaz­ing Sad­dles, includ­ing Free Bike Morn­ings every week­day between 10am-12pm and CitiBike; self-guid­ed dig­i­tal walk­ing tours with Urban Archive, Ges­so, and the Black Gotham Expe­ri­ence; free dig­i­tal guides on the Bloomberg Con­nects arts and cul­ture app; and more — will con­tin­ue to be offered to Island vis­i­tors, along with pre­vi­ous­ly announced edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams with Gov­er­nors Island Nature. 

EVENTS

Gov­er­nors Island remains one of New York City’s most unique loca­tions for events of all kinds. See below for a selec­tion of upcom­ing events in May, June, and July, and click here for a full event cal­en­dar.

• We Belong Here – May 24 – 26, May 31-June 2
• NYC Footy Gov Cup soc­cer tour­na­ment – June 1 – 2
• Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Council’s city­wide Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val – June 7 – 23
• Jazz Age Lawn Par­ty – June 8 – 9, August 10 – 11
• New York City Laven­der Fes­ti­val – June 8 – 9 
• Porch Stomp folk music fes­ti­val – June 15
• Gov­er­nors Island Arts THIRD Sat­ur­days – June 15, July 20, Sep­tem­ber 21, Octo­ber 19
• FAD Mar­ket – June 15 – 16, July 20 – 21, August 17 – 18, Sep­tem­ber 21 – 22, Octo­ber 19 – 20
• Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix – June 22 – 23
• NYCRUNS Fire­crack­er 5K & 10K – June 29 
• NYC Poet­ry Fes­ti­val – July 13 – 14

FOOD VEN­DORS

Gov­er­nors Island is a true culi­nary des­ti­na­tion with a diverse mix of cuisines avail­able to vis­i­tors dai­ly. New ven­dors this year include Spec­tro, a fast-casu­al burg­er shack also locat­ed at Jacob Riis Park, and On Tea Road, a boba tea cart that has pre­vi­ous­ly popped up at sev­er­al loca­tions around New York City. 

Return­ing ven­dors includ­ing Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny, Lit­tle Eva’s, Taco Vista, Fauzia’s Heav­en­ly Delights, Island Oys­ter, Threes Brew­ing, Piz­za Yard, Sea Bis­cuit, Car­reau Club, Tokyo Drum­stick, La Newyork­i­na, Mak­i­na Café, Wheeler’s BBQ, 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 fourth year in a row, spot­light­ing small busi­ness­es owned by grad­u­ates of NYCHA’s Food Busi­ness Path­ways program. 

Open Dai­ly

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

Open Week­ends and Select Weekdays

• Brigs Sweet Shop – Week­ends, 12 – 4pm, Liggett Ter­race (Open Wednes­day-Sun­day begin­ning Memo­r­i­al Day Weekend)
• Car­reau Club – Fri­day-Sun­day, 11am-6pm, King Ave
• Fauzia’s Heav­en­ly Delights – Week­ends, 11am-6pm, Liggett Terrace
• The Food­ie Spot – Fri­day-Sun­day, 11am-5pm, Liggett Terrace
• La Newyork­i­na – Week­ends, 12 – 5 pm, Colonels Row 
• On Tea Road – Week­ends, 12 – 5pm, Colonels Row
• Sea Bis­cuit – Week­ends, 10am-6pm, West­ern Promenade
• Spec­tro – Week­ends, 11am-6pm, Liggett Terrace
• Threes Brew­ing – Week­ends, 12 – 6pm, Liggett Terrace 
• Tokyo Drum­stick – Fri­day-Sun­day, 11am-4pm, Liggett Ter­race (Open dai­ly July 1‑September 3)
• Yed­i­nadas – Week­ends begin­ning mid-June, 12 – 5pm, Liggett Terrace 
• Wheeler’s – Week­ends, 12 – 6pm, Colonels Row

GOV­ER­NORS ISLAND ARTS

Through pub­lic art com­mis­sions, the annu­al Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence pro­gram, and pub­lic events and pro­grams, 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. Click here to view the program’s pre­vi­ous­ly announced sum­mer sea­son of free cul­tur­al offer­ings includ­ing per­for­mances, work­shops, pub­lic art­works, and more. 

VIS­I­TOR INFOR­MA­TION

Gov­er­nors Island’s sum­mer hours will return begin­ning May 25, 2024. 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 — open until 6pm dai­ly. 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 25 through Sep­tem­ber 2. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, click here.

Vis­i­tors are encour­aged to reserve fer­ry tick­ets in advance of their trip on 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 through­out New York City. To inquire about group vis­its, orga­ni­za­tions may email groupvisits@​govisland.​org.

NYC Fer­ry ser­vice to Gov­er­nors Island on the South Brook­lyn route oper­ates 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.

“As we get ready to swing into Sum­mer, I’m excit­ed to see the roll out of Gov­er­nors Island’s sum­mer pro­gram­ming,” Con­gress­man Dan Gold­man said. ​“Fam­i­lies across our City should take the time this sum­mer to vis­it Gov­er­nors Island, one of the attrac­tions that makes NY-10 the coolest con­gres­sion­al dis­trict in America.” 

“Gov­er­nors Island is 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.” 

“I can’t wait to enjoy Gov­er­nors Island with my con­stituents dur­ing this peak sea­son. As the biggest park in our dis­trict, Gov­er­nors Island is an oasis for fresh air and for Low­er Man­hat­tan­ites, and peo­ple across the city, to enjoy nature,” said New York City Coun­cilmem­ber Christo­pher Marte. There are so many great stew­ards of the Island who will be run­ning pro­grams for the entire fam­i­ly, and I encour­age every­one to take the quick fer­ry ride as much as they can this summer.”

“Gov­er­nors Island is a New York gem: a get­away with­in the city, a cul­ture hub for New York­ers to cre­ate and cel­e­brate local artists, a cli­mate edu­ca­tion cen­ter, and a refuge to sim­ply relax and enjoy the weath­er,” said State Sen­a­tor Andrew Gounardes. ​“I’m excit­ed for the slate of pro­gram­ming the Trust has put togeth­er, and I’m look­ing for­ward to spend­ing qual­i­ty time on Gov­er­nors Island with my own fam­i­ly this sum­mer. I’ll see you there!”

“I am thrilled to wel­come every­one to Gov­er­nors Island for the start of the peak sea­son this Memo­r­i­al Day week­end. With extend­ed hours, excit­ing new pro­grams, and addi­tion­al fer­ry ser­vices, there’s no bet­ter way to kick off the sum­mer. Come enjoy the stun­ning views, diverse food offer­ings, and the vibrant com­mu­ni­ty spir­it that makes Gov­er­nors Island a unique and cher­ished des­ti­na­tion in New York City,” said New York State Assem­bly­man Charles D. Fall.

“Gov­er­nors Island is one of the most beau­ti­ful spots in New York City. I hope Brook­lynites take advan­tage of the easy fer­ry access to come out and enjoy extend­ed evening hours and excit­ing sum­mer pro­gram­ming!” said New York City Coun­cilmem­ber Lin­coln Restler.

“Com­ing off a cold win­ter, head­ing into the Spring and Sum­mer sea­sons, Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 (CB1) is look­ing for­ward to the beau­ti­ful weath­er, bucol­ic open spaces and diverse pro­gram­ming avail­able on Gov­er­nors Island. CB1 is look­ing for­ward to the dozens of arts, cul­ture and edu­ca­tion Orga­ni­za­tions in Res­i­dence around Nolan Park and Colonel Row as much as relax­ing in the Ham­mock Grove and din­ing with friends at Pic­nic Point. We are so excit­ed to enjoy the 120 acres of nat­ur­al and built open spaces through the free guid­ed walk­ing tours, pub­lic art and fab­u­lous park­land,” said Tam­my Meltzer, Chair of Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board One. ​“We encour­age all New York­ers to hop on the fer­ry and enjoy the Island’s nature and amaz­ing unfet­tered har­bor and sky­line views.”

“I’m pleased to wel­come vis­i­tors back to Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment start­ing Fri­day, May 24, 2024, Memo­r­i­al Day Week­end,” said Shirley McK­in­ney, Man­hat­tan sites super­in­ten­dent, Nation­al Park Ser­vice. ​“This year, we will offer Park Ranger led tours at 11:00am and 2:00pm by reser­va­tion at www​.reser​va​tion​.gov. Self-guid­ed pub­lic tours of the his­toric forts are also avail­able from 10:00am‑5:00pm, with our park rangers on site to answer ques­tions and pro­vide infor­ma­tion on the Island’s unique his­to­ry to our visitors.”