Blog

Gov­er­nors Island Open­ing Weekend!

May 26, 2016 12:24 pm

The time has final­ly come! Gov­er­nors Island will open in only 2 days! This sea­son will be the most fun-filled ever for the Island. There are more exhibits, fes­ti­vals, and per­for­mances than ever before. We’ve expand­ed our Brook­lyn Fer­ry ser­vice to include Memo­r­i­al Day and Labor Day. And on July 19^th, we will proud­ly unveil the Hills, the newest devel­op­ment on the Island. There is so much to look for­ward to! 

Dur­ing open­ing week­end, the Island will fea­ture spe­cial pro­gram­ming that includes the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island’s Fam­i­ly Fun Fest and the Rite of Sum­mer alt-clas­si­cal con­certs. You can read more about all the amaz­ing activ­i­ties planned for the two events at: https://​gov​is​land​.com/​e​vents. Fer­ries will run every half hour between Brooklyn’s Pier 6 and the Island on Sat­ur­day, May 28^th, Sun­day, May 29^th, and Memo­r­i­al Day, Mon­day, May 30^th. Our grat­i­tude goes out to Coun­cil Mem­ber Brad Lan­der whose lead­er­ship has helped us expand Brooklyn’s fer­ry access! 

In addi­tion, on open­ing week­end, we’ll be offer­ing sneak pre­views of the Hills! Hour-long tours will depart from Liggett Arch at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm on Sat­ur­day and Sun­day. Leslie Koch will be there to lead the 11am and 1pm tours both days! Hard­hats and vests will be pro­vid­ed but you must wear closed-toe shoes to par­tic­i­pate. If you can’t make it this week­end, have no fear! Tours will be offered until July 19^th when the Hills open. 

We invite you to peruse our web­site for more infor­ma­tion about every­thing from food options to art exhi­bi­tions. Final­ly, if you’re not already excit­ed enough for the sum­mer, here are some fun facts about the Island’s 2016 Pub­lic Season!: 

* More than 400 free bikes avail­able for Free Bike Morn­ings program 

* Island is open for 121 days this season 

* More than 100 acres of green space are open for vis­i­tors to play, relax and enjoy views of the Har­bor, Low­er Man­hat­tan and Brooklyn 

* More than 30 indoor art exhibits in his­toric offi­cers’ homes (the most ever) 

* 25 fes­ti­vals and spe­cial events 

* 24 dif­fer­ent food ven­dors to enjoy (includ­ing Vendy Award winners) 

* 11 freestyle pilots are par­tic­i­pat­ing the US Nation­al Drone Rac­ing Cham­pi­onships over the Island this August 

* 10 new acres of green space for all to enjoy when the Hills open on July 19 

* 3 days when vis­i­tors can learn aboard the Hōkūleʻa, an his­toric Poly­ne­sian canoe that is cir­cum­nav­i­gat­ing the globe with­out mod­ern nav­i­ga­tion­al instruments 

* 1 work­ing dog Max who is our ambas­sador to the pub­lic and works to keep our lawns and grass clean for visitors 

* And much more! 

Please con­tact us with any ques­tions and find us on Face­book, Twit­ter, and Insta­gram for updates and more infor­ma­tion about the Island! We can’t wait to see you this summer! 

Pho­to: Tim Schenck