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Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Issues Request for Pro­pos­als for Inter­im Use of Two Venues on Gov­er­nors Island

Nov 11, 2016 12:34 pm

Novem­ber 11, 2016. The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island today issued two sep­a­rate Requests for Pro­pos­als (RFP) for inter­im uses on Gov­er­nors Island. Build­ing on the Island’s rep­u­ta­tion as a des­ti­na­tion for arts and cul­ture, The Trust seeks pro­pos­als for the cre­ation of new food and bev­er­age, cul­tur­al, recre­ation­al and enter­tain­ment uses locat­ed on the Island. Uses that could be pro­duced in these loca­tions include restau­rants, catered event venues, con­certs, exhibits, fes­ti­vals, the­atri­cal events, artis­tic per­for­mances, out­door recre­ation and oth­er types of enter­tain­ment or cul­tur­al pro­duc­tions. Orga­ni­za­tions can sub­mit pro­pos­als for large-scale uses for these sites for up to three years, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Uses will have the option to oper­ate out­side of the Island’s cur­rent pub­lic oper­at­ing sea­son and hours. The RFPs are avail­able on the Trust’s web­site. All respon­dents must reg­is­ter with the Trust by Novem­ber 18, 2016 and pro­pos­als are due on Decem­ber 9, 2016.

“With the open­ing of the Hills, New York City’s newest world class park and a record num­ber of vis­i­tors in 2016, Gov­er­nors Island con­tin­ues to grow as a des­ti­na­tion for arts, cul­ture and inno­va­tion,” said Michael Samuelian, pres­i­dent of The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“We are delight­ed to offer this unique oppor­tu­ni­ty for new inter­im uses and pro­gram­ming to enhance the vis­i­tor expe­ri­ence on the Island.” 

Two sites with incred­i­ble views of New York Har­bor and the Man­hat­tan sky­line are avail­able through this RFP. The first, the Man­hat­tan Fer­ry Land­ing site, is a one-acre paved area locat­ed on the Island’s north­ern shore, direct­ly adja­cent to Sois­sons Land­ing, which serves as a gate­way for vis­i­tors arriv­ing from Man­hat­tan. The sec­ond loca­tion, the West­ern Devel­op­ment Zone, sits on the Island’s south­ern half between the water­front prom­e­nade and the new park area, just north of its crown­ing fea­ture, the Hills. This site is an open and flat eight acre area not cur­rent­ly acces­si­ble to the pub­lic. It is cen­tral­ly locat­ed between the Brook­lyn and Man­hat­tan fer­ry land­ings, and has unob­struct­ed views of the Har­bor, Low­er Man­hat­tan sky­line and Stat­ue of Liberty. 

Giv­en the crit­i­cal impor­tance of Gov­er­nors Island con­tin­u­ing to oper­ate pri­mar­i­ly as a resource for the pub­lic, The Trust is seek­ing pro­posed uses that, among oth­er cri­te­ria, will com­ple­ment and be con­sis­tent with the pub­lic char­ac­ter of the Island and fur­ther acti­vate the Island with­out impact­ing the vis­i­tor experience. 

Use of these sites will be per­mit­ted for up to three years dur­ing the 2017, 2018 and 2019 pub­lic access sea­son with the option of oper­at­ing beyond the Island’s cur­rent sea­son. The sites can also be used for tick­et­ed night­time events that occur after the Island’s nor­mal oper­at­ing hours. The Trust reserves the right to award both sites to the same respon­dent, two dif­fer­ent respon­dents or no respondent. 

Cur­rent­ly, Gov­er­nors Island is open sea­son­al­ly to the pub­lic from the end of May through the end of Sep­tem­ber. Dur­ing that time, the Island hosts a wide range of arts, cul­tur­al, edu­ca­tion­al and recre­ation­al pro­grams through Open­House­GI. Open­House­GI offers 150,000 square feet of indoor space in for­mer offi­cers’ hous­es and over 20 acres of out­door space free of charge to orga­ni­za­tions that cre­ate pro­gram­ming that is free and open to the pub­lic dur­ing the Island’s pub­lic sea­son. The RFP announced today is for large scale inter­im uses, tick­et­ed and pri­vate events on two sites and is not a part of the Open­House­GI process. The per­mit process for Open­House­GI will open in Decem­ber, 2016. 

In 2017, Gov­er­nors Island will be open every day from May 27 through Octo­ber 1. The Island is open from 10 AM to 6 PM on week­days and from 10 AM to 7 PM on week­ends, Memo­r­i­al Day, July 4 and Labor Day. 

About The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island 

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is the not-for-prof­it cor­po­ra­tion cre­at­ed by the City of New York that is respon­si­ble for the rede­vel­op­ment and oper­a­tion of 150 acres of Gov­er­nors Island. 

The Trust’s mis­sion is to trans­form Gov­er­nors Island into a vibrant resource for New York City, mak­ing this island at the cen­ter of New York Har­bor a des­ti­na­tion with extra­or­di­nary pub­lic open space, as well as edu­ca­tion­al, not-for-prof­it and com­mer­cial facilities. 

For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.com.

Con­tact: Sarah Krautheim/​646.​413.​1547/​skrautheim@​govisland.​nyc.​gov