Blog

Your Guide to What’s Open on Gov­er­nors Island

Jul 17, 2020 9:32 am

Gov­er­nors Island is now open. Before vis­it­ing the Island, please famil­iar­ize your­self with our health and safe­ty pro­to­cols. Vis­i­tors are required to wear face cov­er­ings on the fer­ry and the Island, and must reserve tick­ets in advance here.

This year, the Island is open for pas­sive recre­ation activ­i­ties like bik­ing, bird­ing, and pic­nick­ing. There is cur­rent­ly no indoor pro­gram­ming on Gov­er­nors Island. Read on for a list of what’s open, and see what’s closed at the end of this post. Have a great time on Gov­er­nors Island and remem­ber to stay 6 feet apart! 

Food and Drink
Gov­er­nors Island is an out­door din­ing des­ti­na­tion! Sam­ple a wide vari­ety of cuisines like Jamaican fusion at Fauzi­a’s, tasty tacos (and incred­i­ble views) at Taco Vista, wood-fired piz­za at Piz­za Yard, sweet treats from Peo­ple’s Pops and many more deli­cious options. All Gov­er­nors Island ven­dors have intro­duced enhanced health and safe­ty mea­sures. See the full line­up of new ven­dors and return­ing favorites here.

Wide-open Park­land
Soak up Gov­er­nors Island’s ample green space. Lie back in Ham­mock Grove, hike up The Hills to take in the view, bring a meal and dine al fres­co at Pic­nic Point, and dis­cov­er every­thing our park­land has to offer. Ship out and take in the fresh air, lush foliage and sweep­ing views in the park.

Pub­lic Art
See incred­i­ble works by award-win­ning artists through­out the Island. From Shantell Mar­t­in’s Church, a com­mis­sion for our 2019 sea­son, to Rachel Whiteread­’s Cab­in, nes­tled serene­ly on Dis­cov­ery Hill, Gov­er­nors Island pro­vides a set­ting for pub­lic art unlike any oth­er. It’s a can’t-miss trip for art lovers! 

Island His­to­ry
Take a stroll through his­to­ry with Urban Archive. Embark on the offi­cial Gov­er­nors Island Dig­i­tal Walk­ing Tour to learn the his­to­ry of the Island and see stun­ning archival pho­tos on Urban Archive. Then, dis­cov­er oth­er walks that exam­ine dif­fer­ent parts of the Island’s past. Gov­er­nors Island’s his­to­ry comes to life on Urban Archive. 

Bike the Island
Cyclists, rejoice: sev­en miles of car-free paths are now yours to ped­al. Bring your bike on the fer­ry for free or rent one when you get the Island, then set out on a scenic spin. Blaz­ing Sad­dles rents bikes, scoot­ers, sur­reys and more every day (with free one-hour rentals before noon on week­days) and three Citi Bike sta­tions make it easy to get moving. 

Urban Farm
Dig into envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence at the Urban Farm! GrowNYC’s Teach­ing Gar­den fea­tures over 20 veg­etable beds made from recy­cled plas­tic lum­ber, farm-style rows, an aquapon­ics sys­tem, a high tun­nel green­house, fruit trees, sev­er­al rain­wa­ter har­vest­ing sys­tems, a rain gar­den, and more. Earth Matter’s Com­post Learn­ing Cen­ter process­es all of the food scraps and land­scape debris gen­er­at­ed on Gov­er­nors Island, and some Man­hat­tan res­i­den­tial col­lec­tions. Much of the com­post is used here on Gov­er­nors Island! The Urban Farm is open for pas­sive vis­its only, Sat­ur­days and Sun­days 12 – 4PM. 

The fol­low­ing attrac­tions are cur­rent­ly closed. Please check back for more updates. 

Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment: Cas­tle Williams and Fort Jay are closed to the pub­lic. Learn more at nps​.gov/gois

Adven­tures at GI: All attrac­tions includ­ing mini-golf, the zipline and puz­zle maze are cur­rent­ly closed. 

LMCC’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island: Gal­leries and café are closed to the pub­lic. Bath­rooms are still open — enter at Sois­sons Landing. 

Indoor Pro­gram­ming: There are no indoor pub­lic pro­grams in Nolan Park and Colonels Row. The hous­es are off-lim­its to visitors. 

Play­ground NYC’s The Yard: cur­rent­ly closed to the public. 

Free kayak­ing with the Down­town Boathouse: The Pier 102 kayak dock is cur­rent­ly closed to the pub­lic and free kayak­ing ses­sions are not being offered.