I was browsing the web and came across this site on Governor’s Island off Manhattan. It says they are conducting tours through the summer. It also says that the island is being targetted for real estate development, so it’s reasonable to believe that sometime in the near future it will be shut down and leveled so Donald Trump can build a shopping mall on it.
But while the original buildings are still there, I want to see them. Anyone else interested in taking the tour. I’m busy for the next couple of weeks but it usually takes that long to get organzied anyway.
I’ve always wanted to see Governor’s Island. It always sat out there unreachable in the Bay.
Did you know that the island is mostly landfill? I’ve got a map from the 1920’s, and it’s less than half its present size. According to references I’ver got, they added 100 acres to its original 40.
Oh, and in case anyone’s interested, a little cross-promotion: Hal Briston put the call out for a NYC Mini-Dopefest This Saturday (6/25), with himself, noctural_tick (in from Europe) & kittenlm.
Checked out the ferry dock (next building east to the Staten Island Ferry terminal, past some construction) this morning with the littlest Salamander. Ferry schedule 10:15 a.m., 11:15 a.m., then 12:30, 1:30 etc. until 5:30.
A dozen Hasidic women and their baby carriages were boarding the ferry as we left.
You’re arranging dates for us? I’ll take a tycoon with a fragile heart condition. Just kidding.
I’m in DC, but would possibly be interested. I’m a photographer (sorta) and would like the chance to do some indoor outdoor photos, etc.
The website you gave indicates that the development is supposed to be, or include, the “next great public space.” So, maybe they want to develop it like the Presdio in SF Bay? Isn’t that largely non-commercial?
Only the weekday tours are two hours. I went on a tour last Saturday and it lasted 45 minutes (although there were only five people in my tour group, so maybe we finished faster than normal). I asked the park ranger how the weekday tour was different from the Saturday tour; she said that the weekday tour is longer and you see more of the island, but you can’t wander about by yourself. On Saturdays you can walk around the historic district on your own, but the nice thing about the tour is that it lets you enter the Admiral’s House and Castle Williams, which you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.
On Saturdays, the ferry TO Governor’s Island leaves every hour from 10 am until 3 pm, and the ferry FROM Governor’s Island in the afternoon leaves on the half-hour until 5:30 pm.