Sojourn to Governor's Island

Photo by A.C. Frieden

Last Saturday, I met up with my friend Kate and we ferried over to Governor's Island to spend a day tooling around before it closed for the winter season (boo).

The ferry ride takes, like, three seconds (it's only 800 yards from lower Manhattan, and even closer to Brooklyn), althought is quite beautiful. Kate was prepared with bagels and the juiciest Asian pears, so we munched and chatted and voila! We were there!

Map courtesy GIPEC

The 172-acre island, originally called Noten Eylant (Dutch) then Nutten Island, assumed the name Governor's Island in 1784, which stemmed from the British Colonial assembly, which reserved the island for the exclusive use of New York's royal governors. Fancy! For nearly two centuries, the island was a military base, first home to the U.S Army (1783-1966) then to the U.S. Coast Guard (1966-1996). From 1996 to 2003 it sat vacant, but, as always, there were grumblings underfoot: in 2001, two buildings on the island (Fort Jay and Castle Williams) were deemed National Monuments, and in 2003, most of the control of the island was transferred to New York state, with 13% transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior as the Governor's Island National Monument and the island was opened to the public. In 2006, New York's leaders called for proposals to redevelop and preserve the island. A year later, the submissions by architecture firms Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rogers Marvel Architects, along with urban planning and landscape architecture firm, West 8, were chosen to design three signature open spaces. Further development is progressing, but 22 lovely acres are walk-or bike-able now on summer and early fall weekends.

We first passed Castle Williams, (currently under construction), which is considered one of the best remaining examples of American coastal fortification. During the Civil War it held Confederate prisoners of war. Apparently, it only took four years to complete, which must be the fastest project ever done in the history of New York City (wink).



Here's what it looked like many moons ago – a formidable site for oncoming enemies, no?


Then we roamed around Colonel's Row, admiring the grounds and stately homes, built in the 19th century:


Some of the homes could use a little attention, but we were still able to imagine the Colonels' wives getting the homes ready for entertaining or lolling about on weekend mornings, sitting on the front porch waving to neighbors as they walked by.


Colonel's Row has retained it's bucolic look and feel – here it is in the early 1900s:

Photo courtesy NYPL

At 350,000 square feet, Liggett Hall, designed by the beloved firm McKim Mead & White, is the island's biggest building. It was built to house all facilities for an entire regiment, and it is quite a site to behold!


In the winter:

Photo courtesy The Trust for Governor's Island

Then we headed to the Nolan Park houses, built between 1857 and the 1890s and occupied by officers - aren't they charming? Apparently, the design of the homes are standardized plans out of the Army Quartermaster Corp., and the "French Yellow" is a custom color right out of the Quartermaster handbook.



The Governor's Manse, built in 1810, ain't too shabby:

Photo courtesy The Trust for Governor's Island

In this photo, Manhattan's skyscrapers, visible in the distance, create a stark juxtaposition against the wood homes and breezy tree-lined walkways:


Some of the homes were open to the public. We had a blast poking around inside and checking out various interior details, like pocket door hardware and fireplace etchings:



We also spent some time wandering along the water:


As it turned out, there was an Oktoberfest celebration going on, but we took one look at the miles-long line for what we assumed would be cheap, flat beer and said, "forget it! Let's hit the beach!"



After enjoying a drink (with no line) and battling for territory with a few feisty yellow jackets, we called it a day and hopped on an afternoon ferry back to the city:

Can you believe that sailboat? Does it not look like it just came out of a bottle?!


The Staten Island Ferry chugged on by:


And we prepare to dock:


It was a splendid day for a visit!