Governors Island

I'm incredibly intrigued by Governors Island. It's a little island off the southern shore of Manhattan that, from 1794 to 1996 served as a military base. Only in 2003 has it been opened up to the public. It has remained private for over two hundred years. That's pretty unbelievable. It's a lovely spot to go for a picnic, as the crowds are fewer than Central Park and it's very picturesque.

You can take the ferry there for free and it's free to roam around. The island is only open on weekends. The island has several Victorian and post-Colonial homes that are really pretty, and it has every building that a little town should have (theatre, library, gym, churches, etc.). The parklands are also very, very nice. It also has an 18th century fort and a "castle" (which was really another big fort made of stone). The place is incredible and it's crazy that it's been there for so long without really being on the general public's radar.

What happened in 1996 was that the Coast Guard (who was then occupying the island) returned it to the city and it basically sat in mothballs while everyone debated what to do with it. Giulianni apparently wanted to turn the island into a casino, which thankfully did not happen. In 2003 they decided to make it a national monument and open it up to public use. There is still a lot of restoration going on in the houses but it's unclear as to what their purpose will be.

There are hundreds of buldings on the island, and a good portion of those are 18th and 19th century. Joel and I were saddened when glancing into so many of them and seeing the plaster peeling away from the ceilings and walls, and also many interiors seem to be gutted. Several doors wore signs warning of aesbestos contamination and there were spiderwebs everywhere. I was very frustrated at one point because there were all these cool empty buildings just waiting to be explored and you couldn't get into ANY of them. Out of all those buildings, only 7 were open to the public. No one lives on the island any more, so most of those buildings are falling to ruin.

All I can say is that it's a tad depressing and a damn shame that Governors Island is sitting empty. I hope they hurry up and do something constructive with it before the historic buildings all fall to pieces. On the plus side, it's a great place to relax on a weekend. Aside from the helicopters flying overhead, you'd think you were in a quiet country town. But you really shouldn't go there...I want it all to myself.

This is the Governor's house; one of the oldest buildings on the island (18th century) and rumored to have an underground tunnel leading to Red Hook in Brooklyn. It would have been cool to actually SEE this...

This is the view of Manhattan from Governors Island. Scroll to the left and there's the Statue of Liberty.