Opening day 2009 - Saturday, May 30 - drew a single-day record of 7,876 visitors to the Island. The waiting line for the ferry stretched out the door of the Battery Maritime Building and at times all the way to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Hundreds of children came out with their families for the Alliance's fourth annual Family Festival - and, surely some of them, to have a peek at Prince Charles who played in the afternoon Veuve Cliquot polo match.
Friends and family did arts and crafts at the Goldman Sachs Community Teamworks activities station
Photo by GIA
Photo by GIA
The lawn along Colonels' Row was transformed into a stage filled with games, magic tricks and kids. There were sing-alongs about Hudson River history, and little ones dancing and bouncing to bluegrass, rock 'n' roll, retro-pop and honky tonk. A puppet theater starred Henry Hudson in a show about his voyage to North America and his meetings with the natives. Goldman Sachs Community TeamWorks volunteers painted eager children's faces all day, and a puppet-making station was busy to the end.
There was bike safety information and tips from the FDNY's Education Department, and free bike helmets - 328 of them! - from the Department of Transportation.
It was opening day for the Oyster Discovery Center, too. Located near Pier 101 on Buttermilk channel, the new center displays and teaches about oysters and other marine life. Who knew there were sea horses in the Hudson!
Loony Toony the Clown puts children in a giant bubble at GIA's Family Festival in Colonels' Row
Photo by GIA
Photo by GIA
There was bike safety information and tips from the FDNY's Education Department, and free bike helmets - 328 of them! - from the Department of Transportation.
It was opening day for the Oyster Discovery Center, too. Located near Pier 101 on Buttermilk channel, the new center displays and teaches about oysters and other marine life. Who knew there were sea horses in the Hudson!