Governors Island Alliance

Summer 2010: Like No Other

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:56:10 -0500

The island is hibernating right now - peaceful, a little chilly, but lovely as ever. Plans are taking shape for a summer unlike any that have gone on before. Here is a snapshot of what the Alliance and participating partners are cooking up, with details yet to be settled:

Alliance Urges Caution in Considering Any Proposal to Hold 9/11 Terror Trials on Governors Island

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:54:44 -0500

The Governors Island Alliance made a statement on Friday opposing any proposal to hold the 9/11 terror trials on Governors Island. Read the press release here.

Governors Island: It's My Island!

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:40:26 -0500

Dear Friend of Governors Island,

It's no longer the Harbor's sleeping beauty: Governors Island has awakened. With over 275,000 visitors at the end of the summer, the Island has hit the tipping point as one of New York's newest and fastest-growing favorite public spaces. It's visible, it's popular, and, most importantly, it's yours!

So how did you enjoy your Island this year?

Did you ride your bike all the way around the waterfront promenade, or did you lounge in a hammock looking up at Lady Liberty? Maybe you and some friends saw Judy Collins sing on the lawn at Colonels' Row, or just grabbed a burger at Water Taxi Beach. Did you take your children to see the cannons at Fort Jay, play soccer, or challenge the mini golf course behind Liggett Hall?

Whatever your favorite part was, we are glad you were able to enjoy more of your Island than ever before, including the new round-Island esplanade, 8 more acres of park space at Picnic Point, and more creative, quality events.

But all this progress hasn't happened by accident. Support from our members this year has helped make great strides in the Island's progress. We write to you today to ask for your help. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to Governors Island Alliance in support of our advocacy and public programs.

Since 1995, Governors Island Alliance has worked to ensure that New Yorkers and their friends and family have the opportunity to visit this unique and wonderful place. We sponsor public programs like the Folks on the Island concerts and our opening day Family Festival. We reach out to Island visitors and use their feedback to help improve your Island experience year after year. We work with students and volunteers to improve the Island and stretch public resources, and to create public programs. Most importantly, we let City, State, and federal officials know how special Governors Island is to people like you.

Last year at this time, it was uncertain whether Governors Island would open at all due to the tough economic climate. But thanks to the Alliance's "Keep the Island Afloat" advocacy campaign, public officials recognized the many people who cared about the Island and its historic buildings, and 2009 became our most successful season ever - with more than double the number of visitors of 2008. The Alliance also helped secure the funding needed to rehabilitate and open key Island resources: Yankee Pier, a new destination for historic and other ships; and Castle Williams, the 1811 fort at the heart of the Island's National Park. We also joined with the Harbor School to celebrate the rehabilitation of the historic hospital building for their public high school - the Island's first tenant.

But in order to sustain this exciting momentum, we need your support. We encourage you to consider becoming a member of the Governors Island Alliance.

Members of the Alliance are invited to private on-Island events and receive special briefings on recent Island developments. There are opportunities for special acknowledgment on our website, annual report and all our summer Island materials.

Being a member of Governors Island Alliance means you are playing a vital role in the ongoing preservation of the National Monument and other nationally significant historic buildings, the creation of over 110 acres of parkland, and the renewal of one of New York's greatest public resources.

Support from Island friends like you is more important than ever in difficult economic times like these, when parks and historic buildings are most often left out of City, State, and federal budgets. We need your help to keep our elected officials on track, to run our volunteer and intern programs, and to produce the free public programs that bring so many faces to Governors Island in the summer.

That's why we hope you'll lend your support by joining the Governors Island Alliance today. Simply mail or fax us our membership card or contribute online through our secure website.

One of things we enjoy most is taking first-time visitors out to the Island. The most jaded New Yorker is taken aback by the Island's beauty, history, and incredible potential. We know that you too appreciate Governors Island for all these qualities. Please take the time to make it truly yours by joining the Alliance as a contributing member. You will be a wonderful addition to our family at a time when we need your help most. We hope to hear from you soon.

See you on the Island,

Ken Fisher Robert Pirani
Chair Executive Director

Deer Stranded on GI!

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:39:25 -0500

Check out the coverage from today's run-in (swim-in?) with a deer.

MyFoxNY.com

The Jersey Journal

New York Times

Successful Summer Comes to a Close

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:18:17 -0500

Visitors said goodbye to Governors Island last Sunday, knowing the Island would be closed from Columbus Day until May 2010.

On Thursday, the Alliance and the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School celebrated the summer with our program partners at Water Taxi Beach. We want to thank all our supporters and sponsors, plus all the folks who came out to enjoy the Island and the Beach for one last hurrah.

With the help of our members, the Alliance has raised roughly $30,000 this summer - all of which will go towards our free programming events and our advocacy work.

Special VIP Tour Added for Thursday, Oct 8 Party

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:07:23 -0500

To get you into the Swing of Fall, we've added a
special VIP tour of the Island. Come see the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School's brand new high school building with founder Murray Fisher. You'll also have a chance to check out the new eco-dock at Pier 101, the historic forts and beautiful fall-colored parks.

RSVP for the tour

Dance, drink and celebrate with us as we close out the summer season with a bang!

RSVP for the party

Get Into the Swing of Fall: The Details

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:51:39 -0500

Thursday, October 8, 5:30 - 8 pm
Water Taxi Beach, Governors Island
$25 - Includes one free drink, transit, dancing and live music from the Stumblebum Brass Band

Boats depart the Battery Maritime Building at 5:15, 5:45 and 6:15 pm

RSVP to Elizabeth, call 917 546 4304, or RSVP online

Don't miss it! It's your last chance to party at the beach
with us until May 2010!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:09:36 -0500

Governors Island has become New York's newest hot spot - at sea level, at least, so as not to ignore the High Line - and we'll all be sorry to see it close after Columbus Day. It's been a tremendous summer, with over 240,000 visitors, a new picnic grounds with stunning up-close views of Lady Liberty, a popular esplanade circling the perimeter and an infinite variety of free events within it.

The Alliance and the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School are throwing a beach party on Thursday, October 8, to celebrate the arts and educational groups that made the season such a success. Toast your favorites - artists, performers, teachers and waterfront volunteers - watch a sunset over the water one more time and enjoy live music by New York's own Stumblebum Brass Band on the new Water Taxi Beach.

RSVP here.

Get into the Swing of Fall - on Facebook!

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:10:44 -0500

Planning on coming to our "Get Into the Swing of Fall" beach party October 8th? RSVP on Facebook! Invite your friends and family! Kids under 12 are free.

Click here to go to the Facebook group.

Closing Reception: 4heads Collective

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:39:48 -0500

The Second Annual Governors Island Art Fair compiled by the 4heads Collective and sponsored by Gallery Bar will culminate with a closing reception on Sunday, September 27 from 3 - 6 pm. Visitors will be allowed one last chance to stroll through the abandoned army barracks of Governors Island while viewing a selection of work by 150 independent and international artists and performers as well as a selection of art galleries. All galleries will be open from 11 am - 6 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

National Parks Week on GI

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:56:57 -0500

Join the National Parks Conservation Association in celebrating our nationals parks this upcoming week. There will be many events all over the city, two of which are on Governors Island - with the Children's Museum for the Arts and the National Park Service.

Check out the week-long schedule here.

Feel Free is an attitude, an ambition and an invitation. Feel Free is a belief that the National Parks should be well funded, broadly and enthusiastically visited, respectfully experienced and cherished for the national treasures they are. Feel Free is the momentum to restore the parks in time for their 100th anniversary, 7 years from now. Feel Free is impassioned advocacy and successive opportunity.

Feel Free is now: It's time to take in the scenery. www.feelfree.org

Countdown for Dutch Festival

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:07:32 -0500

New Island Festival activities are endless, but the festival is not. It ends on Sunday, September 20. Direct from Holland, watch circus acts and daredevil stunts or comedy and improv, hear classical music in the park, take in dance performances by some of the Netherlands most prominent contemporary choreographers...or peer into the Island's past at the archeological dig. The festival is alive until midnight every night.

The full program is available here. The ferry schedule for each day is here.

Dan's Island, Since Age 7

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:05:44 -0500

Dan Yawitz, a sophomore at Princeton University, worked on the Island this summer as an Alliance intern.

The first time I saw Governors Island I was seven years old, standing on the Staten Island ferry and staring at that cool brick fort. It looked like it was ready to fire its cannons at me from about thirty different angles. I remember thinking that, despite the fort, it looked like a quaint little town. I wondered if I'd ever be allowed to go.

Kites and Flights on Governors Island

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:00:50 -0500

GIA distributed 100 mini Mighty Kites at a reading of Touching the Sky by co-authors Trish Marx and Louise Borden on Sunday, September 13.

St. Cornelius: Storied Chapel

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:58:19 -0500

Swirling curtains of translucent silk smoke pour down in cones of light that break the darkness inside the 100-year-old St. Cornelius chapel at the end of Colonel's Row. Anthony McCall's light sculpture, Between You and I, is this summer's imaginative reuse of space where Island military families - and prisoners of war - once worshiped.