Governors Island

I grew up on the island and have wonderful memories of my childhood there. I went last summer and felt a little like I was on the set of the movie 28 Days Later… the island of my past was full of life so to see it so empty and lifeless was eerie. Still- it retains its beauty, in certain areas it is hard to imagine that you are still in NYC. Worth the visit if you want to stroll or picnic, take NYC skyline pics from a different angle or if military culture interests you.

I went to Set and Drift here a couple years ago. It was plenty of fun. Besides the usual tours and hot dog carts there was also site specific artwork and an animated short film screening. We brought a picnic lunch and made a day of it!

I grew up here and it was an amazing place to grow up. Plenty of room and freedom to be a kid on a military base and then NYC in your back yard!

I took the ferry there today and it was definitely a good place to spend an afternoon. The historic district on the island is run by the National Park Service. Park rangers give free tours of the island and are very knowledgeable about its history. Interestingly, no one is allow to live on the island on a permanent basis which means all the people on it are either tourists or work there.

I would recommend taking one of the park ranger led tours (about 45 minutes long) and then find a spot under a shady tree to have a picnic or take a nap. There is a summer concert stage too on the weekends with live music to accompany any frisbee tossing you might want to do.

well, it’s not really “not worth visiting,” but it’s not really “worth visiting” either. it’s just one of those things to do if you can’t really find anything else to do. the island itself is nice, but ferry lines are sometimes unpleasant. it is usually rainy and unbearably cold or there are long lines and it’s unbearably hot. if you find one of those days with the perfect weather for riding the ferry, then it would be a good place to go.