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The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island Announces New Win­ter Sea­son Programs

Nov 16, 2023 9:46 am

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island announced today the return of win­ter pro­gram­ming and activ­i­ties start­ing Decem­ber 1, 2023. This win­ter, Gov­er­nors Island is a must-vis­it des­ti­na­tion for local New York­ers and tourists from all over the world with a pletho­ra of cold weath­er activ­i­ties includ­ing local food ven­dors, fire pits, hol­i­day lights, the third annu­al Gov­er­nors Island Ice Sculp­ture Show, and more spe­cial events to be announced through­out the season. 

New this sea­son is expand­ed access for four-legged New York­ers. Win­ter Dog Days will run Decem­ber 1 through April 30, 2024, with dogs wel­comed to vis­it Gov­er­nors Island every day with their human com­pan­ions begin­ning at 10am, not just on week­ends. Also new this win­ter is an expand­ed off-leash dog park open­ing Decem­ber 1 in Colonels Row with plen­ty of space for dogs to run and play outside. 

“We are proud to con­tin­ue our win­ter pro­gram­ming for our vis­i­tors and their fur­ry friends,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“The win­ter sea­son on the Island is a mag­i­cal time for vis­i­tors to expe­ri­ence all the fan­tas­tic year-round pro­gram­ming we have to offer, like our new­ly expand­ed Dog Days, and the vis­i­tor favorites of drink­ing hot cocoa, enjoy­ing deli­cious food from our food trucks, and even sled­ding in the Hills — all while tak­ing in unpar­al­leled sky­line views. There is some­thing for every­one in the fam­i­ly to enjoy all year round across the Island.”

“Woof, woof, woof, woof!” said Chip, Aspen, and Reed, the Gov­er­nors Island work­ing dogs, in a joint state­ment encour­ag­ing dogs to tell their own­ers to take them to Win­ter Dog Days. 

Anoth­er great rea­son to vis­it the Island in the win­ter is the food. Long­time Gov­er­nors Island ven­dor Mak­i­na Café is open dai­ly in Colonels Row, with an expand­ed menu includ­ing their pop­u­lar Ethiopi­an and Eritre­an dish­es along with loaded fries, chick­en fin­gers, break­fast sand­wich­es, tea, cof­fee, and more spe­cial items. Joe Cof­fee Com­pa­ny is also open dai­ly in the Bat­tery Mar­itime fer­ry wait­ing room in Low­er Man­hat­tan, and addi­tion­al food trucks and pop-up ven­dors will be fea­tured at spe­cial events through­out the winter.

Upcom­ing fall and win­ter events include open hours at the Insti­tute for Pub­lic Archi­tec­ture on Novem­ber 18, NYCRUNS ​“Go Nuts for Donuts” 5K and 10K on Novem­ber 18, and the Gov­er­nors Island Ice Sculp­ture Show on Feb­ru­ary 3, 2024. Pre­sent­ed by Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Times Square Arts with sup­port from the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island, the third annu­al show pro­vides New York­ers and vis­i­tors from around the world with the sin­gu­lar oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence live ice carv­ing. Ten artists will be cho­sen, and each select­ed final­ist will be paired with a pro­fes­sion­al ice carv­er from Okamo­to Stu­dio for the pub­lic event. Vis­i­tors are invit­ed to wit­ness this real-time ice carv­ing and vote on their favorite sculp­ture for the ​“People’s Choice Award” at the end of the event. A larg­er-scale ver­sion of the win­ning sculp­ture will then be carved and installed by Okamo­to Stu­dio in Times Square as a visu­al anchor for the district’s annu­al Valentine’s Day events. Artists, design­ers, and oth­er cul­tur­al prac­ti­tion­ers are invit­ed to sub­mit a pro­pos­al to par­tic­i­pate online at www​.gov​is​land​.org/​i​c​e​-show through Novem­ber 17, 2023.

Blaz­ing Sad­dles is open dai­ly in Colonels Row with bike and sled rentals, and QC NY Spa con­tin­ues to be open dai­ly on Gov­er­nors Island with heat­ed out­door pools along­side saunas, steam rooms, relax­ation treat­ments, mas­sages, and a bar and bistro.

Gov­er­nors Island’s award-win­ning park remains open to the pub­lic every day dur­ing the cold sea­son, along with recre­ation activ­i­ties like bike rentals, a climb­ing boul­der, Ham­mock Grove, the Hills, Pic­nic Point, and more. Gov­er­nors Island Arts pub­lic art com­mis­sions, includ­ing works from Sam Van Aken, Duke Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Mark Dion, Sheila Berg­er, and Mark Hand­forth, are also cur­rent­ly on view through­out the Island.

Dur­ing the win­ter months, Gov­er­nors Island is open to the pub­lic dai­ly from 7am to 6pm. Trust for Gov­er­nors Island-oper­at­ed fer­ries run dai­ly between the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Low­er Man­hat­tan and Sois­sons Land­ing on the Island. Dogs will require indi­vid­ual free fer­ry reser­va­tions, avail­able online. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org.

Round-trip fer­ry tick­ets cost $4 for adults. Gov­er­nors Island fer­ries are always free for chil­dren 12 and under, seniors 65 and up, res­i­dents of NYCHA, IDNYC hold­ers, cur­rent and for­mer mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers, and Gov­er­nors Island mem­bers. Fer­ries before noon on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days are free for all. There is no sur­charge for bicy­cles or strollers at any time.

NYC Fer­ry also serves Gov­er­nors Island dai­ly on the South Brook­lyn route. For tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion and full sched­ules for NYC Fer­ry, vis­it www.ferry.nyc.