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Recent Events, Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation
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December 15: GIPEC to Host Second Annual Tree Lighting on Governors Island, from 4pm to 6pm

Please join the Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation for the Second Annual Tree Lighting ceremony here on Governors Island. The ceremony, which will take place in Nolan Park in front of the Admiral's Quarters, is a time for the Governors

Island community to come together and celebrate the holiday season. Light refreshments will be served in the Admiral's Quarters.

RSVPs are required, by emailing Jennel Hewan at jhewan@empire.state.ny.us

Ferries will depart from Lower Manhattan for the event at: 3:45, 4:30 and 5:15. Click here for directions to the Governors Island ferry. Ferries will return to Lower Manhattan from Governors Island at: 4:00 pm, 5:00 pm, 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm.

Click here to download the invitation to the event.
 


Governors Island Tours During Open House New York
Dates:
Saturday, October 8, 2005 and Sunday, October 9, 2005
Tour times: 10:00 am, Noon and 2:00 pm

For two days in October, Governors Island will participate in a special New York City-wide program, Open House New York. Open House New York gives visitors the opportunity to explore many distinct buildings, structures and parks around the city – many of which have rarely been seen – at no charge.

During Open House New York, visitors to Governors Island will be introduced to the history and the architecture of New York City and the nation from a distinct vantage point: The heart of New York Harbor. With breathtaking views from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge up both the Hudson and the East Rivers – including the of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge – Governors Island provides visitors with a unique perspective on New York Harbor and the surrounding communities.
 


Book Reading and Signing with Ian Williams, author of Rum: A Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776
Saturday, September 3
3:30 pm at Pershing Hall, Governors Island

Ian Williams will discuss and sign his new book Rum: A Social & Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776.  The setting of historic Governors Island provides a perfect backdrop for William's lecture on the role of rum in the American Revolution and Prohibition, when Governors Island as Coast Guard Headquarters was in the vanguard of the attempt to stop the rum-runners from restocking the speakeasies of New York. (Return to event list)


Photography Exhibition: “We Were Here” by Donna Clovis
Opening Day: June 18. Exhibit will run until September 10, 2005.

Until recently, Governors Island, the last of three small islands that lie south of Manhattan, was the largest Coast Guard installation in the world, housing some 5,000 service personnel and their families. Photographer and journalist, Donna L. Clovis was one of those children with a 13 year history on the island. Her photographic exhibition, along with excerpts from oral histories of Governors Island residents, is designed to capture the memories and the history of a community and culture that once flourished on the island, now mostly abandoned. (Return to event list)


“Set & Drift”, a site-specific, historic, month-long art exhibition on Governors Island
Opening on Saturday, July 16th, and continuing through Saturday, August 13th, 2005

The exhibition will be displayed throughout the Governors Island National Historic Landmark District on Saturdays ONLY. Visitors to Governors Island from July 23 through August 13 will be able to roam around and view the exhibition from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.


“Living History” a Civil War educational program, music and reenactment by Company H 119th New York Volunteers Historical Association
Saturday, August 13th
10:30 am to 4:00 pm on the Colonels' Row Green
Special Musical Performance at 12:30 pm

On Saturday, August 13, Governors Island will be the backdrop for a Civil War Reenactment by the Company H, 119th New York Volunteer Historical Association (http://119nysv.org/). The program will take place between 10:30 am and 4:00 pm on the Colonels’ Row Green on Governors Island. A special musical performance will take place around 12:30 pm.

Company H was "reformed" in 1980 when a group of five Long Islanders, through their love and dedication to American and Long Island history, formed the Company H, 119th New York Volunteer Historical Association. The Association exists to preserve and promote American and Long Island 19th century history, and is dedicated to the spirit and memory of those men from the Hempstead Plains, who fought to preserve the country they believed in. Members of the Association have participated in numerous educational programs, parades, 19th century living history presentations, military reenactments, as well as television documentaries and Hollywood movies. In addition to the military impression the Association has an active Soldiers Aid Society consisting of civilian members.

Through Living History, the members of the Association present what it was like to be a soldier fighting for the Union during the American Civil War (1861-1865), or a civilian sustaining the Homefront. Adults and children can see, hear, touch, smell and experience what was previously only available from printed text and Hollywood movies. More importantly, visitors can ask questions and engage 19th century military and civilian personnel in conversation.

Activities will include a uniformed display and demonstration accompanied by question and answer period, all of which take place in an outdoor encampment with a musical parade by a fife and drum corp.

For more information, write to: Company H, 119th New York Volunteer Historical Association, P.O. Box 738, Melville, NY 11747 or email: prog@119nysv.org.


GIPEC and Literally Alive co-sponsor family festival on Governors Island
Saturday, August 6

Arts and Crafts on the Colonels' Row triangle and a special theater performance by Literally Alive, a NYC -based children's theatre company that produces original musicals based on classic children's literature. Their innovative approach combines art forms including theatre, dance, music, art, and puppetry to explore a work of literature. Now in its 5th season, previous productions have included "The Ugly Duckling", "The Little Mermaid", "The Velveteen Rabbit" and "Beauty and the Beast".

There will be two shows performed by Literally Alive on the Colonels' Row green on Governors Island:

12:00 pm The Ugly Duckling
An interactive 30-minute story time version of Literally Alive’s main stage show that gives the audience a chance to act up by participating in the fun! Based on Hans Christian Anderson's classic tale - it is timeless. An art workshop will be included to complement the performance. Suggested for families with children ages 7 and under.

2:00 pm The Very Hungry Caterpillar
A 20-minute interactive story time based on the beloved picture book that includes a butterfly ballet. Meet the Caterpillar, help retell the story and dance a little too! An art workshop will be included to complement the performance. Suggested for families with children ages 6 and under.

For more information about Literally Alive, please visit www.literallyalive.com.


Lecture: “Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan” with Phillip Lopate
Saturday: July 23, 1:00 pm

From Publishers Weekly
Unlike other great cities, as eminent essayist and
New York devotee Lopate (Getting Personal) observes, "Manhattan is almost pathologically averse to letting you wander to the river's edge and get close enough to touch the water." In this loose circumnavigation, first up the West Side from the Battery to Washington Heights and then up the East Side from South Street Seaport to Highbridge Park, he takes the reader up close on an information-packed journey—dipping, as the particular location suggests, into memoir, history, current events, marine biology, city planning, literature, architecture, interviews, biography, films, ecology and more. Anyone who relishes the company of Whitman, Melville, both Cranes, even Sara Teasdale, among many other celebrants of the New York waterfront, will particularly enjoy the vicarious sojourn. The trek includes Chelsea Piers and the U.N., Gracie Mansion and the Brooklyn Bridge, Captain Kidd and the Gulf filling station on East 23rd Street. "Sewage and salsa," Lopate invokes in describing Riverbank State Park, and that mix of the problematic and the delightful pervades his account, "saturated with history," of the waterfront's metamorphosis from "a working port, to an abandoned, seedy no-man's-land, to a highly desirable zone of parks plus upscale retail/residential." This is a demanding book—formidable in some of its detail, complex in its broad approach. Tourists will find it enriching but only borderline useful. Its ideal reader, a New Yorker who cares as deeply as Lopate does about the waterfront as "the key to New York's destiny," will find it compelling as well as entertaining. © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


LMCC and Rooftop Films present an evening of short films and animations around the theme “Lost at Sea” on the Governors Island Parade Ground
Saturday: July 16, the program will start at 7:30 pm with live music on the Parade Grounds. The films will begin at 8:30 pm.

For this event only, ferries will continue to leave from the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm. Ferries will return to Lower Manhattan every hour on the ½ hour with more frequency in the evening, up until 11:25 pm. For more information, visit www.lmcc.net/setanddrift. For ticket information, click here.


Around Governors Island Swim: Sponsored by Manhattan Island Foundation
Saturday: June 25, 8:00 am
Results available at: http://www.nycswim.org/events/results.aspx?Event_ID=1624

Part of the 2005 Summer Swim Series organized by the Manhattan Island Foundation and sponsored by Hudson River Park Trust, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Riverside Park South and the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. This is the first year for the Governors Island Swim. The swim will circumnavigate Governors Island in an extremely challenging 2-mile course with great views of Lower Manhattan. For more information, including an application or volunteer form, visit www.nycswim.org. This event is not open to the General Public.


Lecture: “Unearthing Gotham: The Archeology of New York City” with Diana Wall and Ann-Marie Cantwell
Saturday: June 25, 1:00 pm

From Publishers Weekly
Rutgers's Cantwell and City College's Wall, anthropologists both, track the evolving practice of urban archeology, and document much of what it has uncovered (and is still uncovering) in the Big Apple. From the oldest remnants of Native Manhattanites to 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century detritus, Cantwell and Wall explore how archeologists painstakingly expose and determine the past as well as the objects they find. Continually surprising objects of great import the intricate nature and use of "wampum beads"; a full crate of wine bottles from a Wall Street store lost in the great 1835 fire; children's toys and mugs from mid-19th century middle-class homes balance the book's academic underpinnings with its obvious intention to entertain and to illuminate the past. Whether dealing with the discovery of glass urinals found behind a brothel in the notorious Five Points section of the city, or an extraordinarily moving account of the preservation of a colonial African-American burial ground uncovered during excavation for a new high-rise in lower Manhattan, the authors are always mindful of the endless battle between embracing new growth and respecting and safeguarding the past. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Play: The American Revolution by the Inverse Theater Company
Saturday: June 18 at 2:00 pm

“This hilarious and historical patriotic parade (Music! Comedy! Battles!) follows General George Washington on his quest to defeat the British Empire and secure independence. Along the way, he confronts Redcoats, Tories, Hessian mercenaries, mutinying generals, a bankrupt Congress, spies, and Benedict Arnold. He is joined by the world’s most incompetent and endearing troop of new recruits - The Rebel Mess. These rambunctious Yankees tumble through the colonies chasing freedom, dodging bullets, making song, and discovering what it means to be an American.”


Lecture: “Images of America: Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty” with Barry Moreno
Saturday: June 18, 3:00 pm

One of the nation’s leading authorities on the subject, author Barry Moreno has worked in the Museum Services Division at Ellis Islandfor more than a decade. In addition to authoring two “Images of America” series books from Arcadia Publishing – Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty -- he is also the author of The Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia and Italian Americans, as well as the recently published “The Encyclopedia of Ellis Island.”


Governors Island Family Festival – co-sponsored by GIPEC and Goldman Sachs & Co.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Noon to 4:00 pm

Please join us for family entertainment on Colonels’ Row, featuring arts and crafts, storytelling, live theater and songs about the American Revolution, and a fire safety demonstration by the NYFD.

No ferry tickets are required for June 11 (ONLY). Visitors to Governors Island on June 11 will be allowed to board the ferry on a first come, first served basis. Adults and children over 15 (if traveling on their own) must show proper ID to board the ferry. This event takes place during regular Summer Saturday hours, with the park opening at 10:00 am.


The Public Art Fund presents "The Muster. A Project by Allison Smith."
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Noon to 5:00 pm
The Declaration of Causes, a formal roll call, begins at 2:00 pm. This event is free to the public.

The Muster is a public art event generated by the question "What are you fighting for?" posed by artist and self-appointed Mustering Officer Allison Smith. Inspired by the aesthetic and performative qualities of American Civil War reenactments, Smith creates a festive setting for ecstatic proclamation. In this gathering of the troops on the marching fields of Fort Jay, an army of enlisted participants will fashion uniforms, build campsites, and declare their causes publicly to an audience of spectators.

Ferries depart from the Governors Island ferry terminal located in the Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street in Lower Manhattan (directions). Ferries depart from Lower Manhattan at 11:45 am, 12:15 pm, 1:00 pm, 1:45 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:15 pm and 4:00 pm. For additional information, visit www.themuster.com.


First Annual Governors Island Tree Lighting Ceremony
December 15, 2004, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, Nolan Park, Governors Island.

Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation invites you to ring in the Holiday season on Governors Island. Light refreshments will be served at the Admiral’s Quarters in the heart of the Governors Island National Historic Landmark District. Reservations are required by calling 212.440.2202. Ferries to Governors Island leave from the Battery Maritime Building (directions).
Ferries will depart every 30 minutes for Governors Island beginning at 4:00 pm. Invitation (PDF). This is a free event. No tickets are required.


Special Event: Governors Island to participate in openhousenewyork
October 9 and 10, 2004

During the openhousenewyork weekend, New Yorkers and visitors are invited to explore 100 spectacular buildings, structures and parks in neighborhoods throughout the City – at no charge.

Governors Island is pleased to participate in this year’s openhousenewyork celebration of NYC architecture.

Governors Island will host three tours a day during openhousenewyork weekend, providing visitors with a chance to see and learn about the history of Governors Island and to look inside some of the incredible buildings and structures located throughout the northern section of the Island. Space is limited, and must be reserved. More....


 HISTORIC TOURS: Governors Island National Landmark District Tours
June 21 through September 3, 2004

Tours of the 90-acre Governors Island National Landmark District are available through the National Park Service. Landmark District walking tours cover approximately two and a half miles within the Landmark district, and take approximately two and a half hour to complete. Tickets for these tours are available only at the South Street Seaport Museum ticket windows located in the South Street Seaport complex in Lower Manhattan. There are two tours daily, at 10:00 am and at 1:00 pm, and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis, on the day of the tour.

There are no advance phone reservations available for weekday NPS tours. Click here for details.


Special Event: Barnet Schecter, author of The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution, will speak to visitors at Governors Island National Monument
Saturday, August 21st
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Hosted by the National Park Service and the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation.

Barnet Schecter, an expert on the strategic and political role of New York during the American Revolution, will discuss his book, and particularly the role the Continental Army’s troops and defenses built on Governors Island had on the outcome of the Battle of Long Island – the first engagement of the fledgling army of the United States with British troops after independence was declared in 1776. The British invaded New York 228 years ago this month and occupied the city until 1783.

Visitors will be treated to a brief lecture, followed by an opportunity for the author to sign copies of his work. In addition, Mr. Schecter will introduce his upcoming work on the New York City “draft riots” during the American Civil War – in which Governors Island also had an historical connection. Weather permitting, the event will be held in the parade ground of Fort Jay in Governors Island National Monument. An alternative site will be provided on the island in the case of inclement weather.


Special Event: Van Alen Institute and Rooftop Films, in association with GIPEC, present an evening of film on Governors Island
August 6, 2004
7:00 pm to 10:30 pm
Admission: Free – Sponsored by Target Stores

As part of their “OPEN views: film on the city” series, Van Alen Istitute and Rooftop Films, in association with the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, will screen a series of independent films on August 6. Click here for details.


GET INVOLVED! Public Meeting: Planning for the Future of Governors Island
July 29, 2004 on Governors Island, 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Where: Governors Island
Date: July 29, 2004
Time: 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

At this early stage in the planning process for Governors Island, GIPEC is seeking broad public input on the potential uses for the Island. GIPEC will be organizing a series of Public Meetings to foster idea exchanges with the public and community organizations. Click here for details.


SPECIAL EVENT: Governors Island: Photographs by Lisa Kereszi and Andrew Moore
May 24 – July 8, 2004
Urban Center Gallery
457 Madison Avenue
New York, NY
Between 50th and 51st Streets
Hours: Monday-Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 11am – 5pm

The exhibition of current photographs of Governors Island was commissioned by GIPEC and organized by the Public Art Fund, in association with the Municipal Art Society. Target Stores is sponsoring the exhibition and an accompanying exhibition catalogue.

The exhibition at the Urban Center has closed. Check back soon, the exhibit will be moving to Governors Island in the near future. 

More information about the exhibit, including a slide show of the project is available at the Public Art Fund website: http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/projects/04/govern_island_04.html

Artists Bios

Lisa Kereszi, a Brooklyn-based photographer, was born in 1973 in Chester, Pennsylvania. She received an MFA from Yale School of Fine Arts in 2000 and is currently on the faculty of the International Center for Photography. Although the human figure rarely appears in her work, Kereszi's photographs are just as much about people as they are about places and things: "I go into a space that has been inhabited and look for the trails and traces people leave behind," she has said. Like all of her work, Kereszi's photographs of Governors Island are straightforward, unaltered images, portraying scenarios just as she finds them. She recently had a solo show at Pierogi in Williamsburg in 2003; her editorial photographs have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Nest, wallpaper, and other publications.

Andrew Moore graduated from Princeton University in 1979, where he is currently a professor of photography. Moore's nuanced photographs, made with a large format camera, use architectural form to express the history of public and private spaces. His photographic series have focused on the crumbling grandeur of Havana, the dilapidated theaters of Times Square, and the old asylums on Roosevelt Island. He has recently had solo shows at Craig Krull in Los Angeles (2004), Jane Jackson Gallery in Atlanta (2003), and at Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York (2002). Moore was also the producer and cinematographer for How to Draw a Bunny (2002), a documentary feature about the artist Ray Johnson, recently released by Palm Pictures.


SPECIAL EVENT: Curvation Walk of Confidence with Queen Latifah
June 22, 2004

CURVATION® intimate apparel created for curvaceous women, along with spokesperson Queen Latifah, hosted the first-ever CURVATION 2004 "Walk of Confidence" to benefit The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which recently launched a campaign to Re-Open Lady Liberty. To mark the event, Curvation contributed $15,000 to the foundation in honor of America’s most symbolic woman – the Statue of Liberty. CURVATION also made a $10,000 donation to Governors Island for the preservation of this new National Monument in New York Harbor.

 

 

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