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Memorial Day Walking Tour: Explore the Island
The first Governors Island Explorer’s Guide Walking Tour of the season will be on Memorial Day (Monday, May 28) at 2 p.m. It will be free for all veterans and anyone who has the app download. Everyone else $20 each. How is my walking tour different from other tours of the island? I’m a licensed New York City Sightseeing Guide who has been leading walking tours for 13 years. Let me tell you what’s on the walk: See 50 (yes FIFTY) locations on the island History of all Army buildings and Army housing Significance of all fortifications and military use of the island The people that made the island a…
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Big Changes for 2012 on Island
I’m back to writing about Governors Island as the new season is upon us. The 2012 season will feature drastic cuts in programs and access to the island, which is only open on Saturdays and Sundays (plus Memorial Day and Labor Day) beginning May 26. Visitors must make do with 30 days this season to see the island. The National Park Service provides limited access to the island on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (June-Sept.), but a ranger accompanies visitors at all times. No Friday afternoon solo bike rides to Picnic Point this year. A limited amount of construction work on the island took place in the off-season, however, no old…
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Vintage Cannonball Found by Ferry Dock
A bit of the island’s past came to life and brought scores of emergency responders to investigate a 14-inch, 350-pound cannonball found this week. It was discovered by workers underwater outside the seawall at the ferry dock, as construction continues to rebuild the access point for the 2012 season. According to The Post, the 19th Century projectile was found February 2 by workers doing construction near Soissons Dock, where the ferries from Manhattan access the island, said Elizabeth Rapuano, chief of staff for the city-run Trust for Governors Island. A member of the New York Police Department said, “They were digging in the water with a backhoe, removing muck and mud, when this thing…
