ello, gov’nor: summer 2024 on governors island

Originally the traditional lands of the Lenape people and later the home of the US Coast Guard, Governors Island is a New York City gem. Only a short ferry ride away — when you buy your ferry ticket (free for IDNYC cardholders), be sure to check out Duke Riley’s Not for Nutten installation in the Battery Maritime Building lobby  — the area’s 172.5 acres contain treasures galore, starting with Castle Williams, a huge fort that features a hundred guns around its perimeter; known as the Cheesebox, it was used as a Confederate prison during the Civil War. As you pass by plaque after monument after plaque after working bell, you’ll soon come upon the Admiral’s Quarters, an 1840 Federal-style house that has twenty-seven rooms and served as home to General Pershing and was the site of Reagan and Gorbachev’s first handshake on American soil. Perhaps most impressive is Fort Jay, a two-hundred-year-old star-shaped fort with a dry moat, named for first chief justice John Jay. Along the way there is also a church, an abandoned theater, row houses prepared for the hundred-year flood, ugly buildings from the 1970s, and the enormous Building 400.

During the summer, many of the houses along Colonels Row contain art exhibits, with residencies by Har­vest­works, the Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary African Dias­po­ran Arts, Amer­i­can Indi­an Com­mu­ni­ty House, Bil­lion Oys­ter Project, the West Harlem Art Fund, BronxArts­Space, Flux Factory, Stat­en Island Urban Cen­ter, Foun­tain House Gallery, the New York Latin Amer­i­can Art Tri­en­ni­al, and others. In addition, there are live performances, bike riding, a spa, an urban farm, the peaceful Hammock Grove, food and drink (Little Eva’s, Tokyo Drumstick, Threes Brewing, Makina Cafe, Spectro, Taco Vista), and such public artworks as Rachel Whiteread’s Cabin, Mark Handforth’s Yankee Hanger, Mark Dion’s The Field Station of the Melan­choly Marine Biol­o­gist, Sheila Berger’s Bird MMXXI­II, Sam Van Aken’s The Open Orchard, and Jenny Kendler’s immersive, interactive Other of Pearl in Fort Jay, where you can have a “conversation” with whales.

Friday, July 12
through
Sunday, July 28
Pratt Institute: Island Performance by May Joseph, Nolan Park, Building 14, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Friday, July 12
through
Sunday, August  11
Med­i­ta­tions on Med­ica­tion: The Pill Bot­tle Project, Fountain House Gallery, Nolan Park Building 8B, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays

Saturday, July 13
Climate Piloting Summer Kickoff celebrating City of Water Day, Yankee Pier, noon - 3:00

Exhibition Opening + Open Studios: “Love Tapes” by Wendy Clarke, the Arts Center at Governors Island, noon - 5:00

Open Studios: Yanira Castro / a canary torsi, Exorcism = Liberation prototypes, collective listening of What is your first memory of dirt?, the Arts Center at Governors Island, noon - 5:00

Saturday, July 13
and
Sunday, July 14
NYC Poet­ry Fes­ti­val, hosted by the Poet­ry Soci­ety of New York, with Kaz­im Ali, Katie Far­ris, Safia Elhil­lo, Ilya Kamin­sky, and many more, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sunday, July 14
Earth Matter NY: Cyanotype workshop, noon - 3:00

NYC Bird Alliance: “Bird bones/​Sparrow songs: Birds, Dis­abil­i­ty, and Move­ment,” Colonels Row, 5:00

Saturday, July 20
Gov­er­nors Island Arts THIRD Sat­ur­days, Nolan Park and Colonels Row, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

ArtCrawl Harlem: “Gamechangers: Photography and Rap Legacy,” with Ernie Pan­ic­ci­oli, Colonels Row, Building 403, 1:00

ArtCrawl Harlem: Artist Talk with Francks Deuces, Colonels Row, Building 403, 3:30

Interventions: Rena Anakwe, Liggett Terrace, 7:30

Saturday, July 20
and
Sunday, July 21
FAD Mar­ket, Liggett Terrace to King Ave., 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Thursday, July 25
Nature Walk, led by the Gov­er­nors Island Nature pro­gram and CCNY insect ecol­o­gy pro­fes­sor Amy Berkov, noon

Saturday, July 27
ArtCrawl Harlem: Paper Making Workshop, with Michele Brody, Colonels Row, Building 403, 1:00

Earthbound II, Yana Schnitzler Human Kinetics, “Multispecies Totem” by e+1 studio, Earth Matter NY, 3:00

Saturday, August 3
NYCRUNS Manhattan Ice Cream Social 10K, Colonels Row Green, 8:30 am

Saturday, August 10
and
Sunday, August  11
Jazz Age Lawn Par­ty, with dance lessons, pie-baking contest, Bathing Beauties and Beaus Promenade, Children’s Parade, live performances by Michael Arenella and His Dreamland Orchestra, Dreamland Follies, Queen Esther, pianist Peter Mintun, Gelber & Manning, Roddy Caravella and the Canarsie Wobblers, and more, $52.50, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Thursday, August 15
through
Sunday, August 18
House Fest 2024, with live dance and music, panel discussions, open studios, interactive workshops, outdoor installations, and more, Nolan Park and Colonels Row Houses

Saturday, August 17
Flux Factory: opening of “Spiritual Machines,” with performances by Katie Cercone, Malu Laet, Adelle Lin, Avital Meshi, Glenn Potter-Takata, and more, noon - 5:00

Saturday, August 17
and
Sunday, August 18
FAD Mar­ket, Liggett Terrace to King Ave., 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

[You can follow Mark Rifkin and This Week in New York every day here.]