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Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage Returns Novem­ber 17

Nov 4, 2022 8:29 am

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island today announced the Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage will open Novem­ber 17, trans­form­ing his­toric Colonels Row into a sin­gu­lar sea­son­al des­ti­na­tion for the sec­ond year in a row. The pop­u­lar Win­ter Vil­lage will include a 7,500-square foot skat­ing rink for vis­i­tors of all ages to enjoy, along with win­tery activ­i­ties, fes­tive dec­o­ra­tions, games, cold-weath­er food and drinks, and warm­ing fire pits. The rink will be open Thurs­day through Sun­day and all New York City pub­lic school hol­i­days, with addi­tion­al Win­ter Vil­lage activ­i­ties avail­able sev­en days a week. 

“We are so excit­ed to invite New York­ers and vis­i­tors to Gov­er­nors Island for the return of Win­ter Vil­lage,” said New York City May­or Eric Adams. ​“Cold weath­er doesn’t have to mean being stuck inside — it can mean ice skat­ing and sled­ding with your friends or sit­ting around a fire with your fam­i­ly. And with the return of Win­ter Dog Days, I’m sure Gov­er­nors Island will be a pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tion for every mem­ber of the family.”

“Gov­er­nors Island con­tin­ues to show­case its unique and uplift­ing con­tri­bu­tions to New York City’s cul­tur­al land­scape through the Win­ter Vil­lage,” said Deputy May­or for Eco­nom­ic and Work­force Devel­op­ment Maria Tor­res-Springer. ​“From ice skat­ing to Jen­ga to toasty drinks, there’s some­thing for every­one in the fam­i­ly at the Win­ter Vil­lage and I encour­age all New York­ers to take advan­tage of Gov­er­nors Island year-round.”

“The secret is out: Gov­er­nors Island is tru­ly a mag­i­cal place all year long, and we are so excit­ed to wel­come New York­ers back to the Win­ter Vil­lage,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“In addi­tion to some pret­ty spec­tac­u­lar skat­ing, Win­ter Vil­lage vis­i­tors will once again be able to enjoy some of the same amaz­ing food trucks, excit­ing pro­gram­ming, and stun­ning land­scapes that make Gov­er­nors Island a great place to vis­it all year long.” 

In addi­tion to the rink, the Vil­lage will fea­ture bike and sled rentals from Blaz­ing Sad­dles NYC and win­tery activ­i­ties includ­ing lawn games like corn­hole, can jam and giant Jen­ga; fire pits; win­ter arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram­ming, and a sparkling dis­play of hol­i­day lights through­out his­toric Colonels Row. The Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage will be open through Feb­ru­ary 2023. 

Expand­ing on last year’s pub­lic hours, the ice rink will be open Thurs­days and Fri­days from noon to 5:30pm and Sat­ur­days and Sun­days from 10am to 5:30pm, with event pack­ages and buy­outs avail­able dur­ing addi­tion­al hours. The rink will also fea­ture events, activ­i­ties, and ​“Free Admis­sion Thurs­days,” with admis­sion fees waived for all vis­i­tors every Thurs­day. Rink admis­sion and skate rentals can be reserved online at www​.gov​is​land​.org start­ing mid-November. 

Island ven­dor Lit­tle Eva’s will be open dai­ly at the Win­ter Vil­lage with a sea­son­al menu, com­plete with warm drinks and new takes on their clas­sic com­fort food like brats, veg­an chili, fish and chips, soups, and more. A rotat­ing series of New York City’s best food trucks, in part­ner­ship with the New York Food Truck Asso­ci­a­tion, will round out the Island’s win­ter eats. 

The Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage is pre­sent­ed with sup­port from The May and Samuel Rudin Fam­i­ly Foundation.

Gov­er­nors Island’s award-win­ning park is open to the pub­lic every day, along with recre­ation activ­i­ties like bike rentals, a Com­mu­ni­ty Climb­ing Boul­der, Ham­mock Grove, The Hills, Pic­nic Point, and more. Gov­er­nors Island Arts pub­lic art com­mis­sions, includ­ing work from Charles Gaines, Duke Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Mark Dion, and Mark Hand­forth are also cur­rent­ly on view through­out the Island. 

QC NY Spa con­tin­ues to be open dai­ly on Gov­er­nors Island, with heat­ed out­door pools along­side saunas, steam rooms, relax­ation treat­ments, mas­sages, and a new bar and bistro. This win­ter also marks the return of Win­ter Dog Days, where dogs are allowed on Gov­er­nors Island on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days through­out the win­ter months. Dogs must be leashed while on Gov­er­nors Island except for in the Week­end Win­ter Dog Park, locat­ed adja­cent to Liggett Terrace. 

“Gov­er­nors Island is a jew­el for New York City, not just in the sum­mer months, but now year-round, ” said Con­gress­man Jer­ry Nadler. ​“Today’s announce­ment of Gov­er­nors Islands Win­ter Vil­lage invites vis­i­tors from all over the city to engage in ice skat­ing, hot choco­late by the fire and weath­er friend­ly activ­i­ties and fes­tiv­i­ties. I’m thrilled to con­tin­ue sup­port­ing Gov­er­nors Island as a dynam­ic resource for all New York­ers and I am excit­ed to see the expe­ri­ence cre­at­ed for vis­i­tors in the win­ter season.”

“I am hap­py that the Win­ter Vil­lage will be return­ing this sea­son,” said State Sen­a­tor Bri­an Kavanagh, who rep­re­sents Gov­er­nors Island. ​“New York­ers will once again have access to great food and excit­ing events for all ages, includ­ing ice skat­ing, win­ter activ­i­ties, fun games, and fes­tive dec­o­ra­tions. I encour­age every­one to vis­it Gov­er­nors Island this win­ter and enjoy this win­ter won­der­land. I applaud the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island for their ongo­ing efforts to make Gov­er­nors Island a more acces­si­ble, enjoy­able, and engag­ing place to vis­it and explore.”

“Regard­less of the time of year, Gov­er­nors Island is always a must-vis­it des­ti­na­tion, and the sec­ond-annu­al Win­ter Vil­lage has some­thing for every­one. I encour­age all New York­ers to hop on the fer­ry and try one of the many win­ter­time activ­i­ties or hud­dle by the fire pits,” said Man­hat­tan Bor­ough Pres­i­dent Mark Levine. ​“Thank you to the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island for being incred­i­ble stew­ards of and con­stant­ly expand­ing pub­lic access to all that the island has to offer.”

“Com­ing off the heels of pump­kin point week­end and the many oppor­tu­ni­ties to enjoy the amaz­ing canopy of fall foliage and bucol­ic nat­ur­al beau­ty of Gov­er­nors Island, Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 is delight­ed to wel­come the sec­ond Win­ter Sea­son!” said Tam­my Meltzer, Chair­per­son of Man­hat­tan Com­mu­ni­ty 1. ​“We look for­ward to the pub­lic enjoy­ing the Island’s beloved open spaces glis­ten­ing with fresh snow, the amaz­ing unfet­tered har­bor and sky­line views, events and cul­tur­al pro­gram­ming. Com­mu­ni­ty Board 1 is thrilled that the Trust con­tin­ues to enhance the pub­lic’s access to this price­less nat­ur­al resource through sun, snow and beyond.”

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. For sched­ules and tick­et­ing infor­ma­tion, vis­it www​.gov​is​land​.org. Trust-oper­at­ed sea­son­al week­end Brook­lyn fer­ry ser­vice will return in Spring 2023.

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.