Past con­ces­sions host­ed on Gov­er­nors Island include dozens of diverse food and bev­er­age ven­dors, from full ser­vice estab­lish­ments with seat­ing to grab-and-go food trucks and stands, bicy­cle and ath­let­ic equip­ment rentals, fam­i­ly friend­ly amuse­ments, mini-golf, mak­ers mar­kets tick­et­ed instal­la­tions and attrac­tions, and more. The Trust is espe­cial­ly inter­est­ed in attract­ing all-sea­son ameni­ties, includ­ing food and bev­er­age oper­a­tors, mar­kets, and win­ter sea­son recre­ation opportunities.

Our ide­al partners:

• Can offer high-qual­i­ty, afford­able, food or recre­ation activ­i­ties for our diverse vis­i­tors on a con­sis­tent schedule
• Com­ple­ment and sup­port Gov­er­nors Island’s year-round pub­lic hours
• Share the Trust’s goal of pro­mot­ing a sus­tain­able and zero-waste environment

Why Gov­er­nors Island?

• Oppor­tu­ni­ty to oper­ate in one of New York City’s most unique and icon­ic destinations
• Fast-grow­ing vis­i­tor audi­ence with approx­i­mate­ly 1M vis­i­tors annually
• Loy­al pop­u­la­tion of year-round employ­ees and tenants
• Beau­ti­ful set­ting with expan­sive views of the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty, New York Har­bor and Low­er Man­hat­tan skyline
• Pre­mier event venue with oppor­tu­ni­ty to cater cor­po­rate, non-prof­it and spe­cial events
• Mis­sion-dri­ven envi­ron­ment with pro­fes­sion­al sup­port staff

Avail­able Sites

Click each site name to expand the section.

Pro­pos­al Details

Pro­pos­al Requirements

Your pro­pos­al should include the fol­low­ing at a minimum.

• Per­son­al and busi­ness biog­ra­phy: Tell us about your­self and why Gov­er­nors Island is a great fit for your business.
• Con­cept: What will you serve, or what ameni­ty will you pro­vide? What is the sto­ry behind your offer­ing? Pro­vide as much detail as you can, includ­ing but not lim­it­ed to sam­ple menus, detailed descrip­tions of dish­es, sourc­ing infor­ma­tion, a list of ser­vice offer­ings, prices, stor­age and prep needs, etc.
• Loca­tion option and details: Which Gov­er­nors Island site or sites are ide­al for your con­cept? Each oper­a­tor will be respon­si­ble for the design as well as the con­struc­tion, fur­nish­ing and oper­a­tions of its site to the extent nec­es­sary and applic­a­ble. Tem­po­rary struc­tures can be built or pre-fab­ri­cat­ed items can be brought onto the Island, such as ship­ping containers.
• Phys­i­cal struc­ture and design sketch: What will your site, struc­ture, truck or mobile unit look like? Pro­vide a sketch or sam­ple of aesthetic.
• Oper­a­tional Plan: Staffing plan, hours and days of oper­a­tions, open­ing and clos­ing pro­ce­dures, clean­ing sched­ule, stor­age require­ments and any­thing else that seems rel­e­vant to dai­ly operations.
• Receiv­ing plan: All staff and mate­ri­als must arrive via fer­ry. Gov­er­nors Island is a car-free envi­ron­ment and vehi­cles car­ry­ing equip­ment and sup­plies are gen­er­al­ly restrict­ed to the ear­ly morn­ing. In your pro­pos­al, include times of day, days per week, receiv­ing staff and pro­ject­ed space require­ments per deliv­ery (e.g. num­ber of cas­es, hand-trucks, etc.). A detailed vehi­cle pol­i­cy will be pro­vid­ed upon agreement.
• Util­i­ty and elec­tric needs: Please pro­vide an equip­ment sched­ule show­ing intend­ed uses and list of each piece of major equipment’s elec­tri­cal draw.
• Sin­gle Sea­son Pro­for­ma: Include income and expense pro­jec­tions for each month of operation.
• Ref­er­ences: Pro­vide up to three rel­e­vant busi­ness references.

Fee Require­ments

Pro­pos­als must include a fixed site fee and/​or a rev­enue share based on gross sales, along with a secu­ri­ty deposit.

• The Trust reserves the right to accept, nego­ti­ate or reject any pro­pos­als received under this RFP.
• Oper­a­tors propos­ing a rev­enue share will be required to use an approved point of sales sys­tem and report month­ly gross sales to the Trust in a pro­vid­ed template.

Selec­tion Criteria

Pro­pos­als will be eval­u­at­ed for:

• Oper­a­tional exper­tise: Expe­ri­ence oper­at­ing con­ces­sions, high-traf­fic or out­door locations
• Con­cept and qual­i­ty: Menu, culi­nary and/​or ameni­ty exe­cu­tion; range of offer­ings and price points
• Design exe­cu­tion: Pro­fes­sion­al­ism and aesthetic
• Pro­posed fee offer
• Ref­er­ences

Sub­mis­sion Requirements

Sub­mit all pro­pos­als to realestate@​govisland.​org. All pro­pos­al ques­tions and/​or inquiries about our food & bev­er­age and ameni­ties pro­gram should be sent to realestate@​govisland.​org. No ques­tions will be answered via phone. The Trust will host tours for prospec­tive oper­a­tors upon request. To sched­ule a tour, email realestate@​govisland.​org.