! Alert

New York Harbor will be experiencing planned closures on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. Because of this, Governors Island ferry service may be impacted between 12:30-1:30pm and 6:30-7:30pm on February 7. Times are subject to change; click here or follow us on Twitter for updates.

New York Harbor will be experiencing planned closures on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. Because of this, Governors Island ferry service may be impacted between 12:30-1:30pm and 6:30-7:30pm on February 7. Times are subject to change; click here or follow us on Twitter for updates.

Year-Round Concession Opportunities

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island invites food and bev­er­age pur­vey­ors and oper­a­tors of recre­ation and enter­tain­ment ameni­ties to sub­mit pro­pos­als on a rolling basis to oper­ate con­ces­sions on Gov­er­nors Island dur­ing all seasons.

Gov­er­nors Island is one of New York City’s most unique, beloved des­ti­na­tions. Each year, near­ly one mil­lion vis­i­tors from around the five bor­oughs — and the globe — enjoy a robust cal­en­dar of cul­tur­al pro­grams, pub­lic art, events and recre­ation, an award-win­ning park with unri­valed views of the New York City sky­line and more. Pre­vi­ous­ly a sea­son­al-only des­ti­na­tion, Gov­er­nors Island is now open to the pub­lic year-round — offer­ing more oppor­tu­ni­ties than ever before for small busi­ness­es to engage a diverse and fast-grow­ing audi­ence and a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of ten­ants. The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is cur­rent­ly seek­ing part­ners to oper­ate ameni­ty con­ces­sions, includ­ing food and bev­er­age and recreational/​entertainment oppor­tu­ni­ties, to enliv­en the Island and sup­port this fast-grow­ing des­ti­na­tion in the heart of New York Harbor.

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island accepts pro­pos­als on a rolling basis for a mix of flex­i­ble, high-traf­fic sites suit­able for a wide range of ameni­ty con­ces­sions. Oppor­tu­ni­ties for oper­a­tors include space for new semi-per­ma­nent struc­tures, out­door set-ups for equip­ment rentals and recre­ation­al attrac­tions, rentable ship­ping con­tain­er con­ces­sion stands, mobile food carts and sta­tion­ary loca­tions for food trucks, with short term or mul­ti-year agree­ments. Oper­a­tors should con­sid­er the site needs that best suit their busi­ness and offer­ings. Pro­pos­als are also wel­come for alter­na­tive loca­tions on the Island not specif­i­cal­ly list­ed below. 

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.

...

Located at gateway between the Historic District and expansive new park and minutes from both the Manhattan and Brooklyn ferry landings, Liggett Terrace operates as the Island’s traditional food court with a mix of grab and go and seated offerings and multiple public seating options. Outdoor space is available for both semi-permanent and mobile operations, including potential rental of existing container vending locations. Offsite storage for dry goods and cold storage is available upon request.

Available Area: Individual sites of 2,500-6,000 SF within larger food court
Electrical Service: Up to 200 Amps
Potable Water: Available
Sanitary Sewer: Available


...

Minutes from the Liggett Terrace food court and the Brooklyn ferry landing at Yankee Pier, Liggett East offers a unique opportunity for a new large-format concept for food and beverage or recreational and entertainment uses.

Available Area: ~25,000 SF
Electrical Service: Up to 200 Amps
Potable Water: Available
Sanitary Sewer: Available


...

Self-contained food trucks or carts towed by vehicles capable of onsite food preparation are welcome to apply to operate in pre-approved high-traffic locations on the Island. Trucks and/or carts may arrive and depart daily or remain onsite for a determined period. Offsite storage for dry goods and cold storage is available upon request.

Mobile operations, including small stands, trikes, or pushcarts can be assigned to specific locations or relocate throughout the day around the Island. Mobile units should maintain a regular, prescribed route to service the more remote locations along with highly trafficked areas. We envision a small, electric or pedaled vehicle that is constantly on the move (e.g. a beverage bike). Offsite storage for dry goods and cold storage is available upon request.

Available Area: Communal wash station at Liggett Terrace with potable water and sewage lines
Water & Sanitary Sewer: Available in limited locations for plug-in operations


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.

To see our current and past season vendors, please visit the Food & Drink and Recreation pages.