Governor's Island

Governor's Island is a small island off the tip of lower Manhattan. Beginning in the 18th century, while the British were in charge, the island has served a military purpose. It has a fort and "castle"- which was primarily used as a prison. It also has many houses for officers and large buildings that resemble dormitories. The Coast Guard returned the island to the city of NY in 1996. It is open to the public for 3 months in the summer. At this point, the development proposals look stalled and the island is rather ghostly. The ferry takes about 5 minutes and you are free to walk and bike about half the island. There are spectacular views of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But, the most interesting thing to me was the feeling that over and over time stopped. The castle looked medieval sitting right next to deserted 1960's concrete dorms. The fort is like walking into a Civil war museum and there are rows of Victorian houses for the officers. We just walked around and peeked into windows, to see empty rooms and debris. It felt like the set of a movie, in a small town that had all the residents sucked out of for some mysterious reason.


One of the amusing things were the Civil War reenactors. Here they are shooting their guns in front of the fort, with Manhattan in the background.
Through a window at the prison.
The library, through another window.