Anchors aweigh! Fleet Week 2017 is next week and weekend, when more than 4,500 US Navy sailors, Marines and Coast Guard men and women visit NYC, there are nearly one dozen ships to tour, and dozens of band concerts and other events. All events are FREE and family-friendly.
The 29th annual NYC Fleet Week, which celebrates all the Sea Services, begins Tuesday, May 23rd, with a Navy Band concert in Central Park. The traditional Parade of Ships on the Hudson River is Wednesday, May 24th, and there are daily events through Tuesday, May 29th, including the traditional showing of the movie Top Gun on the top deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Again this year, ships from the Royal Canadian Navy are participating. This is a special year for Canada, celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2017.
Here’s the schedule of Fleet Week 2017 events, including events in Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey.
All events are FREE and open to the public with no tickets or reservations.
NOTE that there is an additional, separate schedule for multiple events at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. We’ll have that schedule for you later in the week.
Ship tours are daily, Thursday through Monday, in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Ships are open for tours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except the Intrepid Pier, which opens at 10 a.m. Note that lines may be capped at 3 p.m. to allow guests to finish their tours.
When you see one of our men and women in uniform and on the town, be sure to thank them for their service.
Many of them will be visiting Times Square, where we want to recommend avoiding the national chains found in any suburban mall. Here are the best local NYC restaurants in the Times Square area, where you can eat better and for less.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Navy Band Concert
- Noon – 1:15 p.m, Central Park.
- Navy Band Northeast performs a concert in Central Park’s Naumburg Band Shell.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Fleet Week New York Parade of Ships
- Starting at 10am in New York Harbor
- Watch U.S. Navy, including U.S. Marine Corps personnel, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard, and Royal Canadian ships transit the New York Harbor to kick-off 2017 Fleet Week New York.
Fort Hamilton Salute to the Ships of Fleet Week
- Time TBD, at Bluff at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn
- Annual salute to the ships of Fleet Week at U.S. Army Garrison Ft. Hamilton.
Fort Wadsworth Fleet Week and National Park Centennial Celebration
- Time TBD, at Fort Wadsworth Overlook, Staten Island
- The National Parks Service (NPS) host a celebration of Fleet Week New York and the Centennial of the NPS.
U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance
- 1 p.m. – 1:30 p.m at the, 9/11 Memorial Plaza in Lower Manhattan
Thursday, May 25, 2017
U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance
- 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza in Lower Manhattan.
General Public Ship Tours in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island
- 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. (Intrepid, Pier 86)
- Manhattan locations are Piers 86, 88, 92 and Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
- Brooklyn location is at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
- Staten Island location is at the Homeport Pier
- 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pier 90
- Watch sailors and volunteers join forces to assemble hundreds of children’s bicycles, adjacent to one of the ships open for touring. Following Fleet Week, the bikes will be shipped across the country as gifts for the young children of service members.
- Thanks to Toyota for helping fund this USO program, and for inviting NYCOTC Editor Evelyn Kanter to be one of the volunteers assembling bicycles for military kids.
U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance
- 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave.
Friday, May 26, 2017
General Public Ship Tours
- Same schedule and locations as Thursday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. (Intrepid, Pier 86)
U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance
- 1:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. at 9/11 Memorial Plaza
U.S. Navy Divers Demonstration
- 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Divers in full diving gear perform underwater activities in a giant tank at Military Island, Times Square
Joint Re-enlistment/Promotions Ceremony
- 2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza
- Service members from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard participate in a re-enlistment and promotion ceremony
U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team Performance
- 5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. at Military Island, Times Square
Navy Band Northeast “Rhode Island Sound” Concert
- 8 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. at Military Island, Times Square
See next page for Saturday, Sunday, Memorial Day (Monday) and Tuesday schedule
Thanks. That wasn’t on our Fleet Week schedule, which listed only the official events. We’re including this singles party, with the link to purchase tickets, on our regular what to do for the weekend posting on Thursday morning. And let’s not overlook the Marines and Coast Guard members, also in town, and also invited to the party.
Evelyn Kanter, NYCOTC Editor
Great event. Great FB page!
BUT
Your opening line needs an important correction.
For the Navy fleet, it is ANCHORS AWEIGH, not
ANCHORS AWAY.