Governors Island Winter Village Opens Dec. 17

Add another holiday destination to your list. 

Governors Island is now open year-round, so this is the first year for the new Gov­er­nors Island Win­ter Vil­lage, which trans­forms his­toric Colonels Row into a des­ti­na­tion for sea­son­al ameni­ties.

The Vil­lage will include a 5,000-square foot skat­ing rink, with FREE skating on weekends plus sea­son­al activ­i­ties, fes­tive win­ter lights, games and food and drinks along­side warm­ing fire pits, starting Dec. 17. 

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

The Governors Island Trust will also dis­play a his­toric Coast Guard-era fire truck at the Win­ter Vil­lage, pro­vid­ing a charm­ing selfie stop pho­to op for visitors. 

Lit­tle Eva’s anchora the Win­ter Village’s food and bev­er­age options and will debut a new sea­son­al menu, com­plete with warm drinks and new takes on their clas­sic com­fort food like brats, veg­an chili, fish and chips and more. An eclec­tic array of week­end food trucks, plus Joe Cof­fee — open dai­ly inside LMCC’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island and in the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing fer­ry ter­mi­nal — round out the Island’s win­ter eats.

Governors Island Ice Skating Rink

The ice rink will be open Fri­days from noon to 5pm and Sat­ur­days and Sun­days from 10am to 5pm, with extend­ed hours avail­able for youth, adult and non­prof­it sports leagues and asso­ci­a­tions (inter­est­ed orga­ni­za­tions should email info@​govisland.​org).

The rink will also fea­ture events, activ­i­ties and ​“Free Admis­sion Fri­days,” with admis­sion fees waived for all vis­i­tors every Friday.

Ice skat­ing beneath the tow­er­ing trees, grab­bing a hot choco­late over a roar­ing fire, or sim­ply admir­ing the hol­i­day light dis­play — what could be a more charm­ing way to spend a win­ter after­noon?” said Mer­ritt Birn­baum, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island.

Gov­er­nors Island is already New York City’s favorite des­ti­na­tion for fun in the sun, and we look for­ward to wel­com­ing vis­i­tors to expe­ri­ence a whole new sea­son of activ­i­ties in this spe­cial place.”

In Sep­tem­ber, May­or Bill de Bla­sio and the Trust announced that start­ing in 2021 Gov­er­nors Island will be open to the pub­lic year-round for the first time in his­to­ry.

Gov­er­nors Island is open dai­ly from 7am to 6pm and is acces­si­ble by fer­ry.

Fer­ries oper­at­ed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island run dai­ly from the Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing at 10 South Street in Man­hat­tan.

A round trip fer­ry tick­et costs $3 for adults and is free for seniors 65 and over, chil­dren 12 and under, NYCHA res­i­dents, IDNYC hold­ers, for­mer and active mil­i­tary ser­vice­ mem­bers and for every­one on week­ends before noon.

Fer­ry reser­va­tions and sched­ules can be found at gov​is​land​.org/​ferry.

About Governors Island & How to Get There

Gov­er­nors Island’s award-win­ning park is open to the pub­lic every day, along with restrooms, recre­ation activ­i­ties like bike rentals and Ham­mock Grove, The Hills, Pic­nic Point and more.

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island’s pub­lic art com­mis­sions, includ­ing work from Duke Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Mark Dion and Mark Hand­forth are also cur­rent­ly on view through­out the Island.

The NYC Fer­ry serves Gov­er­nors Island dai­ly, year-round begin­ning with the launch of the Coney Island Route.

The NCY Fer­ry will serve Gov­er­nors Island’s Yan­kee Pier via the South Brook­lyn Route, expand­ing direct access from Red Hook, Atlantic Ave/​Brooklyn Bridge Park-Pier 6, DUMBO/​Fulton Fer­ry, and Cor­lears Hook in the Low­er East Side for Gov­er­nors Island vis­i­tors and grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of ten­ants.Ferry’s week­end shut­tle ser­vice from Wall Street/​Pier 11 will con­tin­ue to serve Gov­er­nors Island on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days until the launch of this extend­ed service.