Governors Island. Governors Island is a 172-acre island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately 800 yards south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the 400-yard-wide Buttermilk Channel. The National Park Service administers a small portion of the north end of the island as the Governors Island National Monument, including two former military fortifications named Fort Jay and Castle Williams. The Trust for Governors Island operates the remaining 150 acres, including 52 historic buildings, as a public park. About 103 acres of the land area is fill, added in the early 1900s to the south of the original island. The native Lenape originally referred to Governors Island as Paggank because of the area's rich collection of chestnut, hickory, and oak trees; it is believed that this space was originally used for seasonal foraging and hunting. The name was translated into the Dutch Noten Eylandt, then Anglicized into Nutten Island, before being renamed Governor's Island by the late 18th century. The island's use as a military installation dates to 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, when Continental Army troops raised defensive works on the island. From 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post, serving mainly as a training ground for troops, though it also served as a strategic defense point during wartime. The island then served as a major United States Coast Guard installation until 1996. Following its decommissioning as a military base, there were several plans for redeveloping Governors Island. It was sold to the public for a nominal sum in 2003, and opened for public use in 2005. Governors Island has become a popular destination for the public, attracting more than 800,000 visitors per year as of 2018. In addition to the 43-acre public park, Governors Island includes free arts and cultural events, as well as recreational activities. The New York Harbor School, a public high school with a maritime-focused curriculum, has been on the island since 2010. The island can only be accessed by ferries from Brooklyn and Manhattan, and there are no full-time residents as of 2022. The island was only accessible to the public during the summer until 2021, when it started operating year-round.mw-parser-output.toclimit-2.toclevel-1 ul.mw-parser-output.toclimit-3.toclevel-2 ul.mw-parser-output.toclimit-4.toclevel-3 ul.mw-parser-output.toclimit-5.toclevel-4 ul.mw-parser-output.toclimit-6.toclevel-5 ul.mw-parser-output.toclimit-7.toclevel-6 ul{display:none} The Native Lenape refer to the island as Paggank, Pagganck, or Pagganack. All of these names literally translate to Nut Island, likely in reference to the many chestnut, hickory, and oak trees on the island. The Dutch explorer Adriaen Block called it Noten Eylandt, a translation, and this was Anglicized into Nutten Island, a name that continued to be used until the late 18th century. The name Governor's Island, with an apostrophe, stems from the British colonial era, when the colonial assembly reserved the island for the exclusive use of New York's royal governors. The current name without an apostrophe was made official in 1784. Aerial view of the original island Governors Island was initially much smaller than it is today. It had many inlets along its shoreline, and groves of hardwood trees, from which the island's native name is derived. There is insufficient evidence as to whether Governors Island contained any permanent Lenape settlements, or was used mainly for hunting and gathering. In 1524, the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was perhaps the first European to observe what was then called Paggank. One hundred years later, in May 1624, Noten Eylandt was the landing place of the first settlers in New Netherland. They had arrived from the Dutch Republic with the ship New Netherland under the command of Cornelius Jacobsen May, who disembarked on the island with thirty families in order to take possession of the New Netherland territory. For this reason, the New York State Senate and Assembly recognize Governors Island as the birthplace of the state of New York, and also certify the island as the place on which the planting of the legal-political guaranty of tolerance onto the North American continent took place. In 1633, the fifth director of New Netherland, Wouter van Twiller, arrived with a 104-man regiment on Noten Eylandt, and later commandeered the island for his personal use. He secured his farm by drawing up a deed on June 16, 1637, which was signed by two Lenape leaders, Cacapeteyno and Pewihas, on behalf of their community at Keshaechquereren, situated in present-day New Jersey. Van Twiller cultivated a farm on the island, even building a windmill on the land, until he returned to the Netherlands in 1642.
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