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A night on Governor’s Island? Be prepared to spend it.


This story is part of a series that explores New York nightlife.

Tom Begley is not afraid of ghosts.

As an overnight custodian for Governors Island, who usually works from dusk to 7am, Mr. Begley, 49, won’t be able to do his job if he is prone to panic.

“I just thought ghosts were the former,” he said as we circled the nearly empty 172-acre island recently in a golf cart, accompanied by one of the dogs. Its doing its job, Leader. “So what’s there to fear?”

Begley is one of the lucky few to regularly spend the night on Governors Island, a former military base a short ferry ride from both Manhattan and Brooklyn.

However, for others curious about what the island is like at midnight, there’s really only one way to find out: it’s ice.

No permanent resident (but 300 species of birds), the island usually attracts a quiet group of visitors during the day who want to enjoy the wide open fields and beautiful views.

But Website glamping collective retreats, which opened in 2018, can accommodate around 70 glamorous campers per night, who sleep in tents or upscale private inns. (Though prices fluctuate depending on demand, the site’s cheapest tents typically cost more than $400 per night.)

Matt Siegel, who spent his 44th birthday on the island with his wife, Jenny and their two children, said: “It’s expensive but it’s fun.

It was his first time staying the night, but Ms. Siegel had crossed the island before, with the children, Ryder, 10, and Maren, 8. They had chosen a weekend in early June twice. this in the hope of good weather.

“There was a year when we arrived too late, like the last week of June, and it was scorching hot,” she says. “And last year we came in early May, it was rainy and cold.”

Vanessa Vitale, the hotel director of Collective Retreats, says the site, on the west side of the island, was once just a parking lot.

“I really struggled a lot to get anything to grow here because it was paved so low,” she said.

She added: “It is very difficult to have surgery. “You might as well be on the island of Fiji, right? Everything is included.”

In addition to the construction challenges, the site now has working toilets, sinks, and showers, as well as accommodations larger than several bedrooms in New York City.

Daily “producer workshops” take place after check-in – a recent one focused on mezcal and chile pairs – and visitors are encouraged to explore the island before heading back to their tents . Apart from dinner, the only activity offered after dark is overtime.

Clare Newman, president and chief executive officer of Trust for Governor’s Islandagency responsible for the maintenance and operation of the island, it is estimated that more than 100 people are on the island on a typical weekend night during the summer, including a combination of gliders, security and emergency crews, a ferry fleet and a caretaker.

For many, the appeal of Governors Island is that it is unlike any other part of New York City. There is lush nature, absence of noise and kind people.

“This place touches my soul,” said Omar Hassan, 38, as he sat on a hilltop to watch the sunset with fiancée Isabelle Caous. “And this moment right here, it’s one of my dreams.”

Hassan, who moved to New York from Egypt in 2010 to seek asylum, said that he and Caous, 21, had come from Miami to attend a prom for Immigration equality, the organization that helped him become a US citizen. He proposed to Miss Caous on stage at the event.

“I used to come here alone and I was sitting there and looking at this rock,” he said, pointing to a lower point on the hill. “I’ve seen couples a few times and wondered if I’d ever get this moment.”

While the last ferries typically depart from Governors Island at 6 p.m., on Friday and Saturday nights they run until 10 p.m., allowing people to stay and enjoy the sunset. Sometimes companies organize private events on the island and charter ferries to return even later.

Governors Island has not always been a place for tourists. Before Coast Guard left it In the late 1990s, about 3,000 people resided on the base.

Newman said of that era: “They had things like grocery stores. “There was a dry cleaner, there was a movie theater.”

However, when the federal government sold the island to New York in 2003 for $1, it was subject to two main conditions: the city and state – under joint control – could not build new housing or casino up there.

“2005 was the first year we opened our doors to the public, and that was only a few weekends a year,” says Ms. Newman. “It’s been an ongoing march on expanding access.”

In September, Governors Island announced that instead of closing to the public on October 31, it would remain open 365 days a year. Since then, the Trust has started working to expand access to allow more people to enjoy it at night.

Soon, Miss Newman said, Institute of Public Architecture, address inequalities around the city through design, and Shandakenwhich offers free public shows and artist services, will host about a dozen overnight residents.

Island food supplier and sports field and work to extend their working hours and QCNY Spa remains open until 11pm on weekends.

There will also be special events throughout the summer, such as Pride Island Parade Ground music and film festival in collaboration with Lincoln Center.

Mr. Begley, the caretaker, says he enjoys the quiet nights typically found on Governors Island.

Although he lives on the Lower East Side, he also has an apartment in one of the island’s fortresses.

“It’s there to keep me comfortable and healthy,” he said as he popped into the apartment for a thermos of tea. “Otherwise it’s going to be difficult, lonely and weird if you don’t really have a good place to roam the island when you’re here every night, pretty much.”

He appreciates the island’s nature and its quirks, and he loves to collect interesting things he encounters on his route.

“I have a dream of having a quaint little Etsy shop with round bricks and driftwood,” he said as we drove along the island’s shores.

And he says his favorite part of his shift is at dawn, when he’s circling the island with Leader, who has any dog’s dream job: chasing geese Go.



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