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Governors Island Sets Record for Summer Visitors

By Julie Shapiro | October 13, 2010 4:19pm | Updated on October 14, 2010 6:42am

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

GOVERNORS ISLAND — A record-breaking 443,000 people visited Governors Island this summer, officials announced Wednesday.

That's a 60 percent increase over last year, as New Yorkers turned out in droves for 1920s-themed jazz parties, an artist-designed miniature-golf course, food festivals, a polo match featuring Prince Harry and more.

"The island is truly becoming part of the city’s life," said Leslie Koch, president of the Trust for Governors Island. "A place comes to life when people are a part of it."

Governors Island saw more visitors in the 56 days it was open this summer than the Whitney Museum sees in an entire year, Koch said. The island draws about 8,000 people on an average Saturday, the same number of people who visit Ellis Island on Saturdays.

This year also marked the beginning of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s artist residencies on the island, as well as the opening of the New York Harbor School.

Now that the public season is over, the Governors Island team is focusing on future plans for the 150-acre island.

The first phase of the parks and public space overhaul is scheduled to break ground in 2012, which means the designers have to figure out everything from the width of the paths to the weight of the furniture, Koch said.

Other projects this off-season include a $5 million upgrade of the island’s electric and telecommunications lines, which run through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Staff is also working on bringing potable water to the island.

Koch said she will spend the off-season reviewing the floods of visitor comments received this summer, which include requests for more hammocks.

Despite the influx of visitors this season, Koch said the island still feels like an escape from the city.

"There are still plenty of nooks and places for quiet," she said.