Governors Island has completed its best public access season ever by attracting 443,000 visitors – a 61 percent increase over 2009.
Besides hosting more concerts and cultural programs this season, which ran June through last weekend, the 172-acre island was significantly boosted by the arrival of the new Pier 6 section of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights.
The park added free ferry service to and from the island, replacing borough ferry service that was provided last summer at Fulton Ferry Landing. It was big success as more than 100,000 visitors arrived from Brooklyn compared to 30,000 last season.
City officials said that on peak days the same number of people are now visiting what was once a lonely military base as the High Line on the West Side and the Statue of Liberty. The island reopens to the public next June.
Like the Battery Marine Terminal ferry in Lower Manhattan, the park ferry service allows visitors to bring their bikes to the island.
