Page 82 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

80  NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA

renowned railroad magnate.
The ferry has operated since
1810, carrying island com-
muters to and from the city,
while also offering visitors an
unforget table view of the
harbor, the Statue of Liberty,
Ellis Island, and lower Man-
hattan’s skyline. The fare is still
the city’s best bargain: it’s free.

a Governors Island
Governors Island, New York Harbor.
Map 1 A5–B. q South Ferry, Bowling
Green. Open late May–late Sep: 10am–
The 18th-century Fraunces Tavern Museum and restaurant 6pm Mon–Fri, 10am–7pm Sat & Sun.
∑ govisland.com
i Fraunces o Vietnam
Tavern Museum Veterans’ Plaza With its village greens and
colonial halls reminiscent of a
54 Pearl St. Map 1 C4. Tel (212) Between Water St and South St. college campus, this 172-acre
425-1778. q Wall St, Broad St, Map 2 D4. q Whitehall, South Ferry. (70-ha) island in New York
Bowling Green. Open noon–5pm Harbor makes for a great day-
Mon–Fri, 11am–5pm Sat & This multilevel brick plaza trip. Between 1794 and 1966,
Sun. Closed public hols. ^ features, in its center, an the US Army occupied the
8 groups only. Lectures, films. enormous wall of translucent island, and for the next thirty
0 = ∑ frauncestavern
museum.org green glass, engraved with years it was the US Coast
excerpts from speeches, news Guard’s largest base. Since
New York’s only remaining stories, and moving letters 2003, the island has been
block of 18th-century to families from servicemen shared between the city and
commercial buildings contains and women who died in the the National Park Service.
an exact replica of the 1719 Vietnam war between 1959 Along with a visitors center,
Fraunces Tavern where George and 1975. there is an artificial beach
Washington said farewell to his and a small museum. On the
officers in 1783. The tavern had north west corner of the island,
been an early casualty of the p Staten Castle Williams was built in
Revolution: the British ship Island Ferry 1811 to complement the
Asia shot a cannon ball through near-identical Castle Clinton
its roof in August 1775. The Whitehall St. Map 2 D5.Tel 311. q in Battery Park (see p81).
building was bought in 1904 South Ferry. Open 24 hrs. Free. 7 Used as a prison until 1966,
by the Sons of the Revolution ∑ siferry.com its cramped cells held up to
and its restoration in 1907 1,000 Confederate soldiers
was one of the first efforts to The Staten Island Ferry was during the Civil War. The island
preserve the nation’s heritage. the first business venture of also boasts plenty of green
The ground-floor restaurant promising local boy Cornelius spaces in which to laze in the
has wood-burning fires and Vanderbilt, who later became a sun plus a breezy promenade.
great charm. An upstairs
museum has changing exhibits
interpreting the history and
cul ture of early America.
George Washington’s famous
farewell speech took place in
the Long Room, which has
been recreated in the manner of
the time. The adjacent Federal-
style Clinton Room is a dining
room, decorated in rare French
wallpaper from 1838. There are
galleries of art pertaining to
the Revolution, such as the
Sons of the Revolution gallery,
which explains much of the
society’s history. Staten Island Ferry, a free mode of travel

080-081_EW_New_York_City.indd 80 4/3/17 11:10 AM