Monday, July 22, 2024 – AN ISLAND IN THE RIVER THAT ENTRANCES AND MYSTIFIES

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MONDAY, JULY 22
&
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A DAY TRIP

TO

GOVERNOR’S ISLAND

ISSUE # 1277

JUDITH BERDY
RANYEE LEE & HAYOON JAY LEE

I have been reading all about the new attractions on Governor’s Island. Who can resist a day trip off the island for $2.90 (senior fare)?

My friends Ranyee and Hayoon joined me at the Wall Street Pier. The NY Ferry lands at the Yankee Dock on Governor’s Island. It’s slightly confusing as the few times I have been there, Soisson’s Landing was used.

There are two ferry operators on weekends, the NYC Ferry from Wall Street, and the Governor’s Island Ferry from the Battery Marine Building ($5 for adults, free for seniors).

Transportation on the island includes bikes, pedal bikes, and walking. There seems to be a large golf cart for those with disabilities. Many distances are long and some are on sunny hills. The area around the federal landmark, Fort Jay, and Nolan Park near Fort Jay have lots of shaded areas.

One issue is the scarce availability of bathrooms, similar to our island. There are a few tucked away from the active areas. With thousands of visitors, I could only locate five sites on the map. Most are portable trailer units, and though large, they become uncomfortably hot in this weather.

There is a large food court and dining area on Liggitt Terrace. All kind of food offerings are there and plenty of seating.

OTHER OF PEARL

by Jenny Kendler

Oth­er of Pearl is pre­sent­ed in part­ner­ship by Gov­er­nors Island Arts and NRDC (Nat­ur­al Resources Defense Coun­cil).

In Oth­er of Pearl, Jen­ny Kendler (b. 1980, New York, NY) tells the sto­ry of the extrac­tive his­to­ries that form the ori­gin sto­ries of the cli­mate and envi­ron­men­tal cri­sis, while con­sid­er­ing the oys­ter and whale as cen­tral play­ers in an eco­log­i­cal entan­gle­ment between human and non­hu­man beings, water­ways, and flows of cap­i­tal.

Focus­ing on our rela­tion­ships with these two very dif­fer­ent beings, Kendler illu­mi­nates the ways in which cap­i­tal­ist sys­tems are often found­ed upon the bod­ies of oth­ers. The artist con­fronts con­tem­po­rary envi­ron­men­tal issues — cli­mate change, ocean noise, chem­i­cal pol­lu­tion, bio­di­ver­si­ty loss, and sea lev­el rise — while point­ing towards the cul­tur­al struc­tures that have allowed these cat­a­stro­phes to occur.

Oth­er of Pearl, Kendler’s first solo exhi­bi­tion in New York City, trans­forms the mag­a­zine of Fort Jay into a space for slow explo­ration. Here you will encounter sev­en inti­mate and del­i­cate works, includ­ing a hand­blown glass instru­ment where you can sing in the voice of a whale and pearl sculp­tures grown inside oys­ters. At the con­clu­sion of the exhi­bi­tion, the pearl sculp­tures will be auc­tioned to raise funds to help cre­ate a new oys­ter reef — redis­trib­ut­ing resources in a ges­ture of eco­log­i­cal restora­tion — in part­ner­ship with the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project.

By offer­ing this propo­si­tion of a more inti­mate, and bod­i­ly rela­tion­ship with the nat­ur­al world, Oth­er of Pearl pro­pos­es a new way to envi­sion who mat­ters and who we build the future for, invit­ing us to imag­ine a restored prac­tice of reci­procity between human and non-humans.

Jen­ny Kendler is an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary artist, envi­ron­men­tal activist, nat­u­ral­ist, and wild for­ager whose work has been exhib­it­ed nation­al­ly and inter­na­tion­al­ly at muse­ums, bien­ni­als, pub­lic spaces, and nat­ur­al areas. For the past two decades, Kendler’s work has focused on cli­mate change and bio­di­ver­si­ty loss. Her prac­tice seeks to decen­ter the human and re-enchant our rela­tion­ship with the nat­ur­al world. She is a found­ing mem­ber of Artists Com­mit, which seeks to raise cli­mate con­scious­ness in the art­world, and Artist-in-Res­i­dence at NRDC.

OTHER OF PEAR IS LOCATED UNDER FORT JAY, A PERFECT COOL DARK LOCATION TO APPRECIATE THE PEARLS AND OYSTERS.

MEDITATIONS ON MEDICATION is an exhibition made up entirely of prescription bottles(empty).  Inside one of the homes  on Colonels Row a vast array of bottles decorated the building

If you plan on visiting, bring some empties.

The amber glow of the bottles shines thru the curtain

Walking back to the ferry, we came upon the Synagogue.  Relatively intact with a Stars of David, a menorah and signboard.

After 11,000 steps, we found our way back to Yankee Pier for the rides home.
Judy, Hayoon, and Ranyee on another adventure

CREDITS

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

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