MY NEW VIDEO; The Return of "TRACEN Larry" to Governors Island-- Where Poetry Festival Will Reign This Weekend ( July 25-26)

Was Out on Governors Island Friday..shooting video (Poetry Festival This Weekend)

SEE VIDEO:

https://youtu.be/7iGsaNk_dZQ

Above: Training Center on Governors Island, where I used to work ( nickname : "TRACEN Larry") doing training videotapes and other materials.

Atmosphere on the Island then (1970's) was freer and freer as the Vietnam War ended as did the Draft...what didn't change was the rush to drink or do as much marijuana as possible the minute the work day was done ( the work day ended according to your rank...first the Captain took off, and then so on down the Chain of Command...Drinks were incredibly cheap at the O Club, the Chiefs Club and the "White Hats Club" for the regular enlisted men...The Island was a Peyton Place of some renown and someone should have done a book about that aspect of it  ( at one time, about 3,000 people lived /worked on the Island)(Division and Area had HQ there too, as well as there being the Search and Rescue School which I attended in order to make a video that was never finished...we worked on a lot of projects that were never finished...Military Madness...The high rise housing is now demolished and the Island has been made Tourist-friendly in terms of its topography...The great concrete and brick buildings are solid as hell --who knows what uses most of what is now still empty will be put to one day...glad they didn't let Trump tear everything down for a Casino as he once wished to...all kinds of other plans have been advanced for the Island...now it is used for tourist and educational purposes mostly)

The Island is now the property of NY State I believe, but run mostly for the benefit of NYC...there are also Park Rangers as seen at the Historic Castle Williams below ( Castle Williams was built right before the War of 1812, when the Island was home to Ft. Jay, the Army post...also held Confederate prisoners during the Civil War and German prisoners from World War II...

Video is finally ready-- it takes so long to upload the video segments on Youtube
Below, more shots of Castle Williams

History of the Castle's use on the inside, below

Above: The great, short ferry ride ( Round Trip Fare: $2)
The Manhattan Skyline is visible from a lot of places as is the Statue of Liberty

Tourists everywhere of course, but a lot of areas are quiet...check the ferry schedule before you go as well as the activities...Poetry is the big deal this weekend

Shown here...View of Vent for the Brooklyn Manhattan Tunnel ( they once planned to have an exit lane to the Island from the Tunnel, but now that would be impossible for all kinds of reasons...That Training Center in the background again...There are also a lot of historic old houses, two churches, and lots of other buildings as you will see...

Brooklyn as well as New Jersey hover on the Horizon

See the Video -- Look at it in Theater Mode or Full Screen if you can

https://youtu.be/7iGsaNk_dZQ

Below: Quickie watercolor  I did of Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as seen from Governors Island near sea wall