Government Shutdown Closes Most Manhattan Monuments, Museums

Six weeks into a government shutdown that few people understand, and almost no one can justify, effects on the numerous Manhattan sites administered, in whole or in part, by the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution are manifold and varied.

Working from south to north, this reporter hit the water, and then the streets, to see what in Abraham Lincoln’s government of, by, for the people had to offer on the combined Halloween and New York City Marathon weekend.

The good news first. Governors Island—which politically is considered a part of Manhattan within Christopher Marte’s District 1—is largely open. With most of the island run by the city, only Governors Island National Monument, including Castle Williams and Fort Jay, are closed. Though this is unfortunate, it’s likely not worth canceling a trip to the island for this reason alone.

Over in Battery Park, which includes Castle Clinton, inside of which is the only authorized ticket for cruises to Ellis and Liberty islands, things are surprisingly—normal. The armies of ticket scammers were out, ready to pounce on every apparent tourist to walk by or emerge from the subway stations at South Ferry, Whitehall Street, and Bowling Green, but so were various federal employees, including a National Park Service EMT; a bilingual English-Spanish interpreter; a friendly US Park Police officer and his SUV within the maritime monument; and the various Castle Clinton workers.

While nobody wanted to be quoted on the record, and some people seemed to be genuinely uncertain about what’s happening, it appears that operations here are self-funded and everyone is happy to be working. Similarly, Statue City Cruises, the only official operator of ferries to Liberty Island and Ellis Island, both are which are open, preferred not to comment.

Fighting one’s way past the tourist ticket malingerers at Bowling Green, the National Museum of the American Indian, located in the old US Custom House and operated by the Smithsonian Institution, is closed. Though the beauty of the museum’s edifice is much reduced by a massive construction shed on its eastern half, the last time this reporter visited the museum, its interior, and exhibits were still stunning. With nobody present to ask questions of, it can be speculated that a museum with free admission that’s open 364 days a year—it’s closed only on Christmas—doesn’t have much financial leeway.

Bopping over to Broad Street and heading north, Federal Hall National Monument, the “birthplace of American government,” on Wall Street has been closed since Oct. 10. Clad in scaffolding and nets due to façade decay, one of the most historically resonant sites in Manhattan triggers multiple frustrations. Of all the things the government spends money on, it can’t expedite the restoration of Federal Hall?

As expected, the African Burial Ground National Monument, the museum component of which is inside the Ted Weiss Federal Building at Broadway and Duane Street, is closed. Frustratingly, access to its outdoor memorial sculpture at Duane and Elk streets is restricted—as it was for a month this past summer, because of security concerns related to anti-ICE protests nearby.

The latest eruption followed the recent federal raid on Canal Street counterfeit fashion and Apple AirPod vendors, many of them West Africans from Senegal.

When public access to Duane and Elk streets might be restored, no cop, federal or city, could say, though the fact that it did reopen before is hopeful.

The good news in Greenwich Village is that the Stonewall National Monument is open, within its present off-season hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come May, the iconic LGBTQ+ site is open until 8 p.m. While the park itself is modest, its historical significance is substantial.

Over in Gramercy, the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace at 28 E. 20th St., between Park and Fifth, is closed. If one has neglected to visit this re-creation of the former NYPD Commissioner, Vice President and President’s childhood home, remember its hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free.

Operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian, the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on Fifth Avenue at East 91st Street is closed.

Up in Morningside Heights, at Riverside Drive and 122nd Street, the General Grant National Monument, aka Grant’s Tomb, is closed though its outside plaza is open. When it reopens, the interior is an alternately startling and austere place all New Yorkers should visit at least once, preferably having read some of Grant’s “Memoirs” beforehand.

Finally, in Harlem, Hamilton Grange National Memorial is closed though one can see old Alexander’s house (you can call him Al) and its present grounds from West 141st and adjacent St. Nicholas Park.