Two of new York’s most Famous Islands

On this week’s show we will discuss two of the City’s most iconic islands, both in Upper New York Bay: Governor’s island and Ellis Island. My guests will be will be returning Rediscovering New York expert Joyce Gold, Founder of Joyce Gold History Tours, http://www.joycegoldhistorytours.com/; and Public Historian, Naturalist and Author Mandy Edgecombe, https://untappedcities.com/author/mandyedgecombe/

Tune in for this fascinating conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Segment 1

Today’s episode starts off with the introduction of today’s guest and topic. Tonight’s celebrating two city islands. Our host Jeff gets to know guest Mandy, who is a Chicago native and explains her background. She’s a naturalist who is dedicated to sharing urban discoveries. She believes everything she does is connected through applied anthropology. Although it seems contra dictionary, she explains that you have to understand one setting to understand another. She goes through a bit of Governor’s Island history, going back to English colonization times.

Segment 2

Coming back from the break, the podcast goes deeper into Governor’s Islands history throughout the wars. It was often used to store weapons and arms. It was used to train militia and even as a prisoner of war base. Mandy also shares that some remnants from these times are still on the island today. She explains women’s role within the island and how they were kept separate from the men. They skip forward to after the wars and talk about how the island was no longer a war base. The island renovated and the function for it changed. The conversation takes a turn for a more personal story. They talk about the personal connection veterans who used to live there and their families may have with the island. 

Segment 3

This segment starts with a few announcements from the show’s sponsors. Jeff introduces the next special guest: Joyce Gold. Joyce first explained how she became interested in the historical sites of New York City. She then goes on to talk about the next topic of the show: Ellis Island. Before it became the famous immigration center, it was a privately owned fort. Before Ellis Island, immigrants had to go through piers and Castle Clinton. Due to the increase in federal immigration laws, the State of New York decided to make Ellis Island the site for immigraion in 1892. Joyce explains how different laws and changes in them affected immigration through Ellis Island and the difficulty of getting into America. 

Segment 4

For the final segment, Joyce talks about how strict the rules could be at Ellis Island. Often because of medical reasons, immigrants would be turned away. If there were any suspicions about someone, they would get marked and it would be known that there was something “wrong” with them. Joyce then goes on to explain what Jewish people specifically had gone through with Ellis Island. The episode ends off with Jeff asking Joyce about her tours. She explains what her tours are, her most popular are the ones through the Financial District and the Greenwich Village. She has dozens of different tours that people can sign up for, including public and private tours.