Town Unearthed on Governor's Island

Photos via Scouting NY

Ah, remember the good 'ol sock hop days of Governors Island? Jukeboxes blaring the latest tunes as teens gathered round milkshakes and cheeseburgers; the city skyline just off in the distance providing the perfect backdrop to the 50s soundtrack. No? You mean you don't remember the snow factory that manufactured snow year round? What an uneducated lot!

Or perhaps you're just not so easily tricked. Scouting NY had fun with some folks this week by reporting on an archaeological dig on the island, but leaving out the fact that it's really just an art project. "Since January, Belgian archaeologists have been working strenuously to excavate the ruins of a former Governors Island hamlet called Goverthing (a bastardization of a Dutch word). With a 400 year history dating back to Manhattan’s first settlements, the hamlet was the last civilian colony on Governors Island by the 1950’s. In 1954, the town was forcibly evacuated by the city of New York, who had deemed it a safety hazard for a variety of reasons, and effectively had it condemned. As demolition was not an option at the time, the hamlet was simply buried under tens of feet of soil and forgotten."

Check out the island's faux past for yourself; the installation is open through October 11th, and the massive New Island Festival of art and performance continues on Governors Island through Sunday.