Max, I was also stationed at Governor's Island, from 1978 to 1982. At that point it was a Coast Guard base, having been transferred from the Army to the CG in 1968. It wasn't my first choice of duty stations by any means, but I did end up well acquainted with NYC, which was a short (free) ferry ride away. Some of my most memorable ON-DUTY times involved search and rescue operations I ran in and around New York harbor -- a carload of four teenagers who ended up in the East River when the pier they were parkied on collapsed on a freezing cold night in February (we got them all), a helicopter crash into the water just off Battery Park, jumpers from the Brooklyn Bridge (they don't all die), and others.

Coincidentally, on the news last night they ran a story about some buildings that were being intentionally set ablaze to train NYC firefighters on how to combat structural fires. The opening shot of the piece was an aerial view of where this is being done -- and even though I hadn't been back there in 30 years, I instantly recognized it as Governor's Island. They're getting set to demolish a number of the older housing units on the Island, and decided to use the buildings for firefighter training before they're razed.