Just a short ferry ride from Lower Manhattan lies a car-free island that offers a slice of rural escapism in full view of the city.
Grown out of what was once a car park, Collective Retreats feels like a real escape from the city while sitting just an eight-minute ferry ride away.This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller .ferry terminal are already in holiday mode. In the eight minutes it’s taken to make the crossing from Manhattan, any daily preoccupations have been cast off. Sunglasses on, day bags slung over shoulders, they consult the map on the information board and then go their separate ways.
The spa’s location, in a former army barracks, gives a clue to the island’s former life. The 172-acre site was used as a US military base for over 200 years and much remains from that time. There are canary-yellow cottages, once used by soldiers and their families; a grand colonnaded Admiral’s House, befitting its commanding officer; and a clapboard chapel and red-brick theatre that served all.
It’s hard to process that the Collective Retreats site is less than a mile from the most densely populated patch of land in the entire US. The occasional toot from the Staten Island Ferry or calls from barn swallows, warblers and herring gulls provide the soundtrack here. The breeze carries the scent of salt, not fumes. And the main distractions are a game of baseball or giant Jenga on the clover-pocked lawn.
Diners continually pause to take in the showboating spectacle around them, the skyscrapers of Manhattan ablaze with lights and Lady Liberty’s torch glowing steadily in the thickening darkness. But it’s the simple pleasures that win out at night here: s’mores cooked on the campfire; fireflies flickering their amorous intentions in the long grass; and a universe of stars slowly revealing itself above. Safari tent from $203 .
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