City of Water Day In Your Neighborhood

City of Water Day is a harbor wide event, showing our whole region the potential of our waterfront for recreation, education, and economic development. While much of the day's activities are on Governors Island and Liberty State Park, City of Water Day reaches many corners of the waterfront.

Here is what is going on from Staten Island to the Bronx that you can explore and enjoy on July 16th.

Bronx River Park

Celebrate City of Water Day on NYC's only freshwater river as we paddle 5 miles from the northern Bronx all the way to the Long Island Sound. Registration will begin on July 2nd.Visit www.bronxriver.org for the link and more information.  at 219th Street and Bronx Blvd.

Location: 219th Street and Bronx Blvd
Time: 9:30am
Contact: Damian Griffin at Damian.Griffin@parks.nyc.gov for more info/questions
This event is free, but you must register ahead of time with the Bronx River Alliance. Registration will begin on July 2nd

Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy is providing fun, free events throughout the day.

On Pier 1

  • 11:00am - 4:00pm: Free boating
    Free kayaking with Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse. Children under 18 must have an adult present. No reservations necessary, first come first serve.

On Pier 5

  • 11:00am: Kayak Demonstration
    Members of QajaqUSA and Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse will demonstrate a variety of rolling techniques that were developed to recover from various situations that seal and walrus hunters encountered such as injured hands and arms, loss of a paddle and entanglement in harpoon lines.

On Pier 6

  • 11:00am - 2:00pm: Water-themed art projects
    Explore boats and water-themed arts and crafts project with Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Playground Associates.
  • 12:00pm – 2:00pm: Try to catch a fish and watch a squid dissection
    Make your own amazing casting machine from a recycled soda can (bring your own if possible) and use it to try and catch a fish. While your line is out, watch a big squid dissection and learn how it attacks prey and defends itself. Led by Master Angler Bill Fink and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy staff.
  • 11:00am - 5:00pm: Tug and Barge tours
    Participate in dockside tours of the 1907 tugboat Pegasus and the Waterfront Museum’s 1914 Lehigh Valley Barge #79.
  • 1:00pm, 2:30pm, 4:00pm: Jeff Newell's New-Trad Quartet
    Enjoy three river music sets performed live from the Waterfront Museum Barge.

Contact: Alison Hughes at 718-802-0603 or ahughes@bbpc.net

Harlem River Park

The Harlem River Park Task Force welcomes you to MWA’s City of Water Day in Harlem River Park – your community waterfront oasis in East/Central Harlem.

Location: Harlem River Park, East 132nd to East 142nd streets
Access: Take the #2 or #3 trains to 135th Street/Malcolm X Blvd. (Lenox Avenue) and walk east to Madison Avenue. Enter park from ramp here.
Time: 10:00am-5:00pm

Activities include:

Hudson River Park

8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.- The River Project FAD (Fish Aggregating Device) deployment. The River Project will install a fish aggregating device, or FAD, consisting of a light that goes on for a few hours after dusk each evening, attracting plankton and small fish, and larger fish might subsequently come in over time.
http://www.riverproject.org
Pier 42 pile field / Morton St.

9:15 a.m.- The schooner Shearwater departs Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 for a free sail to Governor’s Island. (Free tickets available through MWA)
http://www.manhattanbysail.com/
Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 / N. Moore St.

9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Estuary Clean-up- Participate in Hudson River Park’s Clean Sanctuary Campaign.  We’ll use telescoping nets to remove floating debris from the Hudson River.  Meet at the bow notch between Piers 45 & 46, near Organicoa, suitable for ages 13 & up.    
    
10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Big City Fishing & River Science Workshops!  Free catch and release fishing; rod, reels, bait and instruction provided by Hudson River Park educators.  During River Science workshops park educators lead visitors in water quality testing and plankton exploration.  

  •     Pier 25 / N. Moore St.
  •     Pier 46 / Charles St.
  •     Pier 84 / W. 44th St.

www.hudsonriverpark.org

10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Free Community Volleyball
12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. - Free Arts, Crafts and Games
Manhattan Youth presents arts, crafts and games at Hudson River Park’s Pier 25!  Participate in a water-themed mural and play free community volleyball!
http://www.manhattanyouth.org/
Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 / N. Moore St.

12:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Lighthouse Tender Lilac presents dockside history tours and “Waterways” photography exhibit by Shelley Secombe.
http://lilacpreservationproject.org/
Hudson River Park’s Pier 25/ N. Moore St.

New York Outrigger: Learn the basics of outrigger canoeing!  Free novice sessions at Hudson River Park’s Pier 66, must be 14 or older, advanced registration required by e-mailing NYOnovice@gmail.com.  Visit New York Outrigger for more details.
www.newyorkoutrigger.org
Hudson River Park’s Pier 66/ W. 26th St.

Staten Island

Location: Kayaking at South Beach is near the intersection of Father Capodanno Blvd and Ocean Avenues and paddling TO Alice Austen House (2 Hylan Blvd. Staten Island)
Access: Parking Lot #1 northern end of the Boardwalk. Visit www.kayakstatenisland.org for a map and directions. Both locations are reachable by the #S51 bus that leaves from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
Time:  Kayaking- 3:30pm  Movie and Picnic- 4:00pm
Contact: kayakstatenisland@gmail.com for questions or to volunteer

Join Kayak Staten Island and Alice Austen House museum in celebrating City of Water Day on Staten Island. KSI will offer free, public kayaking at South Beach then volunteers will paddle to the Alice Austen House to watch an outdoor movie. Head to South Beach then join KSI volunteers as they paddle upstream to watch the movie. Bring a picnic supper to eat during the movie.

Please bring a signed waiver form if you will be kayaking
Waiver for minors (under 18)
Adult Waiver (18+)

Yonkers Paddling

Location: Pier 40 on the Hudson River (end of Houston Street, across the Battery)
Time: Launch time at 6:45am sharp
Contact: Jerry Blackstone 914-318-4630

Manhattan Circumnavigation - Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club

Sixty kayakers will launch from Pier 40 - at the Hudson River - and paddle north on the East River and the Harlem River. They will pass through Spuyten Duyvil - the northern tip of Manhattan. Then they will paddle south on the Hudson, passing midtown, and end up again at Pier 40 at Houston Street. There will be 2 stops: Hallets Cove - on The East River in Long Island City, and Swindlers Cove - on the Harlem River at Dyckman Street

2011 marks the ninth year that Steve Blumling and Jerry Blackstone have organized this 30 mile tour. Both local and out-of-town paddlers socialize, meditate, take pictures and exercise while they pass the world famous bridges and buildings of Manhattan

Manhattan Island Marathon Swim Relay

Location: Battery Park City - South Cove
Time:  8:30AM

This event is by invitation only, with participants limited to teams that originally applied to swim in the June 18 MIMS, however, public viewing is highly encouraged.

NYC Swim will present a 28.5 Mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. This is our longest  event of the season (besides their premier event), a full counter-clockwise circumnavigation of the island of Manhattan. A field limited almost exclusively to relays will allow teams to know exactly who (and where) their competition is, and July's warmer water temperatures will be much friendlier to team members who may not have the cold water training and racing experience of many of the solo swimmers.

 

If you or your organization would like to be part of celebrating the potential of our waterfront on July 16th, by putting on an activity that is not at either of the main locations of the event, contact Louis Kleinman: lkleinman@waterfrontalliance.org or 212-935-9831 xt 104.