Join Red Hook Art Project at Valentino Pier for an outdoor shell-painting workshop honoring oysters—our local water protectors! Using sustainably sourced shells from our local beloved partner the Billion Oyster Project, participants will create vibrant mini artworks while learning about oysters’ role in cleaning our harbor. All ages welcome. Materials provided. Wheelchair accessible.

Organization: Red Hook Art Project

Location: Valentino Pier Park, Ferris Street and Coffey Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Time: 1PM - 4PM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: https://www.redhookartproject.org/

Learn how to use binoculars and spot the fascinating birds that live in Marine Park's salt marsh as we walk through a restored coastal meadow with an expert from NYC Bird Alliance. In honor of City of Water Day, this walk will focus on the waterbirds found in our local marsh, including egrets, herons, skimmers, and more. Families are welcome.

Organization: Marine Park Alliance

Location: Outside of the Salt Marsh Nature Center

Time: 9AM - 10:30AM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: https://www.marineparkalliance.org/

Celebrate City of Water Day with Billion Oyster Project, Friends of WNYC Transmitter Park, Trash Club, and Oceana on Saturday, July 12! Join us for a beach clean-up (10:15–11:30 AM), educational tabling (10 AM–2 PM), and Oyster Research Station monitoring (12:30 & 1:30 PM). Learn about oyster restoration, climate resilience, and Plastic Free July. Free, family-friendly, and open to all! Participants must be 18+ or accompanied by an adult to join the beach clean-up or oyster monitoring.

Organization: Billion Oyster Project

Location: WNYC Transmitter Park

Time: 10AM - 2PM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: https://www.billionoysterproject.org

CIBP will offer events, activities, and educational programming around the themes of "Health, Wellness and Resiliency". The event is open to people of all ages and abilities. The main event area is accessible. Shoreline activities may not be accessible to people who use wheelchairs. The event will feature a health and wellness fair, art activities a coastal clean-up, seining, fishing, and games and contests with environmental themes.

Organization: Coney Island Beautification Project

Location: Kaiser Park Coney Island entrance at Neptune and Bayview Avenues

Time: 10AM - 2PM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/cibproject/

Join the American Littoral Society and the National Wildlife Federation’s Resilient Schools and Communities Program for Coastal Encounters & Climate Conversations! All ages are welcome to seine the surf, identify our local fishes, and engage in conversations about the future of climate impacts on Brighton Beach and what we can do about them. Meet at the Little Stone Pier via the Coney Island Ave boardwalk entrance. B/Q trains nearby; parking available. Wear shoes for sand and water.

Organization: Harbor Safety, Navigation and Operations Committee for the Port of NY & NJ, sponsored by Maritime Association Port of NY/NJ, Inc

Location: The beach at the Little Stone Pier in Brighton Beach. Enter via boardwalk at the Coney Island Ave entrance.

Time: 11AM - 3PM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: https://www.littoralsociety.org/

The Jamaica Bay Festival is a free, fun, family event taking place in Brooklyn and Queens. The Festival celebrates those who share our vision to champion the spirit of the Jamaica Bay community, the unparalleled opportunities and the natural beauty of this urban tidal estuary. Participants can enjoy free kayaking, fishing, surfing, hiking, bird watching, art, nature and more.

Organization: Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy

Location: Multiple locations in the communities surrounding Jamaica Bay, both Brooklyn and Queens - see website for details.

Time: multiple events, check website for details

Registration: Not required

Learn more: www.jbrpc.org/jamaica-bay-festival

Join a guided tour using The Gowanus Augmented Reality Walking Tour App! Gowanus AR uses invites the visitor to view vivid virtual environments of the past and the present reality of the Gowanus Canal, a famous Superfund site, now becoming Brooklyn's newest high-rise district. The Tour includes the Underground Water Ways Soundwalk, where voices from the past murmur and sing from underground springs that still run beneath our feet. iPads and spatial audio headphones will be provided.

Organization: GowanusAR

Location: 165 Second Street, Brooklyn, New York 11231

Time: 12PM - 5PM

Registration: Optional (email gowanusarwalkingtour@gmail.com)

Learn more: https://www.sarahdrury.net

Ahoy there matey. Ye a pirate or a poet or just a fellow spirit of the sea? Well then, come aboard No One's Ark, as the pirates for the planet spread their purpose-driven piracy on a poetic voyage through the waters of Newtown Creek. Alongside poets and pirates, you will be guided through an immersive walking tour of the creek, learning about its history and ways to get involved in its cleanup! Join us for an evening of storytelling and connecting to the wildlife of the waterway...or may you walk the plank. — From, No One

Organization: No One's Ark

Location: 329 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Time: 7PM - 9PM

Registration: Required (https://bit.ly/pirateevents)

Learn more: www.noonesark.org

Discover the East River’s amazing biodiversity as our trained staff, volunteers and marine biologists use a seine net to humanely catch-and-release organisms, including fish, jellyfish, crabs, and more! Learn how these organisms contribute to the estuary, what they tell us about the river’s health and how the Conservancy uses the information collected about these organisms to contribute to community science efforts across New York state. All ages are welcome at this free event!

Organization: Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy

Location: Pier 4 Beach, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Time: 3PM - 5PM

Registration: Required (https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/brooklynbridgepark/items/306703/availability/1713770309/book/?full-items=yes)

Learn more: www.brooklynbridgepark.org

Discover the unexpected beauty of Jamaica Bay! Join Sebago Canoe Club to go out on the water in a variety of human-powered craft—kayaks, canoes and large and small rowing vessels. Guided groups will be led by trip leaders—and last approximately 30 minutes. Registration recommended. All are welcome! Come early, trips fill up fast. All participants must wear PFDs and sign waivers. Waivers for minors must be signed by a guardian.

Organization: Sebago Canoe Club

Location: 1400 Paerdaget Ave N. Brooklyn, 11236

Time: 10AM - 2PM

Registration: Required (https://sebagocanoeclub.org/open-house/)

Learn more: www.sebagocanoeclub.org

Join Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Green Team at Thomas Greene Park to learn about our local ecosystem and the impacts of our changing climate. Learn about the benefits of native plants, mussels, and actions you can take on your own, in a changing climate. This event is for all ages and participants under 14 must be accompanied by a guardian 18 or older.

Organization: Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Location: Thomas Greene Park, 225 Nevins St, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Time: 10:30AM - 1:30PM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: www.gowanuscanalconservancy.org

This City of Water Day event activates the Red Hook network to participate in the NYC Emergency Management Strengthening Communities program. The event begins with an elemental workshop, led by the John Jay College water and climate justice team, exploring the four elements—Earth (boundaries), Fire (imagination), Space (letting go), and Water (flowing)—to reconnect with core values and co-create an emergency preparedness plan rooted in resilience. Through interactive activities, we will gain practical skills to stay grounded, adaptive, and collaborative in the face of community challenges. Together, we’ll turn disruption into possibility by learning from both place and one another. Following the elemental workshop, we will learn about Strengthening Communities from an NYC Emergency Management team member with time for brainstorming and questions. Strengthening Communities is an innovative and collaborative program that funds and supports community coalitions to Prepare, Respond, and Recover from emergencies through planning. The Red Hook network will participate in Strengthening Communities in fall 2025. * Please bring a chair or blanket for sitting during the event. Open to all ages; handicap accessible; snacks and drinks provided.

Organization: Resilient Red Hook

Location: Louis Valentino, Jr. Park and Pier Time: 10AM - 12PM

Registration: Optional (https://lu.ma/mpmxzlbn)

Learn more: https://www.resilient-red-hook.com/

Celebrate City of Water Day by exploring some waterbirds in NYC! Meet at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and search the mudflats and ponds of Jamaica Bay (the NYC locale with the most recorded species of birds) to observe the many breeding species and migratory plovers and sandpipers that will already be headed south from their arctic breeding grounds. Learn the finer points of identifying these challenging species. Bring binoculars if you have them, plus shoes you don't mind getting muddy.

Organization: Gabriel Willow Nature Tours

Location: Visitor Center Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Time: 9AM - 2PM

Registration: Required (https://www.gabrielwillow.com/programs-tours/jamaica-bay-summer-shorebirds-and-more25)

Learn more: www.gabrielwillow.com

There’s so much to discover about the waters of Jamaica Bay! Participants are invited to join Shirley Chisholm State Park's Environmental Education Team for a free beginner kayak paddle. Through two kayaking sessions, participants will discover the shore like never before. Our sessions are open to all skill levels and all necessary equipment, including PFDs will be provided. Must be at least 14 years old. Minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Organization: Shirley Chisholm State Park

Location: Shirley Chisholm State Park - Penn Water Access Area, 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue (also known as 1750 Granville Payne Avenue) Brooklyn, NY 11239

Time: 10AM - 12PM

Registration: Required (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1400344210229?aff=oddtdtcreator)

Learn more: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/200/details.aspx

After spending time at the South Street Seaport Museum during the day with Mare Liberum’s Oceanic Sound Seminar: Between Tide and Flow, come to an intimate dinner and listening session at Sunview Luncheonette in Greenpoint (additional fee required). Featuring work by Stephanie Rothenberg + Suzanne Thorpe, Marina Zurkow + Anna Rose Hopkins, Cal Fish, Dylan Gauthier, and Eugene Lew, the evening offers space to reflect on tidal ecologies and the relational acts of listening, eating, and being together at the edge of Newtown Creek. RSVP!

Organization: Mare Liberum / The Sunview Luncheonette

Location: 257 Nassau Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222

Time: 7PM - 10PM

Registration: Required (email hello@thesunview.org to RSVP)

Learn more: https://www.thesunview.org/sounds-of-the-sea-for-solidarity/

Join us for City of Water Day at the BioBAT Art Space to discover hands-on how NYC’s surface water is tested for microbiology and dissolved oxygen. Learn about our water quality programs that protect clean water throughout New York, and explore the role that water plays in our lives through art with BioBAT’s immersive installations and interactive artworks highlighting local and global narratives of our waterfronts and waterbodies. Open to all ages; microbiological demos are geared towards children.

Organization: Interstate Environmental Commission

Location: 140 58th St. Brooklyn Army Terminal; BioBAT Art Space Entrance, Building A closest to 63rd St facing the water

Time: 10AM - 1PM

Registration: Not required

Learn more: iec-nynjct.org; biobatartspace.com

Experience the last of her kind, NYC’s favorite oil tanker, the MARY A. WHALEN, home of the nonprofit PortSide NewYork. 9am - 12pm, the ship is open for artists to sketch, paint, photograph, write, whatever! 1-5pm, the ship is open for public tours. 3:30pm talk “Saving the Mary from Sandy.” There will be family friendly tours plus kids toys, art supplies, books to use while here, as well as info about resiliency curriculum and assets.

Organization: PortSide NewYork

Time: 9AM - 5PM

Location: Ship Mary A. Whalen

Learn more: bit.ly/PSNYcityofwaterday | www.portsidenewyork.org | https://redhookwaterstories.org/items/show/1739

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