City of Water Day Celebrates New York’s Urban Archipelago
Tomorrow (Saturday, July 15), the 16th annual City of Water Day will offer 60-plus free events throughout the region (more than half a dozen of them in Lower Manhattan) that afford opportunities to get close to, out on, and in the waters that surround New York. Organized by the Waterfront Alliance and the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program, in partnership with many community groups and non-profit organizations, City of Water Day celebrates the rivers and wetlands, harbor and estuary that the metropolitain region is dependent on, and offers all kinds of experiences in resilience and stewardship, not to mention free recreational boating.
For Downtown residents, the Waterfront Alliance and the South Street Seaport Museum will host a Resilience Street Fair at Pier 16 (South Street Seaport), from noon to 5pm. From public access and swimming to the effects of the climate crisis on the housing market, to becoming an informed voter on environmental issues, this is an opportunity to learn about the waterfront and how to be an effective advocate. Events include paper-making workshops using water drawn from the East River and a visit from the historic fireboat John J. Harvey, spouting river water from its hoses, at 2:30pm.
In Battery Park City, a family workshop with nautical art projects will take place on the Esplanade at Rector Place, from 11am to 12:30pm.
At least four City of Water Day events are taking place on Governors Island. Among them, at Building 16 in Nolan Park, the Billion Oyster Project—which is working repopulate New York Harbor with mollusks, aiming to reach nine figures by 2035—will host an interactive mural-painting session, highlighting Staten Island’s historic Sandy Ground oystering community. Nearby, the Staten Island Urban Center will present “We Are a Waterfront: From One Island to Another—Staten Island to Governors Island,” featuring live music, performance, and storytelling, along with participatory art and action.
At Pier 40, the Hudson River Park Trust’s Wetlab research aquarium is hosting a Look-In (3pm to 5pm), which invites kids and adults to learn more about local marine wildlife, including oyster toadfish, lined seahorses, and blue crabs.
Going a little further afield, one can try seining at the Pier 4 beach at Brooklyn Bridge Park, participate in a coastal cleanup at East River Park hosted by the Lower East Side Ecology Center, or go for a sail at Pier 66 (Hudson River and 46th Street) courtesy of Hudson River Community Sailing. Or, explore parts of our watery region you’ve never seen. Kayak at Shirley Chisholm State Park in Jamaica Bay. Check out the outrigger canoe introductory sessions at Hoboken Cove. Go all the way to SUNY Maritime College at the Bronx waterfront to explore the beautiful shore. The best way to hop from waterfront to waterfront? By ferry, of course.
Dozens of communities across all five boroughs, Westchester and Rockland counties, and New Jersey are hosting City of Water Day events. See the events map here.
“Water sustains us, supports us—but it is also so much fun,” says Cortney Koenig Worrall, president of the Waterfront Alliance. “We take time out on one day every summer, at City of Water Day, to celebrate how far we have come, and all that water means to us.”
“New York is a city of water,” reflects Captain Jonathan Boulware, president and CEO of the South Street Seaport Museum. “New York, with its more than 500 miles of coastline, is foremost a port city.” He adds that City of Water Day “will raise awareness of New York’s coastline: from the past during which it was our great asset, to the future during which it will be our great challenge.”