The annual City of Water Day celebrates the 1,600 miles of shoreline around New York City with a full day of FREE family-friendly events in all five boroughs, and beyond.
Tour a tugboat, row a boat, identify fish and other wildlife, learn to kayak, join a coastal cleanup, participate in science experiments, lean to fish, learn about the organizations that protect our water and waterways, and more.
There are more than 50 FREE events from Inwood at the northern tip of Manhattan to Governors Island, along the Brooklyn shoreline to Jamaica Bay, Westchester County and New Jersey, with multiple ways to get into the water, with or without a paddle..
City of Water Day 2019 is Saturday, July 13th, 10am to 4pm, rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.
This is the 12th annual City of Water Day, and it has grown each year as more of us become aware of the importance of clean water and how climate change will affect our shorlines.
With so many activities, scattered throughout NYC, New Jersey and Westchester, you really need to check the City of Water Day website, where you can find an activity or event by location or by type.
Some highlights include:
There’s a waterfront festival at the South Street Seaport, including FREE children’s activities sponsored by Disney.
Celebrate Jamaica Bay with a festival including FREE kayaking, fishing, surfing, hiking, bird watching, art, nature and more, at Beach 108th St. and Beach Channel Drive.
The popular Cardboard Kayak Race returns. This is a competition where teams race to create a sea-worthy vessel using nothing but cardboard and tape.
This year, the race is at Brooklyn Bridge Beach, a usually off-limits waterfront that will be open only for City of Water Day.
On Staten Island, National Lighthouse Museum will set up a tent on our waterfront location and educate visitors about the danger severe storms and beach erosion have on lighthouses nationwide.
Register for FREE Port of NYC Boat Tours on all kinds of vessels, from tall ships to tugboats including the John J. Harvey, from homeport docks throughout New York City
And there are several locations where you can borrow a kayak of paddleboard, also FREE, including at Brooklyn Bridge Park, a FREE fishing clinic at Gantry State Park in Queens.
Or, join one of the shoreline clean-ups in each borough.
Support the work of the Waterfront Alliance. It’s important.
What do you think about this? We welcome your comments.