by Worldchanging NYC local blogger, Bonnie Hulkower: Memorial Day weekend launched swimming season in New York City; not in the city’s pools, which don’t open until June 29, but swimming at ocean beaches and some of the rivers around New York. The Parks Department maintains 14 miles of beaches, all of which are open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This past Sunday, while many New Yorkers headed to Orchard Beach and Coney Island, some brave souls headed to Battery Park City for Lady Liberty’s 3rd annual swim from the South to North Coves. The Manhattan Island Foundation (MIF) organizes swimming events around Manhattan waters with the goal of raising public awareness about the waters that surround New York. There is even a Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (28.5 miles around!) with international participants. These events are the only time that the public is allowed to swim in the lower Hudson, where currents and boat traffic can be too much for even the strongest swimmers, with the Foundation getting clearance from the U.S. Coast Guard and N.Y.P.D. The Lady Liberty race reminded me of Mayor Bloomberg’s plaNYC to open 90 percent of New York’s waterways to recreation by 2030. The… (more)
(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Water at 11:10 AM)