This will really whet your whistle!
The 17th annual City of Water Day is on July 13.
Organized by the Waterfront Alliance and the NY/NJ Harbor & Estuary Program, this region-wide extravaganza consists of free, family-friendly events across the five boroughs as well as in Westchester and Rockland counties and New Jersey.
Of course, Queens leads the pack.
Starting at the borough’s western end, the Newtown Creek Alliance will provide hands-on environmental education programming to engage visitors with marine ecology, water quality, superfund contamination, and resilience from noon to 4 pm.
At the same waterway, the North Brooklyn Community Boathouse will run a Public Paddle at the dock next to the boathouse with the same time frame. Trips are 20 minutes with sit-on-top kayaks for one or two people with a minimum height requirement of 4’10”.
Over at at the Queens Landing Boathouse at 57-28 2nd St., the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy will lead a talk on the waterfront followed by a walk through Hunter’s Point South Park at 5 pm.
The presentation will cover the history of Long Island City’s wetlands and waterfront — from their use by the Munsee Lenape through the role of the waterways in moving goods during industrialization and ending with the challenges of building a residential community in a previously industrialized neighborhood.
The group will then move to the adjacent park for a walk that will focus on the park’s resilient features, including the wetlands, bioswales, riprap, and native plantings that help mitigate flooding and protect against storm surges. Leaders will offer an overview of the benefits of green infrastructure when building resilient communities.
A short journey north, the Billion Oyster Project will host an educational event featuring a touch tank with live oysters at Queensbridge Park from 10 am until 2 pm.
Head east to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the Aquatic Histories: City of Water Day and FMCP History is set to begin at 2 pm.
Go a bit further east and south to Jamaica/St. Albans, and the Center for NYC Neighborhoods will organize a community outreach event aimed at addressing coastal funding and increasing rainfall patterns at the Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center at 172-17 Linden Blvd.
Keep going to Jamaica Bay, and Sail Rockaway (Marina 59 at 360 Beach 59th St.), will host community sails from noon to 8:30 pm. All ages are invited, and the trips will explore Jamaica Bay’s history and ecological significance. Children under age 16 must attend with legal guardian.
Click here for the details.
There are a few other Queens options, including water safety, a scavenger hunt, and a beach cleanup. For the complete list of activities at all particiapting venues, including those other counties and the Garden State, click here.
Top and bottom images: City of Water/Eric Vitale Photography;
middle image: City of Water/David Gonsier