City of Water Day Celebrates Our Urban Archipelago with Free Boating, Science, and More
Tomorrow (Saturday, July 25) is City of Water Day, a free, day-long festival of events that celebrate the waters that surround and define New York and its region. Head to the edge for free sailing, kayaking, rowing, and outrigger canoeing; salt marsh restoration work and beach cleanups; poetry readings and book giveaways. Pull on a pair of waders and try seining. Learn about testing your drinking water. Grab a fishing pole and cast into the river. While the annual celebration, now in its 19th year, has grown to includes sites north of the Bronx and south of Sandy Hook, most of the events take place in the five boroughs. Lower Manhattan venues include Battery Park City, Hudson River Park, South Street Seaport, and Governors Island.
In Battery Park City, a walking tour will take visitors on a guided stroll along the Hudson to learn about sea level rise and coastal resilience. The walk starts at 11am, at the Rockefeller Park House, near River Terrace and Murray Street.
Pier 25 in Hudson River Park (just north of Chambers Street) is home to the Lilac , a retired U.S. Coast Guard steam-powered lighthouse tender that used to carry supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys from 1933 to 1972. Explore Lilac on City of Water Day, and from 4pm to 5pm, hear maritime bards Matt Turner, Zachary Scholl, Cyndi Thompson, Jonathan Memmert, S. Erin Batiste, and Jerome Ellison Murphy read their poetry aboard the historic vessel.
Next door, at Pier 26, the Downtown Boathouse will offer free public kayaking from 10am to 4:30pm. A few blocks north at Pier 40 (West Houston Street), the River Project will host Wetlab Look-Ins from 11am to 5pm, offering the public a chance to see oyster toadfish, lined seahorses, blue crabs, and other amazing creatures from the Hudson River that are living temporarily in tanks before being returned to their habitat. Pay special attention to what’s scuttling about, as it’s the last day of Crab Week at Hudson River Park. From noon to 4pm at Pier 40, visit an open house with the boat builders of the Village Community Boathouse.
On the East River, the South Street Seaport Museum is offering free admission, along with a children’s story time reading of “We Are Water Protectors,” by Carole Lindstrom, aboard the historic ship Wavertree (docked at Pier 16) at noon.
Also at the South Street Seaport Museum (213 Water Street), at 3:30pm, Onondaga leaders of the American Indian Law Alliance will present “Three Belts of Peace: What the Founding Fathers Forgot to Tell You,” recalling how Indigenous diplomacy and governance shaped the American Revolution.
On Governors Island, look for a free, environmentally themed children’s book giveaway from noon to 2pm at the Welcome Center (Soissons Landing dock).
In Jersey City (accessible by NY Waterway ferry from the Battery Park City terminal), the Freedom Boat Club will celebrate its grand opening at Liberty Landing Marina’s D Dock) with free cruises in New York Harbor from 10am to 2pm. While you’re at Liberty State Park, join a shoreline cleanup.
On Staten Island (take the free Staten Island Ferry from Lower Manhattan’s Whitehall Terminal or NYC Ferry from the Battery Park City terminal), the National Lighthouse Museum—a five-minute walk from the ferry terminal—will host Signals Across the Harbor from 11am to 4pm, with free admission, waterfront demonstrations, environmental education, and lighthouse exhibits and programming.
City of Water Day is organized by the Waterfront Alliance and the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program.