Roosevelt Island Celebrates 2024 Waterfront Alliance City Of Water Day At FDR Four Freedoms Park With iDig2Learn Describing The Amazing Aquatic Life On Our Shoreline

Last Saturday July 13, the Waterfront Alliance 17th annual City of Water Day was celebrated at over 60 locations on the New York and New Jersey waterfront. According to the Waterfront Alliance: 

Dozens of communities across all five boroughs, Westchester and Rockland counties, and New Jersey will host events on and near the water that celebrate the importance of a resilient and equitably shared waterfront. From free kayaking to rowing to hands-on workshops, these events offer community members opportunities for fun, education, and access to their local waterfront....

It’s #CityofWaterDay! Our VP Alexis Taylor & AVP Blake Montieth of Neighborhood Strategies explains how projects like the Fidi Seaport Climate Resilience Plan can protect NYC from climate change and enhance the waterfront for New Yorkers to enjoy. pic.twitter.com/fMhz0EhxtT

— NYCEDC (@NYCEDC) July 13, 2024

2024 City of Water Day was celebrated at Roosevelt Island's FDR Four Freedoms Park too. 

Roosevelt Island resident and iDig2Learn founder Christina Delfico together with FDR Four Freedoms Park Director Angela Strangenberg 

shared information with park visitors 

about the aquatic life 

that can be found in the waters of NYC and Roosevelt Island shoreline.

Ms Delfico adds:

FDR Four Freedoms State Park and iDig2Learn wish to thank everyone who came out to celebrate the annual City of Water Day. 

Most Roosevelt Islanders know that the East River flanking our shores is actually an estuary with brackish waters, a mix of salt water from the Atlantic Ocean and fresh water. That means we get interesting life that thrives in both types of waters. 

The work of the Billion Oyster Project, which collects oyster shells from restaurants to serve as foundational beds for growing baby oysters, has now placed millions of pounds of live oysters in our waterways and they are filtering and cleaning the waters. Why does this matter? Cleaner waters mean more Bunker (Menhaden) fish, which means more dolphins and whales following and eating those fish. 

Dolphins have been spotted in the East River and even seals. And Humpback whales love to eat Bunker fish too and now Gotham Whale teams up with Seastreak and other ships to offer whale watching trips here in New York and photographers identify individual whales. Both myself and also Angela Stangenberg, Park Director FDR Four Freedoms State Park and Gantry State Park in LIC, have seen Humpback whales in local waters, as close as beneath the Verrazano bridge. 

At our Roosevelt Island City of Water Day celebration last Saturday, neighbors and visitors got to touch common algaes found in our waters like red algae, green algae called sea lettuce and Rockweed, a brown algae, with air bladders to help them float to capture sunlight for the photosynthesis. And the star of the touch table was the Bristle worm or clam worm commonly referred to as sand worm which lives 4 to five inches deep into the sand of the beach. They have sharp pinchers what looks like legs on each body segment which can be eight centimeters long. Water is amazing and we loved learning more together.

Take a look at some of the 2024 City Of Water Day celebrations taking place all over the NY and NJ coastal areas.