July 12, City of Water Day at Randall’s Island Park!

Come join us as a fellow volunteer on July 12 as we provide free paddling in a little piece of Heaven called Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh! There will be Natural Areas environmental educators and even a pickling demonstration and giveaway with the Urban Farm!

This program will be done in partnership with Randall’s Island Park Alliance as part of the 2025 City of Water Day celebration. As some of you know, this is a special event for us, given that our volunteers initiated the annual festival in 2007 as the Five Borough Harbor Ramble before happily handing it over to Waterfront Alliance for growth and longevity. The 2025 City of Water Day theme is “Unity in the Face of Climate Change.” We’ll be teamed up with NYC Parks’ and RIPA’s environmental educators and students to add value to our work. 

You don’t have to be a paddler to help! 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

WHEN:

JULY 12, 2025, 9am set up.

WHERE:

10 Central Rd, New York, NY 10035 (nearest address)
40.791812531874456, -73.92689503211459

May 25, Orchard Beach and Pelham Bay

DCIM101GOPRO

 

Bioluminescent comb jelly. Photo by Alex Pavlov.

Bioluminescent comb jelly. Photo by Alex Pavlov.

HarborLAB volunteers scouted Orchard Beach Lagoon and Pelham Bay in May. We intend to bring young people and community groups on Nature Paddles in these cleaner, safer waters. Photos by Alex Pavlov.

Orchard Beach Lagoon is an amazing bit of NYC, tucked away in the western Long Island Sound. You’ll be amazed that you’re still in NYC, splashing off the Bronx shore. Kids paddling here will see night herons, egrets, turtles, shellfish, bioluminescent comb jellies, jellyfish, sea grasses, foliated metamorphic rock, and numerous fish. HarborLAB Founder Erik Baard even saw a juvenile bald eagle there with David Burg of Wild Metro. HarborLAB Operations Manager EJ Lee fishes in Pelham Bay often and was the driving spirit of the day.