Nearly 150 people of all ages, races and backgrounds gathered at Shoelace Park at East 219th Street and the Bronx River to participate in the 9th Annual Amazing Bronx River Flotilla on Saturday, May 10.
The event, sponsored by the Bronx River Alliance and the Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC), kicked off with the help of Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe, who joined Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Oliver Koppell and dozens of others as they journeyed down five miles of the Bronx River.
Bronx River Alliance’s Mike Mendez and Donovan Goulgourne helped many get into their rowboats, furnished by the Alliance. Additional boats were provided by the Urban Park Rangers, The Point and MPC. Members of Rockin’ The Boat were on hand to offer short boat rides from the flotilla’s end at Riverside Park in Hunts Point.
The journey was not without its challenges. To get past a dam just north of East 180th Street, Alliance members assisted boaters carrying their boats over some rocks, before continuing on the rest of the trip to Hunts Point.
Riverdale resident Jacqueline Taylor said after her journey, “I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, I just wanted the experience and I love the water. At first I was so scared, but after awhile it was very relaxing, and I like the fact that everyone works together.”
Taylor, who was joined by her two young daughters, added, “They loved it, it was wonderful.”
Benepe told participants, “After decades of neglect, the river is now well on its way back to ecological health, thanks to the joint stewardship of the Parks Department, the Bronx River Alliance and partner community groups whose conservation efforts have made the river not only clean enough for us to paddle today, but also cleaner for plants and animals.”
For more information on upcoming sailing events along the Bronx River, log on to the Alliance’s Web site at www.bronxriveralliance.org.
Young boaters catch a wave along the Bronx River (left). Dozens of boat enthusiasts prepare to go rowing along the Bronx River (right).
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.