Manhattan has a great new beach—except you can't swim at it

Did you know Manhattan has a beach? Yes, a real one—with 1,200 tons of sand, Adirondack chairs and sweeping views of the Hudson River. The only catch: You can't swim in it.
Opened in late 2023, the Gansevoort Peninsula is the newest addition to Hudson River Park, carved out of a once-industrial zone between Gansevoort Street and Little West 12th. The five-acre space boasts boardwalks, a salt marsh, public art, picnic spots and yes, a beach. But swimming remains firmly off-limits thanks to New York's aging sewer infrastructure.
Here's the dirty truth: Two nearby sewer outflows dump stormwater and sewage directly into the Hudson during heavy rain, sometimes with as little as half an inch of precipitation. That runoff carries everything from bacteria to pharmaceuticals, rendering the water unfit for humans about one in every three days, according to environmental watchdog Riverkeeper.
'It's our dream that Gansevoort Beach would be the beginning,' Michael Dulong, the legal director at Riverkeeper, told Gothamist. 'It would provide a model to open up beaches elsewhere throughout the city.'
The group has been patrolling New York's waterways on a boat named Fletcher, sampling water at over 200 locations between May and October. They're pushing for a common-sense policy: Let people swim when the water's clean, just like we already do at city beaches after rainfall.
Their main argument is that Gansevoort is uniquely positioned. It's sheltered from boat traffic and strong currents, sits in a high-foot-traffic neighborhood and has infrastructure already in place. Testing by the Billion Oyster Project found the water safe in over half the samples collected last summer—but that other half underscores the risk.
For now, visitors can soak up the scene from dry land, stroll through the peninsula's boardwalks, or dip their toes from a shallow ramp. And there's still plenty to enjoy: a pine grove, a dog run, a fitness area and Day's End, a monumental sculpture by David Hammons that riffs on Gordon Matta-Clark's original 1975 piece.
As for actual swimming, that'll require a massive overhaul of the city's sewer system—one with an estimated $36 billion price tag, according to Gothamist —but advocates say the dream is worth it.
'Imagine if you could just walk to where your street meets the water and jump in the water and if it were safe,' Dulong said, 'A place where you could recreate, where you could lie on the beach.'

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Time Out

5 days ago

• Time Out

Manhattan has a great new beach—except you can't swim at it

Did you know Manhattan has a beach? Yes, a real one—with 1,200 tons of sand, Adirondack chairs and sweeping views of the Hudson River. The only catch: You can't swim in it. Opened in late 2023, the Gansevoort Peninsula is the newest addition to Hudson River Park, carved out of a once-industrial zone between Gansevoort Street and Little West 12th. The five-acre space boasts boardwalks, a salt marsh, public art, picnic spots and yes, a beach. But swimming remains firmly off-limits thanks to New York's aging sewer infrastructure. Here's the dirty truth: Two nearby sewer outflows dump stormwater and sewage directly into the Hudson during heavy rain, sometimes with as little as half an inch of precipitation. That runoff carries everything from bacteria to pharmaceuticals, rendering the water unfit for humans about one in every three days, according to environmental watchdog Riverkeeper. 'It's our dream that Gansevoort Beach would be the beginning,' Michael Dulong, the legal director at Riverkeeper, told Gothamist. 'It would provide a model to open up beaches elsewhere throughout the city.' The group has been patrolling New York's waterways on a boat named Fletcher, sampling water at over 200 locations between May and October. They're pushing for a common-sense policy: Let people swim when the water's clean, just like we already do at city beaches after rainfall. Their main argument is that Gansevoort is uniquely positioned. It's sheltered from boat traffic and strong currents, sits in a high-foot-traffic neighborhood and has infrastructure already in place. Testing by the Billion Oyster Project found the water safe in over half the samples collected last summer—but that other half underscores the risk. For now, visitors can soak up the scene from dry land, stroll through the peninsula's boardwalks, or dip their toes from a shallow ramp. And there's still plenty to enjoy: a pine grove, a dog run, a fitness area and Day's End, a monumental sculpture by David Hammons that riffs on Gordon Matta-Clark's original 1975 piece. As for actual swimming, that'll require a massive overhaul of the city's sewer system—one with an estimated $36 billion price tag, according to Gothamist —but advocates say the dream is worth it. 'Imagine if you could just walk to where your street meets the water and jump in the water and if it were safe,' Dulong said, 'A place where you could recreate, where you could lie on the beach.'

The Herald Scotland

07-06-2025

• The Herald Scotland

Remembering D-Day: Veteran, 100, offers first-hand account of D-Day

Tolley Fletcher, at the time a 19-year-old Navy gunner's mate, remembered the rough seas and the treacherous landing troops at Utah Beach had to make in 3- to 4-foot waves, each carrying about 60 pounds of gear on their backs and descending on rope ladders from larger ships onto smaller landing crafts. "I felt for those soldiers," Fletcher, now 100 years old, told USA TODAY. "In my mind, that was the worst part, other than people getting hurt." Fletcher, who joined the Navy at 17 in late December 1941, said he and his shipmates were fortunate to be mostly out of the line of fire. "There was some shelling, not really a lot, and luckily we didn't get hit. "Maybe halfway in, we started seeing lots of bodies in the water," said Fletcher, who now lives in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area. "I was asked (later) what we did about it. We didn't do anything about it - we had a job: to escort those troops to the beach." On D-Day, "that's what these guys faced," said Peter Donovan Crean Sr., vice president for education and access at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "They knew they were in the presence of history. Soldiers, sailors, Marines - they knew what they were doing was going to go down in history, which also meant they knew the danger involved. "Guys who were 18, 19, 20 years old were faced with the possibility of their death, but they did it anyway." As we mark the 81st anniversary of D-Day, here is a look at what happened on the beaches of Normandy, the men who fought knowing they might not survive to see victory and the way it affected the Allies' fight to defeat fascism, genocide and tyranny. What happened on D-Day? In order to defeat the Nazis in Europe, the Allies knew they'd have to take France, under German occupation since 1940. Operation Overlord saw a mobilization of 2,876,000 Allied troops in Southern England, as well as hundreds of ships and airplanes, in preparation for a ground invasion, the largest the world had seen. Weighing conditions including the weather, disagreements among other military leaders and strategic uncertainty, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the operation to begin before dawn on June 5, 1944. If things didn't go well for the Allies, Eisenhower wrote a note accepting responsibility. The following day, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along the 50-mile stretch of French shoreline. More than 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded, and 100,000 troops would continue the slow, bloody journey to Berlin, the center of German power. Why was it called D-Day? According to the U.S. Army, D-Day was "simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour." Some believe the first "D" also stands for "day," a code designation, while the French say the "D" stands for "disembarkation." The Army's website says that "the more poetic insist D-Day is short for 'day of decision.'" Asked in 1964, Eisenhower instructed his assistant Brig. Gen. Robert Schultz, to answer. Schultz wrote that "any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is used." What happened after D-Day? D-Day was not the only decisive battle of the European theater, Crean said. "It was a crucial battle but there were more ahead," he said. "They had 700 miles of tough road ahead to get to Berlin." The Battle of the Bulge, waged over 41 days in December 1944 and January 1945, required 700,000 Allied troops. "It was a tough slog for another 11 months," Crean said. Victory in Europe - V-E Day - would come on May 8, 1945, nearly a year after D-Day. The war wouldn't end until the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945. How many World War II veterans remain in the U.S.? There are about 66,000 surviving World War II veterans in the United States, Crean said, and while that may sound like a lot, it's a tiny fraction of the 16.4 million who served their country in the conflict. "So to be able to talk to and thank one veteran now is a gift for any of us," Crean said. The National World War II Museum's mission "is more critical than ever ... so more people will understand what they did and continue to be inspired by their sacrifices," added Crean, a retired colonel with 30 years' service in the Army. The museum has had oral historians travel the country to record more than 12,000 personal stories from World War II veterans. They've conducted extensive interviews with veterans, Holocaust survivors and homefront workers and, using artificial intelligence, created a way for visitors to have "conversations" with them and ask questions to learn about the war effort. And they offer virtual programming, teacher training and a student leadership award. Fletcher, the Navy gunner's mate, said he's uncomfortable with the idea of being considered a hero. Asked about his role in history, he said, "I really didn't think about it then, and I don't think about it now, though it's been impressed upon me quite a bit. "When I think about what I went through, and what all the Army and the other men who were mixed up in really tough situations, it makes me feel a little bit guilty."

Belfast Telegraph

04-06-2025

• Belfast Telegraph

‘It really is a melting pot': Belfast primary school where 17 languages are spoken wins international award

Such is the diversity at Cliftonville Integrated Primary in north Belfast. But the school has risen to the task of providing an education and integration in a changing social landscape and has now been rewarded with the British Council's International School Award 2024-2027 – the only recipient in Northern Ireland. The UK-wide award scheme celebrates schools that bring the wider world into the classroom, creating a safe and welcoming environment for all pupils, fostering a culture of inclusion and celebrating diversity. Bill Fletcher is principal of Cliftonville Integrated Primary, which has over 400 pupils and is already a designated school of sanctuary. He said that while the vast majority of the children are from the home nations, they do have kids from all over the world. 'There are challenges in the sense that if you have children coming in who have no English, that's difficult for the teachers. There's very little support from the Department of Education or the Education Authority. I think that's a strategy they need to look at,' he said. Without that support, it's something the school provides for itself, with a member of staff as a dedicated international coordinator. Parents and pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) can also benefit from English classes with the school's dedicated EAL teacher. Mr Fletcher added: "We need to do more across the board to help families when they come here, maybe through something like a six-month intensive programme in English to help them integrate into society. 'It's far better for their children, though the children always tend to pick up English very quickly. 'We have six designated school ambassadors in the school, pupils who help to integrate new children regardless of where they're from. We have about 16% of children in the school who would be classed as coming from an EAL background. 'They may have been here for a number of years and may be fluent in English, but there are some who have arrived in the last year to 18 months who need some help with the language. It's quite a diverse group, but we're absolutely delighted at the recognition for the work we do. It's something we've been doing for quite some time.' The British Council chose Cliftonville Integrated Primary as the location to launch its language trends report 2025. It showed Spanish as the most popular language studied in Northern Ireland schools, but also found a reluctance among pupils to carry language studies through to qualifications level. North Belfast MP John Finucane recently collected the award on behalf of the school at Westminster and was delighted to present it on Wednesday morning. 'It's fantastic to see that they've been honoured for the amazing work they do,' he said. 'It's not just a one-off, they live this and practise this on a daily basis. It's a school that embraces all cultures and diversities. They make children not just aware of that, but increase their curiosity, increase their learning and I think increase their kindness through the exposure to lots of different cultures. 'I'm a big fan of bilingualism, even multilingualism in schools. It's wonderful for the development of children, their learning and their capacity to embrace different subjects as they progress their academic life. 'It's not necessarily just about making them fluent in lots of different languages. It's about that exposure to different cultures, different parts of our world, and to embed that in our own curriculum is something that would be celebrated. We don't need to look any further than Cliftonville Integrated Primary School to see how that can be done really well.' Central to everything the school does, though, is the wellbeing and education of its pupils, and nine-year-old Victoria Chen is loving her role as one of its international ambassadors. She said: 'We show people around the school, welcome them here, and help them to make new friends. It's nice to be able to help new pupils understand more about school life.' Many of the pupils are learning Mandarin and French as part of their daily routine. Charlotte Ogunleye said she loves the international atmosphere. 'It's helping me learn about other cultures around me. I'm learning to speak Mandarin and I can see patterns in other languages. I hope that will help me learn more,' she said. 'It's our job to make sure anyone new to the school doesn't feel lonely and left out,' said fellow ambassador Wolfie Burns (9). 'We want to make sure everyone feels welcome and able to join in and I'm proud to be able to do that.' Author of the British Council language trends report, Dr Ian Collen, said he was delighted to see languages in action in schools. 'It really is a linguist melting pot here. And it's wonderful to see how it all comes together, providing all the pupils with a real taste of cultural diversity which they can all share, enjoy and learn from together. 'What you see in Cliftonville Integrated Primary is something that all schools should aspire to. It's not just about learning one language, school can be about learning lots of languages in a fun, informative way.'