All in this together!
Coney Island do-gooders lent a helping hand to beautify the area’s garden and shorelines in celebration of City of Water Day on Saturday, July 13.
The regionally recognized event is dedicated to getting New Yorkers and their surrounding neighbors out to the state’s waterways. Some selfless neighbors spent their day-of-play restoring the area’s green spaces by pulling feeds, tossing out trash and painting new trash barrels.
Alexandra Kanonik, program director with the American Littoral Society teamed up with the Coney Island Beautification Project to make the neighborhood a place residents can be proud of.
“We came as a program partner and got some of the kids out here to do some restoration,” she said.
The job was an all-hands-on-deck effort with volunteers coming out from all over — among them, Amy Plattsmier, who came as a partner with the New York City Parks Department.
“We’re cleaning up our city,” she said.
Another young helper, C.J. Powers, spent the day picking up weeds at Kaiser Park — where he spends a lot of time during the summer. Powers told Brooklyn Paper that he wanted to give back to his community and help clean up his local park.
Water Day was founded by the Waterfront Alliance and New York–New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program. The now-annual celebration began as a way to mark the importance of resilient and equitable shorelines.
Today, different hosts set up special events across New Jersey and all five boroughs.
In a powerful display of community spirit, volunteers from all walks of life spent a day in the sun on Sunday, demonstrating that it takes a team when it comes to protecting New York City waterways.
