Bronx River Education

On Saturday, May 10^th, 2008, I joined 164 paddlers and passengers in the launching of 70 canoes to take part in the 9^th Annual Amazing Bronx River Flotilla.  Though I’ve been told many times how much fun the Flotilla is, it’s only after undertaking the adventure myself, that I recognize it as one of those things – like democracy itself – that can only REALLY be understood by directly participating.

From the Flotilla’s “put-in” at Shoelace Park, all along its journey through the forests of Bronx Park, coursing onward through the river’s industrialized lower reaches and grand finish at Hunts Point Park, it was a remarkably varied 7.5 mile paddle on a glorious day in the spring of the year!  Framed by a rousing start and finish in NYC parks, the Flotilla mixes an inspection of the river’s returning ecological health with the feel of a music festival, alumni reunion,  block party, street fair and sprawling, affectionate, all-inclusive family gathering.  

If the energies of restoration and renewal along the river are striking, it is the experience of sharing all of that with so many Bronxites of so many generations and neighborhoods – with politicians and poets and planners and people from throughout the city and Albany and beyond – that fills the Flotilla with its ultimate celebratory excitement.

Teenagers  from Rocking the Boat, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, The Point, Sustainable South Bronx, Mosholu Community Center, Christadora and Urban Divers all took part in the day – some as volunteers partaking in “service learning,” others to strengthen paddling skills or simply enjoy the river. In fact, it would be hard to imagine a better opportunity to expose young people to the river in all its dimensions than the Flotilla, which is also well represented by leaders from NYS-DEC, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, NYC-DOT and other government agencies.

When two canoes flipped during rapids encountered on this Flotilla, other vessels quickly stopped to help. In addition to the presence of patrol boats positioned along the river, poised to pitch in and aide a struggling paddler, the communal spirit of the day ensures that more experienced canoeists will step in when needed.   For among the life lessons that any good canoe trip teaches is the almost invisible axiom – although life’s trails may present you with troubles now and then, with some determination, and perhaps some help along the way, you can invariably right yourself and continue along. 

 Who can describe the peculiarly urban joy of careening down the Bronx River rapids by canoe, meditating on midges gliding across the surface of the water, plucking a leaf from an overhanging branch for later identification, observing not just egrets, sandpipers and ducks but bison and tigers.  On no other river could the pleasure be so keen at coming upon an unanticipated swan or clump of arrowroot by the shore, or in hearing a peacock calling from a distant tree as we pass. Where else can you portage your canoe at an old snuff mill or look up to see the cars of the monorail bridging the river ahead with all the charm of a toy train set crossing in the distance? 

Yet, of the many views and myriad perspectives of the river offered by the Flotilla, there was no vantage point more vivid than the view from the bridge as we drove away from Hunts Point Park, and one could see the river stretching out before us, like the future itself, a half dozen of the last canoes eagerly paddling towards the landing where the music was rising…

Lisa Garrison, New York City Environmental Fund, 

Hudson River Foundation