Sure, you can kayak through New York Harbor to see views of the skyline, but how about a tour of the less polished part of NYC…like Brooklyn’s own canal system?
Well, a local Brooklyn community group, fondly dubbed the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, hosts summer tours through the Gowanus Canal to help educate and advocate for the waterfront (oh, and have fun of course)! Depending on the tour, they also take trips through Brooklyn waterways to the neighboring waterfront communities of Red Hook, Sunset Park and Brooklyn Heights.
The Gowanus Canal specifically has a bit of a reputation for not being the cleanest, in part due to the coal plants that used to dump their waste back into the water, but the group works hard to advocate for the revitalization of the waterways and is also continuously monitoring water quality.
They offer beautiful sunset canoe tours on Thursday evenings from 6-7:30pm throughout September. They provide all the equipment so you can spend up an hour and a half exploring all the nooks and crannies of Brooklyn. Embark on a narrated voyage with members of the team, filled with questions and conversation on how recreation can have a positive influence on improving and encouraging environmental awareness and activism in an urban setting — plus see a totally hidden side of Brooklyn!
Get your tickets here!
featured image source: Instagram @gowanusdredgers