Is It Safe to Swim in New York City's East River?

Jack Coyne of Public Opinion spoke with New Yorkers on the street to find out if they thought it was safe to swim in the East River. Most of them said no, voicing concerns about dead bodies and human sewage.

I grew up in New York City and for my entire life, I was warned that swimming in the East River is a dangerous and bad idea. But recently, I’ve been wondering if that common warning is true, or if it’s a myth repeated by New Yorkers.

With that in mind, Coyne went to speak with experts such as Cody Herrmann of the Billion Oyster Project, who had tested the East River water. They subsequently found out it was safe, but extremely volatile, as a good rain could pollute the waters again.

So far, we’ve established that the water can be clean enough to swim in sometimes, but after heavy rainfall can be quite unsafe.

He also spoke with 16 year old Arda Agir, a long-distance swimmer who successfully completed the 20 Bridges Swim, a 28.5 mile route around Manhattan and with Deanne Draeger of Urban Swim, a program that invites New Yorkers to swim the East River under strict safety guidance.

…an experienced swimmer like Arda can swim in the waters, but not without a trained team to guide him through boat traffic and heavy currents. But there are regular New Yorkers who actually are finding a way to safely get into the East River and go for a dip.