New Year’s Day | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘New Year’s Day’

Playing Santa at the Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge

Posted in Events, Photography, tagged Barry Yanowitz, Coney Island, fundraiser, holidays, New Year's Day, Polar Bear Club, Polar Bear Plunge, Santa on December 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Unwinding after a Busy Holiday...Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year's Day Swim 2011. Photo © Barry Yanowitz

On New Year’s Day 2011, when Santa should have been back at the North Pole after a busy Christmas, photographer Barry Yanowitz spotted him at the Coney Island Polar Bear Swim! The annual event is zany fun as well as a fundraiser for a very good cause. You can play Santa on New Year’s Day 2012 by pledging a donation to this year’s plunge or helping participants meet their fundraising goals. The funds make it possible for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to enjoy a holiday at Camp Sunshine in Maine.

“Last year we raised over $50,000 for Camp Sunshine, and hope to exceed that this year,” Coney Island Polar Bear Club President Dennis Thomas told ATZ. “Approximately 1,200 swimmers registered last year. People can make donations on site on New Year’s Day or pledge at Freezin’ for a Reason.” (If you’re reading this after New Year’s Day, it’s not too late to mail a check.)

There’s no fee for observers or participants at the increasingly popular annual event, but the Coney Island Polar Bear Club encourages participants to make a donation to Camp Sunshine. They will receive a free breakfast, all-day admission to the New York Aquarium and the official “I Did It!” certificate. Swim time is at 1 pm sharp. Registration begins at 11 am on the Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Before and After Party at Ruby’s Bar from 11am till 2:30pm!

Coney Island Is The Place to Celebrate New Year’s Day

Posted in Events, News, tagged Coney ISland Polar Bear Swim, Freezin for a Reason, January 1, New Year's Day, Ruby's Bar on December 31, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Formal Pose, Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club at New Year's Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Formal Pose, Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. January 1, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club’s New Year’s Day Swim is wacky fun, but they’re Freezin’ for a Reason. Support a Bear and make a pledge now. According to the Bears’ website, “There is no fee for swimmers or observers but we encourage all participants to make a voluntary donation to our partner Camp Sunshine.” The Coney Island Plunge has already raised more than $20,000!

On January 1, 2010, more than one thousand people took the plunge, including about 140 members of the Polar Bear Club (ATZ, “By the Numbers: Coney Island New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim 2010,” January 8, 2010). Tomorrow’s dip in the ocean is at 1 pm sharp, but get there early for festivities on the Boardwalk. You can register, pledge and buy Polar Bear Tee’s on the Boardwalk from 11 am.

Ruby

On New Year’s Day Ruby’s Bar & Grill will be the place to raise a toast to the New Year and to the real Coney Island. If you missed the last of the “Last Call” party/protests at Ruby’s in November, tomorrow may be your final last chance to have a drink at Ruby’s. Of course, we hope not. Ruby’s & the other evicted Boardwalk businesses made Curbed’s 2010 List of Threatened Neighborhood Places that are not dead yet. What to do? Take a cue from the folks who showed up at November 6th’s Rally, Party and Last Call and bring along a hand-made sign. Ruby’s will open at 10:30 am. Live music from 12:30 till around 4 pm.

American History Vanishing Before My Eyes. Coney Island Boardwalk, November 6, 2010. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

By the Numbers: Coney Island New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim 2010

Posted in Events, News, tagged By the numbers, Coney Island, Coney ISland Polar Bear Swim, Dennis Thomas, Freezin for a Reason, New Year's Day, Polar Bear Club, winter swimming on January 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The crowd gets bigger every year at the New Year’s Day Polar Bear Club Swim in Coney Island. Exactly how many Bears and Cubs took the plunge on Jan 1, 2010? How many people were spectating? How much did the charity event raise for Camp Sunshine? (Yep, you can still mail in a check.) Dennis Thomas, the President of the the Coney Island Polar Bears, gave us an update and analysis of the increasingly popular event’s stellar stats. Photos courtesy of Bruce Handy/Pablo 57’s “Coney, January 1, 2010 Polar Bear Plunge” set…

Lou Young of CBS News and Coney Island Polar Bear Club President Dennis Thomas. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Lou Young of CBS News interviewing Coney Island Polar Bear Club President Dennis Thomas. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: Do you know how many people “did it” on January 1st vs last year’s swim? And how many regular members of the Polar Bear Club participated vs. how many swim on a typical Sunday

Thomas: I believe there were over 1000 swimmers this New Year’s. I don’t have any numbers for last year, but it was brutally cold last year and the crowd felt noticeably larger than last year. We have about 140 full-time members in the club. At our weekly swims we have been averaging 80-90 swimmers. I think we had more than 100 there on New Year’s.

Formal Pose, Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: what are the reasons for the event growing every year? Was this year’s larger crowd due to the 41 degree air temp?

Thomas: I’m not sure why the event is growing. Part of it is just word of mouth. People went last year, told their friends who said, yeah I want to do that next year. Part of it is that Coney Island has been in the press so much lately that it is going through its own revival regardless of the development plans. Crowds out there are getting bigger for all events the past 2 years.

Part of it is our club seems to have a larger media presence than in the past and things like our website make us much easier to find than say, 10 years ago. And somehow we are less portrayed as those idiots on the beach that cause network newscasters to chuckle and shake their heads after a 10 second clip before the weather report. The New Year’s Swim is basically free and open to the public, that might be a draw in the current economy as well. I think it’s all these things that explains the larger crowds.

Huge Crowd at New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: How many spectators were there? And how many people involved with staffing the event including crowd control and safety? We noticed Chuck Reichenthal (District Manager of CB 13) in some pix.

Thomas: Again, it’s hard to estimate the size of the crowds on the beach. I believe someone told me the Fire Dept. estimated 10,000 people. I can’t verify that, but I also don’t doubt it. The entire bay was filled with people. I’m not sure on the numbers of the safety teams but there were 2 police boats, 3 Fire Dept boats, numerous Fire Dept EMT teams, ambulance crews, water safety teams through CERT, 3 kayakers, and at least 5 lifeguards and countless volunteers from the Polar Bear Club.

ATZ: What are latest stats on how much money was raised for Camp Sunshine? People can still mail in checks, right?

Thomas: I don’t have final figures, but we raised somewhere around $28,000 this year, up from last year which in this economy is pretty decent. And yes, people can still make contributions.

Big Babies at New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ: Looking at the flickr pix by various photographers it seemed like more people were wearing costumes than in previous years. Maybe that’s just the sort of thing photographers tend to take more photos of? Or maybe there were just more people, more costumes? Do you have any comments or insight about that?

Thomas: The costume thing. Maybe it’s part of the Mermaid Parade spirit and the fact that it is after all Coney Island. We neither encourage nor discourage costumes. People just do that on their own. And it is a holiday, and a bit of an absurd activity. That must play a role in it.

Photo Op, New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club swims at 1 pm every Sunday from November through April. To join them as a guest, show up at the New York Aquarium Education Hall, on the Boardwalk at West 8th Street by 12:30 pm.