New York City's Department of Parks and Recreation has a handful of official kayak/canoe launch sites around the city, i.e. spots that you can legally put in or take out without hassle. As part of the program, the Parks Dept. also issues kayak/canoe launch permits that are good for the season, which runs from April to November. While you don't absolutely need a permit to use the spots, as no one is really monitoring much, it is worthwhile getting one for several reasons: --It does form a census of sorts of the number of paddlers in the city. The more we get ourselves counted, the more overall clout we may have. --If by chance some officer or official were to challenge your effort to launch or land, you would have something to show them that indicates you have permission to do so (be polite, of course :-)). The permit is the biggest bargain in the city other than the Downtown Boathouse, which is free. A Parks Dept permit costs all of $2! When you go get one, you will note that tennis permits run $50 for example. The permits are available at any borough Parks Dept office. The main office is in Manhattan's Central Park at the Arsenal Building at 5th Ave and 64th Street in the basement (hours are from 10 am to 4 pm). The address for the the borough ones are in your local phone book. There has been a way of writing in for one but I don't know if that is still functioning. The launch sites have gone through a lot of changes, basically a downward spiral in terms of number. I and several others were instrumental in expanding the system back in the late 1980s. We got it up to 11 or so launch sites at one point (3 Manhattan, 2 Staten Island, 1 Queens, 3 The Bronx, 2 Brooklyn). However a variety of forces killed off several of them. (Staten Island: one was close to an anchorage and the Pilots Assoc complained; the other at Conference House was nixed on a ruse. Brooklyn: one which had a floating dock and ramp was burned to the ground by vandals; the other never got sufficiently marked). Manhattan has 3 officially on the Hudson but only two really are functional: Dyckman St (200th St, northern Man.) and the 79th Street Boat Basin, "A" dock (the third is just north of the North River Park complex but pretty impossible to launch from). The Bronx's three have two that don't really work but the one at Orchard Beach (NW corner of the parking lot) is quite good. Then there is the one in Queens in Bayside at the marina. I have not been there in years and so I don't know what its status is. If we could ever get the number of kayak/canoe permit holders up to some critical mass, we might be able to start reversing the trend and re-establish launch sites in other parts of the city. I urge you to get a permit. If you have any questions email or write. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
A follow up to Ralph's post about the launch permits...I first obtained one in 1995. Back then, and I think it's the same now, I went to the Park's Dept office in the zoo on Fifth Ave in Central Park. There was a LONG LONG LONG line of people waiting for tennis permits, but you can go to the front if you are processing a water launch permit. Also, if you REALLY want to save money you can call yourself a club -- that permit cost me $6 instead of $2, but you can copy it and anybody else in your "club" just needs to cary a photocopy of the club permit. The beauty is, you can have as many members in your "club" as you want. More than the noney savings, this allows you to save your buddies the inconvenience of having to go to the middle of Manhattan when they could be out on the water. Next year, make someone else in your "club" go... PS -- we were the "Riverside Canoe Club", launching out of 79th st boat basin. Those were the days... Cheers Mark Heath (almost) ex-padler M./ PS PS the permit forbids night launches, and fishing. M./ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Someone wrote privately to me whether one has to be a city or state resident to get a kayak/canoe permit. NO. You might want to try to mail in for one. I don't know how well this approach is working currently but you could try and all you would be out is a $2 check and some stamps. Send a letter to the Permit Office, NYC Parks & Recreatrion, The Arsenal, Central Park, NY, NY 10021. 1) You could ask for a kayak/canoe launch permit and enclose a self addressed stamped envelop (put 55 cents postage). OR 2) you could just try including the kind of info asked for in the application, i.e. Your name address phone number Name and address and phone of someone to contact in an emergency Say you understand the rules and regulations, etc. Sign the letter and enclose a $2 check made out to the NYC Parks and Recreation and with the self addressed stamped envelop. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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