NYCWaterTrail, 251 Clermont Avenue, New York, NY (2026)

10/02/2026

Happy Week 20! We have officially wrapped up the 2026 Community Water Quality Testing season! 🌊🥳

After 20 weeks, we have collectively processed over 1,300 individual samples. Endless gratitude to the partner labs, community partners, and volunteer samplers— you guys are the best.

This week the nor’easter left Central Park reporting 3.1 inches of rain (second highest rainfall of the season), which left about 37% of our 54 reporting sample sites with single day bacteria levels that would warrant a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) standards— not bad!

See the results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

This month about 22%, or 10 of 45 applicable CWQT sites, sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days, have geometric means that would be without beach closures or advisories according to DoH standards. This week over 55%, or 11 of our 20 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards— pretty good.

And don’t forget to RSVP for the Golden Toilet Award ceremony hosted by Hudson River Park at Pier 40 on October 28, 2026 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM! This year you will have an opportunity to screen print your own CWQT t-shirt to take home— cool!

09/26/2026

We are one week away from the end of the Community Water Quality Testing season! 🌧️🌬️

This week Central Park had over a half inch less rainfall than last week, coming in at .3 inches, which left about 45% of our 59 reporting sample sites with single day bacteria levels that would cause a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) standards. Even though we had less recorded rainfall, this week’s ‘beach closure’ results are about 10% higher than last week.

See the results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

This month about 25%, or 12 of 48 applicable CWQT sites, sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days, have geometric means that would be without beach closures or advisories according to DoH standards. This week over 60%, or 12 of our 20 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards.

09/23/2026

Welcome fall! 🍃🚣⛅

While summer may be past, there is still plenty of time left to enjoy paddling this season! Fall weather in NYC can be some of the nicest (some may call it the best) to enjoy the water. And though we're feeling cooler air temps these days, the water temps generally will stay warmer for several more weeks.

Kayak and canoe launches remain open until December 1 - so keep an eye on the weather, pack a layer, note the sunset time and get out there!

09/20/2026

This week NYC plays host to the UN General Assembly - and it's also Climate Week! 🌎🗽🇺🇳

🚣 For those getting on the water this week: from September 20 – 26, 2026, the U.S. Coast Guard will enforce two security zones on the East River:
1. Near the United Nations Headquarters, East River between East 36th Street and the Queensboro/59th Street Bridge.
2. Near the Wall Street Heliport, just south of Wall Street, Manhattan.

Restrictions will be in place by zone, on the following dates.

🚨 Zone 1️⃣ ALWAYS IN EFFECT
Beginning 6:00 am on September 20th no vessels are allowed to transit within approximately 180 yards of Manhattan Shoreline at East 36th St to 125 yards from Manhattan Shoreline at the Queensboro/59th St Bridge.

🚧 Zone 2️⃣ Select times
Sunday, Sep 20: 12pm – 8pm
Monday-Wednesday, Sep 21-23: 8am – 10pm
Thursday-Saturday, Sep 24-26: 8am – 8pm
No commercial or recreational traffic in the west channel of the East River between East 36th Street and the Queensboro/59th Street Bridge.

⛔ Zone 2️⃣ FULL RIVER CLOSURE: September 22
No vessel traffic will be allowed in the East River between East 36th Street and the Queensboro/59th Street Bridge.

🚁 Wall Street Heliport: The potential exists for this security zone to be enforced per during mornings and evenings on dates and times that are as directed by Sector New York. No vessel transits will be permitted within the security zone while it is in effect without the U.S. Coast Guard’s approval.

And look out for the many events taking place around the city for !

09/19/2026

Happy Week 18 of Community Water Quality! 🌤️

This week .93 inches of rainfall in Central Park left about 35% of the 54 reporting sample sites with single day bacteria levels that would cause a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) standards. There is a lot of rain in the forecast over the next week — be sure to check back in for Week 19 to see how things change.

See results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

This month only about 13.5%, or 5 of 37 applicable CWQT sites (sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days) have geometric means that would be without beach closures or advisories according to DoH standards— this is significantly lower than the past few weeks, but only because data from many of our Hudson River sites has not yet been shared. This week over 36%, or 4 of our 11 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards, again impacted by the lack of our typically cleaner Hudson River sample sites.

🦠 Wondering what the picture is? Courtesy the SWIM Coalition lab, those are the Quanti-Trays of samples from Bushwick Inlet Park Beach along the East River (10 MPN), North 3rd Street along the East River in Williamsburg (52 MPN), and Newtown Creek Second Street Kayak Launch (299 MPN). Trays are viewed under a black light, where each glowing blue well is counted as positive for f***l bacteria. To get results small and large wells are counted to determine the most probable number, or MPN, of enterococcus f***l bacteria.

09/11/2026

We're at week 17 of Community Water Quality Testing - just three more to go! 🍃

With only .17 inches of rainfall in Central Park this week, nearly 34% of our 59 reporting sample sites have single day bacteria levels that would warrant a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) standards, down from last week’s season high of about 75%.

See the results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

In the past 30 days, about 22%, or 10 of 45 applicable CWQT sites (sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days) have geometric means that would be without beach closures or advisories according to DoH standards, on par with last week’s 21%. This week over 47%, or 9 of our 19 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards, the same as last week!

Save the date for the annual Community Water Quality Testing end-of-season celebration, on October 28, 2026 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM at Hudson River Park's Pier 40 Wetlab. Please RSVP with SWIM Coalition.

09/05/2026

Kicking off the holiday weekend with week 16 of Community Water Quality Testing! 🌊

This week currently holds the title for ‘worst single day water quality results’ of the 2026 sampling season! After less than an inch of rain recorded in Central Park this week, .93 inches to be precise, over 77% of 62 reporting sample sites have single day bacteria levels that would warrant a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) standards. This is nearly 10% higher than Week 3, the second worst week, where 68% of sites were in the red.

See the results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

Looking at geometric means for the past 30 days of data, about 21%, or 10, of 47 applicable CWQT sites (sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days) would be without beach closures or advisories according to DoH standards. This percent is pretty low, but not the worst of the season! This week over 47%, or 10, of our 21 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards, down from 60% last week.

And if it's felt like the rain keeps coming, NYC just had it’s wettest summer in 5 years! According to the National Weather Service the City received over 16 inches of rain this June, July, and August, 3.5 inches above the average rainfall rate.

08/29/2026

Happy week 15 of Community Water Quality Testing - only 5 more weeks in the season! 💦

Central Park recorded 1.41 inches of rain this week, leaving 40% of the 57 reporting sample sites with single day bacteria levels that would warrant a beach closure by NYC Department of Health (DoH) standards, worse than last week’s 29%.

See the results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

When comparing this month’s geometric means to DoH beach standards about 27%, or 13, of 47 applicable CWQT sites (sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days) would be without beach closures or advisories, up from about 20% last week. This week over 61%, or 13, of our 21 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards— one of the better weeks of the season for the Class I metrics!

08/22/2026

For better or for worse, the Community Water Quality Testing results for Week 14 do not reflect the impact of Thursday afternoon’s deluge. 🌧️🌪️

Prior to the 2.87 inches of rain that fell during this week’s Flash Flood Warning, Central Park had collected .88 inches of rain this week. This left 29% of 47 reporting sample sites with single day bacteria levels that would warrant a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DoH) standards. After yesterday’s storm, where some parts of the City received as much as 3.63 inches of rain, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC Water) issued waterbody advisories for nearly the entire harbor, with many advisories lasting for three to five days.

See the results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?usp=drivesdk

When comparing this month’s geometric means to DoH beach standards about 20%, or 8 of 40 applicable CWQT sites (sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days) would be without beach closures or advisories. This week 3 of our 9 applicable Class I waterbodies have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards. Due to the extreme rain that fell after our Thursday morning sampling routine, we know these numbers are no longer reflective of conditions in our waterways.

Compare the means here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1813b2nagaxZ80xRfyMZNNKySZOitro5Nt7W4E9WNQDA/edit?usp=drivesdk

08/15/2026

Looking good for Week 13 of Community Water Quality Testing! 🌞

With the bulk of this week’s 1.11 inches of rain recorded last Friday, this week the CWQT data shows only about 42% of the 56 reporting sample sites with single day bacteria levels that would warrant a beach closure by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene standards— the best results we have seen in the last 5 weeks!

See the numbers here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gzcubnJi3hFtwWpwNBFg1YsP5lIg1aJtRDGqyNXM6DY/edit?gid=0 =0

When comparing geometric means, this week’s water quality is slightly better than last weeks. Based on DoH beach standards for this past month’s geometric mean, about 26.5%, or 13 of 49 applicable CWQT sites (sites with 5 samples in the past 30 days) would be without beach closures or advisories, just above last week’s 25%. Similarly, this week 15 of 24 applicable Class I waterbodies, or 62.5%, have enterococcus counts in line with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation standards, compared to 60% last week.

Take a look here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1813b2nagaxZ80xRfyMZNNKySZOitro5Nt7W4E9WNQDA/edit?pli=1&gid=2103257951 =2103257951

And, if you want updates in your inbox every Friday, sign up to the CWQT email list! 👇
https://mailchi.mp/298bb6e8efae/cwqt

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