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Environmental Activism Since 1969

New York City Friends of Clearwater, Inc. is a chartered sloop club of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. We support Clearwater by teaching people to protect the Hudson River and related waterways and shores, including New York Harbor through education, advocacy, and celebration.

We teach in schools, at street fairs, in public forums and at festivals throughout N.Y.C. We educate NYCFC members and the public during our monthly meetings and the annual sail on the sloop Clearwater. We let people know about simple things that everyone can do to help.

Goals & Projects

Written by Ted Schulman.

NYCFC Promotes Awareness of:

  • Preserving Drinking Water Quality
  • Hydrofacking dangers
  • Cleaning up nearby waters and surrounding shores 
  • Protecting our harbor from pollutants and sewage
  • The hazard of having a nuclear power plant near NYC
  • Dangers of new power plants planned on the Husdon
  • Alternate energy sources ie. Solar & Wind power
  • Making homes and businesses environmentally friendly
  • The benefits of recycling and the processes used
  • Preserving environmental regulations for Manhattans' Hudson River Park and other parks throughout the region
  • Incineration vs. Recycling
  • Love of the Hudson River - try human powered boating
  • The beauty of sail power. Come on our annual members sail on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
  • How YOU can help make our waters, shores, and drinking water cleaner and safer for the benefit of all the life on the planet.

New York City Friends of Clearwater, Inc. educates members and community on regional environmental issues that include protecting and preserving the Hudson River, NY Harbor, related waterways, drinking water, and life in and around these waters and shores.

Our Mission

No Fracking Way! Petition

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Our nation is on a perilous course, which, unless reversed quickly, poses a profound threat to public health and our environment. 
 
Legislation called the NAT GAS Act has been introduced in Congress that would, if passed and signed into law, accelerate the pace of this destructive path by shackling our country to a ruinous energy policy.

President's Report

Thank you 2011…Welcome 2012!

We have terrific plans for this year! Music, celebration, activism, sailing and kayaking! Our monthly live music potluck dinners with environmental speakers is always fun and inspiring. Many events are planned. Our yearly water festival with activist music and environmental speakers, Eco Tours around NYC, ecological field trips, Walk for the River annual fun&fund raising, and more music!

This past year NYCFC produced several great events and took part in the actions and events of many of our sister organizations.

We sailed on the Clearwater in our annual membership sail, we kayaked in the first annual Racing to Fight the Disasters by Kayak join us again this season, and watched as Bernice Silver 97 years young kayaked for the first time.

Some of us have been active in and energized by the Occupy Wall Street movement. Environmental organizations we work with like Sane Energy Project, FrackActicon, UnitedForAction, Sierra Club-AtlanticChapter, Rainforest Relief, Shut Down Indian Point Now! all take part in OWS Eco groups.OWS energizes the movement and the various organizations add to the conversation and the action.

NYC Friends of Clearwater members have been active in planning and producing the Environmentalist Solidarity working group Climate Action Day teach-ins and work with Occupy Earth Summit working group.

There is nothing Pete Seeger likes better than seeing the youth take over the mantle of social and environmental activism!

Looking forward to a great 2012!

 

In Community

Donna Stein


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Summer is here…Yea! This is our season of greatest activity celebrating the environment with song! We use the energy of the season to bring you fun, educational events. We look forward to having all of you join in. Every weekend there seems to be a festival or workshop we either produce or participate in with other environmental groups.

Our monthly PotlLuck/SingAlong/Environmental Presentations have been an enormous success. Please put aside the 3rd Fridays of each month to share in the great energy. We usually have a full house of 40 people, give or take, lively discussions and always great music everyone participates in afterwards. Oh, and delicious food!

These meetings are about getting your attention! Threats to the environment are very real. By the time you start hearing about things on the news figure activists have been working on getting your attention for years. We are glad that the need to stop hydrofracking and the threat of Indian Point is starting to be known but NYCFC was bringing that info forward for years. Now we have to increase the level of conversation and empower ourselves to make a difference.

There are many terrific groups and speakers and we will strive to bring them to you. Recently, John McLoughlin a past President of the Beacon Sloop Club, co-coordinator of the Strawberry Festival, and crew on the Woody Guthrie gave us a totally enjoyable evening speaking on issues and interests. Keeping the conversation going is what it’s all about and John does that very well.  Paul Gallay, the Executive Director of Riverkeeper is always dynamic as he honored us with an evening of news and views of what Riverkeeper is doing to protect the environment. United for Action and Sane Energy Project came to give us an education on the most important issue of Fracking, the proposed dangerous pipeline in Greenwich Village and renewable energies.

Upcoming will be Rosemary Thomas and Gigi Friis from the Beacon Sloop Club talking about what their club is doing and how their organization has grown to be the largest club of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Paul Reale, a climate change expert will be speaking at our meeting this fall. He has a presentation of 100 slides and talking points. These will be don’t miss events.

 

There are always so many Earth Day opportunities to table and we participated in several, including the EcoFair at the Queens YMHA and the Kingsborough Earth Day. The highlight was being part of the Grand Central Station Earth Day with a booth and the exhibit Landscapes of Extraction about fracking. We joined a coalition of anti-fracking organizations including NYH2O, NDRC, Damascus Citizens, Catskill Mountainkeeper, CUISD, United for Action and EarthJustice. The annual Walk for the River fundraiser was successful and fun as ever, great day to share with friends..

Field trips are a new focus for us and we welcome suggestions for future events. The first field trip is June 23 to an innovative recycling waste management facility that keeps material out of the landfills and actually pays companies for their waste.

In keeping with the vision of legendary folk singer, environmentalist founder of Clearwater, Pete Seeger, to getting people to enjoy recreational boating, fall in love with the river and thus become environmentalists Bernice Silver is going to show us how to do it! 97 years young, Bernice is going kayaking for the first time! Saturday July 30th at 11am come down to the Downtown Boathouse at Pier 96 at 56th Street and the Hudson River.

And remember our Annual Membership Sail on the majestic sloop Clearwater, our namesake and symbol of the environment that we are still working to protect. That is Aug 7th and last year we had 86 people who wanted to go and only 50 spaces so please sign up and pay earlier. Call or email us at JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING .

If you are not yet a member or have yet to renew join now! Help us extend our reach to even more environmentally conscious people.

NYC Friends of Clearwater is a Chartered Sloop Club of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater organization. 

In Community,

Donna Stein