Jackson Heights Life

Hi guys, I wanted to see what sort of interest level there would be in establishing a Polar Bear Club Of Queens. For those who don't know what it is, a Polar Bear club is when you go to the ocean in the middle of winter and jump into the freezing cold water, and then feel pretty amazing for the rest of the day. A lot of people do it on New Year's Day, and a lot of people do it every weekend during Winter.

I've done the one in Coney Island in Brooklyn and it was a lot of fun and I'd like to do it again, but I don't feel like going all the way to Coney Island because a) it's far and b) Queens is awesome so let's do it in Queens.

I was thinking The Rockaways would be a perfect place for it, maybe some of the food places are open during winter, and I'm pretty sure at least the Rockaway Brewing Company bar would be open which is a good place to get changed afterwards and drink beer. It's not too far from the water.

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a Polar Bear Club Of Queens T-Shirt that says "Polar Bear COQ" on it in big letters?

Would this be something people could get behind? Maybe we could do it just on New Year's Day this year and see if it can grow over time?

I welcome your thoughts on this, and if people are interested it would be pretty awesome to spread the word to the rest of the borough and really get it going.

During dry periods (no rain/snow) sections of Flushing bay are swimmable, see https://www.riverkeeper.org/water-quality/citizen-data/.

It's not that bad once you are in, the water temperature is usually higher than the air temperature.  It's that first leap... lol. 

Represent!  I will be brimming with Queens pride and enthusiastically cheering for you while watching you on TV from my overheated apartment.   (Sorry.)