- We are the Maritime Explorers, students of a six-week program
at the East River Apprenticeshop for NYC youth ages 13 to 18. We
come Monday through Friday and row, sail, and monitor Newtown
Creek by trapping and documenting aquatic life and by taking water
samples. We have tested the water for temperature, salinity,
alkalinity and dissolved oxygen. We explored Newtown Creek on the
water and on land. Additionally, we explored other places such as
the East River, Roosevelt Island, and Governors Island. The East
River Apprenticeshop is headquartered in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and
the students come from all over New York City.
We as a group had fun and learned a lot about Newtown Creek. When the program started some of us had never heard about Newtown Creek. One of our biggest achievements was to make a map of Newtown Creek (but for me it was how to sail and row). The map shows Newtown Creek and some of the major sources of pollution, the property owners on Newtown Creek, and the public access point (we discovered there's only one). We made this map because we want Newtown Creek clean. It's a fun place to row and sail, but not to fish. Why? Because of all the toxic pollution in the water. We found information for this map by rowing on the creek and riding bicycles around the creek. We also got information by looking at other maps and by talking to other people, like Riverkeeper staff, people from the City Council, and local activists.
