On City of Water Day 2025, Hoboken’s shoreline buzzed with activity

By Lila Jung | July 17, 2025

On Saturday July 12, four men sat casually in fold-out chairs, fishing lines cast into the Hudson, bowls of bait beside them. As members of the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association, they weren’t just there to reel in the day’s catch, they were part of a citywide celebration.

“So this started in the ’60s, before I was alive, obviously…” one of them said with a laugh, referring to the origins of their organization, which has long worked for decades to preserve the health of the Hudson’s water and wildlife. Their presence was just one piece of a much larger event: City of Water Day.

Now in its 18th year, City of Water Day is a region-wide celebration organized by the Waterfront Alliance and the NY–NJ Harbor & Estuary Program. With free, family-friendly events taking place throughout New York and New Jersey, the day aims to promote climate resilience and public access to the waterways that define our region.

In Hoboken, the shoreline buzzed with activity. The Fund for a Better Waterfront, Resilience Adventures, Montclair State University’s Traveling Water Science Lab, and others joined forces to engage the public with science, sport, and stewardship. One of the most striking scenes came from the Ke Aloha Outriggers.

Ke Aloha had a tent set up near the Hoboken Boathouse. They teach outrigger canoeing, rooted in Polynesian tradition. Their mission is about access, heritage, and team spirit. By igniting public interest in the waterways of New York and New Jersey through this unique water sport, they hope to spread historical awareness. Their emphasis on “ohana,” or family, was on full display as paddlers lifted their canoe in unison and eased it into the Hudson.