New York City Department of Education Launches Unique Partnership with Asphalt Green to Provide Free Aquatics Programming at Newly Re-Opened Pool at River East Elementary School
Media Contact: David Byrnes, dbyrnes@asphaltgreen.org
(New York, N.Y.) – New York City not-for-profit Asphalt Green is expanding its free Wave Makers initiative and other aquatics programming to the pool at River East Elementary School after NYC Department of Education-funded renovations.
River East Elementary, located at 2351 1st Avenue, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, October 25 at 8:45am to celebrate the pool’s reopening and the partnerships that made it possible. In attendance will be officials from the Department of Education, Asphalt Green, and the New York City Council. Asphalt Green has also invited The Stand By Me Swimming Foundation, which, has secured the attendance of three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Anthony Ervin and 2024 Olympic gold medalist swimmer Jack Alexy.
Asphalt Green has already begun running its groundbreaking Wave Makers program at River East, providing free weekly swim instruction to over 500 public school students in East Harlem’s District 4. Wave Makers, a collaboration among Asphalt Green, the Gray Foundation, and the offices of New York City Council Member Julie Menin and Council Member Shekar Krishnan address the structural inequities affecting access to swim instruction by providing free, comprehensive swimming lessons to second graders across New York City, regardless of their socio-economic background.
In addition to running Wave Makers out of the River East pool, Asphalt Green plans to offer after-school programming designed to create pathways for children from Harlem to pursue competitive swimming through the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (AGUA) Swim Team. This initiative will be sponsored by the Stand By Me Swimming Foundation, whose mission is to ensure every individual has the opportunity to pursue swimming.
“We are so excited to bring our swim programming to River East,” said Andrew Bryan, Director of Citywide Aquatics Programs. “With the momentum we have gained with our Wave Makers initiative that will soon reach every borough of the city, now is the perfect time to bring our aquatics leadership to River East and ensure that more New York City students have the opportunity to learn to swim and pursue dreams of competitive swimming.”
The organization believes its River East Elementary programming can serve as a blueprint for aquatics programming at other NYC DOE schools and help to rapidly expand access to swim instruction. According to the New York City Council, 68% of NYC residents lack access to pools, many public school pools remain inactive, and one out of four New York City children remain unable to swim.
“Every child deserves free and equitable access to swim instruction,” added Asphalt Green CEO Jordan Brackett. “Expanding our aquatics programming to River East Elementary will help us make tremendous progress on that goal, and advance our mission to transform lives through sports, fitness, and play for all.”
About Asphalt Green:
Asphalt Green is a not-for-profit organization that transforms lives and builds community through sports, fitness, and play for all. We offer world-class fitness memberships, nationally competitive sports and aquatics teams, recreational sports, and leading camp programs that empower our community members to live active and healthier lives. In addition, our unique model uses funds raised from fee-based programing to provide free and low-cost programs to those with limited access to high-quality fitness and recreational programs.