Harlem River Community Rowing is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization committed to getting New York City adults out on the water and sharing our love for rowing. The City has great opportunities for high school students (through Row NY) and high-caliber athletes (through the NY Athletic Club), but we are the only group open everyone and accessible by public transit. Our programs are free and we welcome adults from 18 to their 80s, at all levels of experience and fitness.

There’s huge demand for rowing in New York, from experienced rowers but even more from adults who want to learn the sport. Our resources limit how many people we can serve. For safety reasons, one coach can only work with two shells at a time, because the coach must be near all the rowers at all times. Elsewhere, rowers typically train at dawn, but because we depend on public transit, and because we don’t have a boathouse or showers, we can’t do this;  there isn’t time to get to Inwood, row, go home, shower, and get to work on time. We row weekday evenings when the days are long enough (May through August), and weekend mornings, but there is too much traffic on the Harlem River to row weekend afternoons. So the best way to get more people rowing is to have two coaches out at once.  That’s our project—“Rowing for More in 2024” will expand our capacity by purchasing a second coach’s launch and providing funds for additional coaching time. With two coaches on the water at once, more rowers can join us. It’s that simple.