NYC’s Hudson River: Clean Enough To Swim In? - Cheddar Explains

[@FDNYlax9]

The water currents are considerably strong so swimming without a safety boat(kayaker) is strongly discouraged. Too many people die each year by jumping in for a swim are getting swept away and drowning.

[@teresamansbach1419]

This!!!! I would not feel safe swimming in such dark deep moving water. Just because water is clean doesn’t mean it’s safe

[@1121494]

I'm trained swimming up to lifesaving certification as a kid and'd never ever even consider swimming in the River Rhine due to the currents - my sister however even took her children with her to swimming in the Rhine when they were much younger.

[@davidt8087]

Cheddar. Please explain how you people as a whole group of maybe a dozen people, have been working at your company for over half a decade, and have barely 940k subs and most likely not enough revenue to pay anyone more than $500 per month in your team yet you guys still somehow are surviving? What investors did you rip off? Another example of a modern failure of a company that exists due to frauding their way forward by other people's money

[@NotThatGuy_YepThatGuy]

@@davidt8087 wasn't expecting this comment.

[@jsplit9716]

@@1121494 My grandparents used to swim across the rhine. And they were self taught.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

Safety isn't just a matter of what's in the water. It's also a fact of the flow of the water. There are parts of the East River, which are quite dangerous to swim in because of the tides and riptides. For instance, swimming at Hell's gate is a wonderful way of ending up in the afterlife

[@hanu6158]

One easy solution to drowning when in rough waters like the East River is gulping. Just gulp down as much water as possible and you should be able to float up, cause of the buoyancy from the water in yo smoach. Just stay calm. 😃

[@cjadventures8840]

@@hanu6158 big brain😊

[@davidt8087]

Cheddar. Please explain how you people as a whole group of maybe a dozen people, have been working at your company for over half a decade, and have barely 940k subs and most likely not enough revenue to pay anyone more than $500 per month in your team yet you guys still somehow are surviving? What investors did you rip off? Another example of a modern failure of a company that exists due to frauding their way forward by other people's money

[@cjadventures8840]

@@davidt8087 huh?

[@nickharnish]

I fell off a jet ski there very scary and gross

[@yogitam2372]

I grew up 3 blocks from the East River (Pike Street) during the 70s and 80s. Back then, it was so polluted that you could smell the river before even getting close to it. I am glad they cleaned up a lot of it. Now when I visit the old hood, I go down to river and walk it. Back then, you didn't even want to spend 5 minutes near it.

[@from9539]

I imagine how beautiful the hudson was before we f**ed it up

[@lennybandana]

For real! Probably Cristal clear water before the city was built😲

[@SuperheroJunior]

​@@lennybandana The Earth is being destroyed slowly 😢

[@Apparentlykelly2.0]

@@lennybandananot a river

[@jennifertarin4707]

Where Battery Park City is now used to be a beach in the 70s. I have swum in the Hudson River, but never in or around NYC and always north of where GE duped the PCB's in the water. The Hudson, East River, Potomac and Anacostia Rivers are all healthier now than at any time in the last 50 years.

[@zacharyyoumans9614]

I frequently swim in the Potomac around the 301 bridge every summer and have never gotten sick from it

[@internallyinteral]

Not YET you haven't

[@zacharyyoumans9614]

@@internallyinteral I’ll take my chances

[@jasonreed7522]

As a kid in the 2000s i remember that a joke was that swimming in the Hudson below Albany would give you cancer. Whether that was ever true, or during what time period it was i have no idea, but the Hudson was famously polluted, but most rivers near cities ended up that way as a result of industrialization.

[@davidt8087]

Cheddar. Please explain how you people as a whole group of maybe a dozen people, have been working at your company for over half a decade, and have barely 940k subs and most likely not enough revenue to pay anyone more than $500 per month in your team yet you guys still somehow are surviving? What investors did you rip off? Another example of a modern failure of a company that exists due to frauding their way forward by other people's money

[@andyArt5]

I had a friend who fell in the Hudson in the 80s. He never came out. We held a empty casket funeral and everything. Years later we found out he was taken in by C.H.U.D.S. and he’s doing great! He’s married with two beautiful kids, he got his degree in subterranean law online and he even has his own practice! Miss you Mikey!

[@Kobee9]

Wtf

[@demetriburrell16]

😂

[@Andrew37213]

I live north up in the Hudson Valley and swim and tube in the river every summer and have been doing so since I was little. Can't say I have ever gotten sick or experienced any side effects, for lack of a better word.

[@alb12345672]

I am on the hudson in a town just south of Albany, west bank, there is a park with a boat pier, they said not to swim in the water.

[@Andrew37213]

@@alb12345672 I can’t speak for the Albany area but our area is deemed safe.

[@jasonreed7522]

@@Andrew37213 depends on your area, i regularly* cross the Hudson in the ADKs where its no different than any other river in the mountains with the main pollution source being acid rain. Albany area is the first major source of industrial pollution on the river so if you are above it then the river is probably 100% safe but if you are below it then the risk increases alot.

[@davidt8087]

Cheddar. Please explain how you people as a whole group of maybe a dozen people, have been working at your company for over half a decade, and have barely 940k subs and most likely not enough revenue to pay anyone more than $500 per month in your team yet you guys still somehow are surviving? What investors did you rip off? Another example of a modern failure of a company that exists due to frauding their way forward by other people's money

[@Jophlo78]

I bet you have a very distinguished "glow" about you.

[@JeffinBville]

I grew up in that city and it wasn't until the early 2000s before people thought it safe(r) to swim in NY harbor. But it is a tidal harbor so if you're swimming when the tide is coming in then you're getting a dose of fresh ocean water.

[@jedwalker4543]

NYC also has some of the best tap water I’ve ever tasted. Yet people give it crap all the time

[@somethingsomething404]

Ever tasted mountain water? Lake water is nice, sure, but it’s no mountain spring water. I’m from the Great Lakes region now in cascades

[@joedimaggio3687]

The NYC tap water comes from upstate reservoirs.

[@5476Himself]

@@joedimaggio3687 I believe that Cheddar has a video on NYC's water supply as well, and they discuss how most of NYC's water is piped from upstate.

[@joedimaggio3687]

@@5476Himself yes I watched that Cheddar video. It was very informative.

[@LOLWAAHH]

It boggles my mind how people can't do a simple google search and just automatically assume that NYC tap is dirty, people can be so ignorant...

[@johnhaxby306]

this is great to know! now if you can do something about the occasional smell

[@flowerpt]

8.7 out of 8.8 million people live in fear, especially of swimming in the Harbor or East River. Watch out for the cruise ships, folks.

[@Sinaeb]

damn that's not a lot of people that are scared Also I wonder what happened to the ninth person, did he lose an arm and a toe?

[@yaboijack67]

@@Sinaeb he loss his sack too

[@LiDARs]

How does this channel afford that office space?

[@Dave_Smooth]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@guyintenn]

They are owned by Cable/IP/Mobile provider Altice USA, Inc. They also have several wealthy investors and multiple carriage agreements (for money) with other platforms.

[@reenakemp9132]

This channel makes a ton of money. They have an exclusive with ExxonMobil to have Cheddar news played on the TV screens while you pump gas and they made a fortune on that deal.

[@bigguyCIA4u]

For real! There is some SERIOUS money behind this channel. A few months ago they only had about 500K subscribers

[@TheAdamChampagne]

i Live in a city on the Hunsdon that dumps hundreds of gallons of raw sewage every time it rains. i would never consider swimming downstream

[@China1776]

Watching while I’m above the Hudson River in board the Staten Island ferry

[@UltimateAzumanger]

Original title: Is It Actually Safe To Swim In New York Harbor? - Cheddar Explains

[@wei8280]

That office view is amazing, makes me want to work for you guys, makes it worth coming into office in today's WFH society. Although I think I might not be too focused at work, instead staring at that view most of the day

[@44jimcordell31]

My grandchildren and I went swimming in the Ohio River downstream from Cincinnati. Everything you said is also true of the river as well.

[@sshhii]

this applies to any body of water. Rainstorms will cause runoff/brown water which attracts sharks. If the water isn't clear, it's not a good idea to swim.

[@Sniperboy5551]

I don’t think that sharks are people’s primary concern when swimming. Even people who swim in areas with tons of sharks aren’t super concerned since it’s pretty unlikely that they’ll attack you, although it greatly depends on the species of shark.

[@sshhii]

@@Sniperboy5551 it's not a primary concern, but where I'm from there are usually 1-2 shark bitings per year. The sightings and encounters with tiger sharks are correlated with murky water from storms (I guess they come near shore to eat up all of that fresh yummy trash runoff?)

[@poster99999999]

Unless Cheddar’s office relocated to 1 New York Plaza, you were not in the Manhattan’s southern most office building.

[@guyintenn]

Correct! They are located in the One State Street Plaza building, even though the pin dropped in the vid is over 17 State St. So they are not the southernmost office building in Manhattan.

[@hamburgerhamburgerv2]

Hudson River Valley person here. If you drink from that damn river, you’ll grow 4 arms.

[@jimbrentar]

How can you not even mention Pete Seeger, who led some of the early efforts to clean up the Hudson River?

[@jonyzoom]

What about eating the fish from the river? I see ppl fish in the area and question it.

[@maxeuker2949]

The fish are eating the sewage water after a rainstorm. You can decide to avoid swimming when it's too polluted, but they they can't.

[@kingsaucey1419]

@@maxeuker2949what re you even talking about man ? He asked about eating the fish. And for your answer bro you can, its just gonna be dirty fish.

[@Melissa0774]

Maybe it's clean, but what about boat accidents? Having those huge boats next to me would be scary.

[@nickl5658]

Nobody will ever know. Hit by one of those big ships and the propeller will blend the person into fine fish food.

[@justlivinginthematrix6260]

I took a dip in the river when I was around 7… had to get shots the next day. And I was 30 miles upstate from Manhattan!

[@alphaperez]

My friend moored (to a floating buoy) his boat in the Hudson, down in Tribeca around 2017. At least where this boat was moored, which is close to Pier 25 (ie: an area where water is not flowing fast, closer to the shore, tucked behind a huge pier), the water was always gross when I was down there. All the lines on the boat were disgusting, you would wring them out and it was just solid green-brown gunk flowing down. Your hands would smell terrible every time we took the boat out, unless you used gloves when handling the lines. I believe the bottom of the river is disgusting, the sediment is like a slick oil that stains anything it touches. It's possible this was due to rainfall and I was just there during rainy periods but I don't think so, and I certainly would not swim there. Once you were in the middle of the channel the water was much nicer, the spray whipping into the boat was pleasant. Fishing is legit too in the Hudson and New York Harbor - the Hudson is one of the major spawning grounds for striped bass and they are big and healthy fish in these waters. You see people fishing off every pier all the way down the west side of Manhattan. Swimming not so much. Views were incredible, and the sunset cruises were unforgettable.

[@jasonreed7522]

Even on the clean St. Lawrence (pure enough you theoretically don't need to filter it, but i still would treat it first) the marinas end up pretty gross. Green slime is algea but red and brown algae species also exist so that might be whats in the ropes. (Also dead fish smell is no joke, especially combined with rotting seaweed) I'm sure its gross but it isn't necessarily due to pollution.

[@joshuasmith4315]

Welcome to literally all open water swimming. Tell anyone you're going to swim anywhere outdoors and you'll get "EWW GROSS! (Insert some outdated fact about sewage)"

[@samueldavis5895]

😂😂😂 I feel bad for you I swim in Oregon and Northern California. The Smith River is the worlds cleanest and caves creek runs straight from a melted snow running through a cave. Still deep pools covered in rich greenery on hundred plus degree days in August beat a nasty public pool 🤢 any day. People are funny

[@FerdinandCesarano]

I have swum in the Hudson River, right under the George Washington Bridge. During a jet-ski ride around Manhattan, the guide had the group stop the jet-skis, and told us that we could jump off and swim around for a while. It was wonderful. The water was calm, so calm that we just let the jet-skis sit in the water as we swim near them. The Hudson River is much calmer than the East River. I am going to look into this group Urban Swim to see about swimming in the Hudson at other points along the river.

[@1mochadelightable]

The sugar factory that was shown in the beginning (located in Yonkers NY) Ppl swim over there allllll the time and are fine however….. One year a child was drowning & my cousin jumped in to save him, they both died! The Hudson can be unforgiving swim at ur own risk!

[@tuxedobob2]

Hey, NYC: Good job. Keep it up.

[@siddharthchowdaryvunnam525]

It's totally better than most places on the planet

[@abigailrussell7384]

Thank you so much for making this! Can you make one about the Ohio river? I live in Louisville and I have family and friends who swim in the Ohio (there's not sigma) BUT it's the dirtiest river in the United States. Can you help me understand?

[@drakewatson6164]

I would love to see the day when we can swim in the river again because we don’t exactly have any beaches nearby. I’ve seen super old photos of people swimming in the Ohio near Shawnee park and I just get super jealous lol. My cousin and I went to the falls of the ohio state park in Clarksville and it was a super hot day and we were extremely tempted to get in and cool off, but we didn’t because we weren’t sure. It would be nice if Louisville had access to the river again

[@wizkid1]

This is same for Lake Michigan and milwaukee combined sewer

[@ap70621]

It's that East River, I think it might be polluted.

[@james4thedoctor482]

I was happy to learn the Great Whites are returning to their former breeding grounds as well! Not surprised you guys didn’t mention this due to the misconception people have of them… 🦈

[@mem1701movies]

I can’t tell if it hurt Kramer but sure funked up Elaine’s bed

[@muscleman125]

Imagine how many dead bodies and discarded weapons are at the bottom of the Hudson

[@beautifulflorida]

Thank you for your interesting and informative videos!

[@lilsept77]

I believe the reason why the water is that dense foggy brownish-green color is that the sewerage system is too high, and the water is surrounded by the city, the bathrooms/restrooms from the buildings.

[@godofthisshit]

No

[@proxymatik]

I just recorded the HUDSON RIVER On July 4th 2023. Very interesting sight to see.

[@tswagg504]

That Seinfield episode about this was hilarious

[@LadderProductionFilms]

I drank water from the east river to see if I would die back in 2016 during a manic episode

[@2cv693]

yeah but what if you get hit by a boat

[@BikesNThings]

Back in the early 2000’s I used to go to raves under the George Washington Bridge, wild wild stuff that could never happen today. Anyway, to make a long story short, I remember a bunch of Russian girls going for a dip in the Hudson during one of these raves. I thought it was the craziest thing. I also remember South American immigrants fishing the river and cooking their catch right there on the banks for years. Me? I wouldn’t dip a finger in that river.

[@eddiegill]

Kramer did smell during that episode I recall

[@mats7492]

That was almost 30 years ago.. So it was worse back hen

[@andrewb9302]

Or just go to rockaway and swim. People forget Brooklyn and queens are on the ocean

[@LitFox_24]

Is this the stuff I see at the gas station? "Cheddar news, looking forward to what's next"

[@williamerazo3921]

Thanks the clean water act

[@deanruthlessrecords]

You couldn’t pay me any amount of money to swim in the Hudson!

[@Jophlo78]

This crisp $20 bill I'm holding says otherwise...

[@derekrusso6069]

The wonton don did this lol 😭😭😭

[@vjrei]

Swimming is dangerous because f the currents, that is it.

[@duo317]

ha, that's crazy, I used to work in the building right next to yours.

[@EA-tc6kb]

Lies

[@guyintenn]

Which one? The pin is dropped on 17 State St, yet according to them, they are located One State Street Plaza building, on the other side of the church.

[@duo317]

@@guyintenn Not sure, I worked out of 17 state street, and from their website I can see that building out from their windows, but I don't live in NYC so I'm not sure what building is what.

[@guyintenn]

@@duo317 You are correct. If you worked at 17 State St, the building with their offices would be on your east side, with the church and sidewalk/alley in between.

[@Nick_Barone]

Safer than the subways are.

[@foxyccc1316]

But just because you can doesn't mean you should and it's probably still very gross water.

[@brian_castro]

It’s about to rain heavy tonight! Better get those laps in now in the next couple of hours, Because you won’t be able to swim for at least the next couple weeks!

[@Elinathan444]

i actually have swam under the brooklyn bridge and on the hudson side where the little beaches of sand are and i never went in passed my nips but i stopped altogether after seeing a few needles and dead rats, but what rly drew the line for me was the last time i went in i saw a dead cat under the brooklyn bridge floating on the edge of the water 💀

[@AllJSeries]

Dude you look animated, kind of cool

[@hisokamorow8388]

Better than all of India’s rivers.

[@billh.1940]

I lived and worked in coney island, I would not swim in that water. Aside from pollution, the tides and currents are very strong. We pulled people out of water all the time. If you are a strong swimmer swimming past the jetties is ok, but tides are strong! Rip tides will pull most folks out to sea.

[@williamerazo3921]

Reminds me of George Carlin jumping in the river

[@tdadp]

You need to be a good swimmer to swim on the east river the current will drag if you can’t swim

[@Raitendo64]

Please do one on the Thames. 😂😂 I still wonder if I'll grow any extra toes from ignorantly dipping my feet in my first time abroad.

[@thelaughingtiger146]

Along with the fish, dolphins, and whales, large bull shark's love the Hudson River. They go 50 miles+upstream. Tidal estuary.

[@m4x927]

Bull sharks? I've only heard of a humpback whale swimming up the hudson to feed.

[@thelaughingtiger146]

@@m4x927 yes, large Bull sharks. Tidal estuary.

[@matthiaszakors7164]

​@@thelaughingtiger146no bullsharks only like warmer waters

[@thelaughingtiger146]

@@matthiaszakors7164 wrong

[@chrischungy]

Isn't sewage and trash entering the Hudson river?

[@OliverSolorzano]

What about the SF Bay Area?? Nobody mentions the SF Bay Area, what’s the difference between the NY Harbor and the SF Bay Area? Both have somewhat similar ocean waterways that convert into rivers. In the Bay Area there’s large bodies of water within the entire Bay Area. However there’s lots of swimming throughout the SF Bay Area. People will swim from SF to Alcatraz Island which is about 2 miles. Overall there’s quite a lot of swimming and beach spots throughout the area. The only problem is that the SF Bay Area waters are colder and swimmers are advised to be aware of fog, which can roll in at any moment and completely disorient a swimmer. Regardless, you’ll still see many people swimming in the waters. However I’ve never heard of the Bay Area waters being dirty or polluted.

[@huge_legend9944]

I remember a episode WWE raw when John Cena threw edge into the Long Island sound

[@hbarudi]

Yes it would be nice to do so.

[@yankees29]

My grandpa’s brother drowned in the Hudson River.

[@buster5661]

How bad is the water near the shore? Clearly it’s bad because of all the visible waste

[@LoneGRoEnt]

There's Monster Sharks in there.

[@bradwhitfield3592]

Didn't the East River catch fire in the 80's??

[@peronik349]

the 2024 Paris Olympics have organized the Olympic triathlon in the Seine!!! When will there be a triathlon in New York????

[@jeretso]

I heard they move NYC sewage to other states.

[@CRiver396]

I would never. That's disgusting

[@davidong9458]

is this river polluted with raw sewage?

[@mats7492]

companies polluted it for decades and now the taxpayer has to pay to clean it up..

[@andrewismyusername]

Actually the company that did the pollution ends up paying a lot of the time. CERCLA (the law creating the Superfund program) allows the federal government to sue companies responsible for pollution and recover the cost of cleanup. The government is sometimes left to foot the bill if the responsible company doesn't exist anymore.

[@myphonyaccount]

Electric cars, composting toilets, storm water catchment gardens and diverted high flow sewer lines will solve the problem.

[@ml48963]

You think PCBs are bad? How about the radioactivity dumped into the river by GE. They had a heck of a dredging operation for years to get the worst of it

[@stephenkolarac5305]

I'd be afraid to encounter sharks

[@beasaroseco5840]

What about the rip tides?

[@justinvideo5367]

Don't go in that water, just don't!

[@nunya___]

Music was too loud to finish. Thanks though. 1:25

[@weebaroni9864]

Alright who paid them to pump out this video, like The ocean has a smell from time to time

[@Skipper77777777]

The oily fish are “MEN-hay-den”

[@ataentertainment6332]

It’s dirty y’all trust me you don’t want that type of water on your skin 🤣

[@PWN_Nation]

Ask NYC about their combined effluent overruns that happen on an annual basis. You know - when stormwater and raw sewage combine into one system that overflows directly into the river.

[@andyb2339]

They mention this in the video and recommend waiting 48 hours after it rains.

[@Shadowfax-1980]

Why would we need to ask about it when the video specifically discusses it? Did you even watch the video all the way through?

[@PWN_Nation]

@@Shadowfax-1980 so again, these combined discharges raise the percentage of effluent and particulate matter well beyond normal levels (prompting water quality alerts to the local communities). Yes the video mentions it. Yes they say they test water regularly. What they passed over was the actual impact those regular discharges might have on the long-term health of the drainage basin. What are the test results following these discharges? Why don't they warn communities BEFORE it happens? Testing the top of the water column (where rainwater tends to sit) is much different than examining the meters of sludge at the other end. Or, do all those tons of SOLID raw sewage just magically vanish? Higher than normal sewage content has a direct impact on available oxygen and nitrogen levels for the sealife, as well. Tides are great for "washing" the harbor closer to the surface, but the residue at the floor is much more entrenched. Couple that with the regular oil slicks, refineries by the NJ Amboys, and just the sheer volume of consumer trash that gets washed into storm drains, and you'll find that the Hudson and East River systems are not as clean as these stakeholders would want you to believe...

[@michaeljj3929]

Watch out for the cruise ships guys

[@luisespinaljr]

Eww, I would never swim there 🤮🤮🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮

[@WarriorD13]

I don't think it's just true about New York Hudson River it's true about most of New York States lakes and waterways we have a history of polluting all our lakes and waterways all around New York State it's a sad sad sad true history of our state

[@WarriorD13]

From upstate New York Syracuse NY

[@zcorpalpha2462]

47 years Um, NO 😂

[@BatCaveOz]

Spokesperson from Urban Swim - You can't see the angle of the Statue of Liberty unless you are swimming Video footage - kayakers 2 feet away from swimmers

[@thenotoriousmichaeljackson8938]

Idk

[@VHSValdesHasSpoken]

Nahhh.... I think I'm good. I don't wanna glow in the dark

[@TanningMiami]

yea no that water is disgusting

[@maxeuker2949]

It's sad that small, poor cities like New York don't have the money to upgrade from combined sewer over flow to modern sanitation. The financial priorities of this City are absurd.

[@reenakemp9132]

Yep... the majority of their subway system still runs on the 1940s technology. It's crazy. Lines shut down for hours or days sometimes cause they can't find the right bulb or breaker to replace what broke from 1952 🤣.

[@andrewismyusername]

It's actually a pretty difficult problem to solve. There's basically no way you can build enough water treatment capacity to treat all the runoff from big storms (it's massively more water than the city ordinarily has to treat). If you were to build the city from scratch you would make separate sewer systems where the storm runoff is kept apart from the sewage and you would just release the storm runoff without treatment. The practical solution at this point is to build green stormwater infrastructure to reduce the amount of runoff entering the sewer in the first place and this will reduce the frequency of CSOs over time. Lots older cities in the northeast have the same problem, there's no quick fix.

[@Kevin_A]

Why I always see you guys at gas stations

[@tooreal8968]

Nah I can barely swim. Swimming in the Hudson will kill me.

[@liambennett3373]

Is no one gonna talk about all the dead bodies in there

[@harleydart]

Bucket list item added.

[@remlatzargonix1329]

You COULD swim in a toilet or a septic tank, but why would you?.....no thanks..... So much garbage in that NYC water.......yuk!!

[@skyisblue3847]

I always see dead rats floating in the water after a rain