Coney Island – Fuggedaboudit.
Members of the Douglaston Polar Bears Club gathered at the Douglaston dock on Friday, January 1 for their third annual New Year’s Day dip, a ritual for Polar Bear Clubs everywhere.
(Left to right) John Kane, Vince Vennitti, J. Douglas Montgomery, Tom Carty and Jim McCabe build up their courage before venturing into the frigid water of Little Neck Bay, observed by impressed friends and nervous next of kin.
Although their frolic in the bay lacked the waves encountered by their brethren who ventured into the Atlantic, these bears have bragging rights. The water temperature measured at the Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy – at the entrance to the bay – came in at 37 degrees, fully seven degrees colder than nearby ocean temperatures.
Although the water felt “like a vise,” Montgomery said it was better than last year, when frigid temperatures froze the bay solid the following day. – Victor G. Mimoni
