It’s honestly just common sense to not take a dip in the Hudson River. It’s polluted with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls — which are man-made chemicals), cadmium, sewage, urban runoff, heavy metals, pesticides, and lots and lots of bacteria.

More about Great Lakes : Six AOCs were designated in New York.

Hudson River

And, contrary to popular belief, recreational swimming in the Hudson is not illegal. Before every event, swim organizers conduct their own tests of the water, while Riverkeeper also tests samples once a month during the recreational season (between May and October) at 74 locations in the Hudson River estuary.

DEC has received reports of smooth dogfish swimming in the Hudson, although not so far up river,” a DEC spokesperson told Hudson Valley Post in an email. Dogfish sharks have been found on occasion in freshwater, although the shark can’t survive for long periods of time in freshwater, the Florida Museum reports.

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After you get out of the water, you should wash off river water and dirt. Despite environmental and health officials saying it’s mostly safe to swim in the Hudson, Paysepar says she probably wouldn’t jump in the water again because the water was “gross.”

Other ongoing pollution problems affecting the river include: accidental sewage discharges, urban runoff, heavy metals, furans, dioxin, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Numerous factories that once lined the Hudson River poured garbage and industrial waste directly into the river.

You should know, first of all, that according to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, no part of the Inner Harbor (this includes the East River, Hudson River south of its confluence with the Harlem River, and the Upper New York Bay) is safe for swimming, based on water quality standards set by the state’s …

The city’s water is cleaner than it’s ever been In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city’s harbors are “cleaner and healthier than it had been in more than a century,” thanks to numerous upgrades to its wastewater system, with concentrations of bacteria in serious decline.

Manhattan always smells bad; the other boroughs aren’t great, but some areas have slightly better air quality than we do. Below is a list of odor-causing factors. Manhattan always smells bad; the other boroughs aren’t great, but some areas have slightly better air quality than we do.