A Q&A with Robert Burke about the upcoming closure of HRCS's Dyckman Marina facility
by David Schmidt 3 Jun 2025 08:00 PDT
June 3, 2025
HRCS’s Adaptive sailing at NYC Parks Dyckman Marina facility, which is scheduled to close in January 2026 © Hudson River Community Sailing
Community sailing organizations are a fantastic and affordable way of drawing new sailors into the sport, and a great way of exposing students and junior sailors to the physics of sailing and other STEM topics. Better still are organizations that offer adaptive sailing, lessons, camps, racing, veterans' programs, and community outreach.
Hudson River Community Sailing (HRCS) was established in New York City in 2008 and offers this important programming—and more—at its two locations on Manhattan's Hudson River. The first of these locations is in midtown at Chelsea (Pier 66), which serves as HRCS's headquarters, while the other facility is uptown in Inwood (Dyckman Marina).
While HRCS's two facilities have been great news for New York City residents for the last 17 years, the less-than-great news is that NYC's Parks Marine Division is planning a reconstruction project for Fort Washington Park. Unfortunately, the Parks Marine Division has chosen not to include phasing (which would allow programs to continue during the reconstruction) in its plans for Dyckman Marina.
The result is that HRCS will be forced to shut down their Dyckman Marina in January of 2026. This facility is the only public sailing access on the Hudson River that exists north of 26th street until Haverstraw Bay in Westchester County.
Even worse, it's HRCS's only facility that works for hosting adaptive sailing.
I checked in with Robert Burke, who serves as the HRCS' executive director, via email, to learn more about this closure and what it will mean for NYC residents.
HRCS currently has two locations in Manhattan. Do the two locations offer similar levels of sailing instruction, youth development, curriculum, and community outreach? Or do different activities tend to take place at the different locations?
They are similar, with some differentiation based on the different characteristics of each place.
Both have our Sail Academy with public schools, but Dyckman has a program that is focused on middle schools, while our Chelsea program partners with high schools. The calmer waters and docks at Dyckman provide the right environment for our adaptive work. Chelsea experiences strong wake and lots of ferry traffic. It's not suitable for Adaptive Sailing.
HRCS chose to expand to Dyckman in 2015 because we wanted to bring transformative on-water programs to northern Manhattan. Inwood is a neighborhood surrounded on three sides by water, but lacks waterfront access. It is a neighborhood where we knew we could work with students in public schools who would benefit from our STEM and leadership programs.
Every month during the sailing season, HRCS offers free community sailing days for neighborhood residents out of Dyckman Marina. These help meet our mission of breaking down barriers and creating access to the water in a safe and educational way for all New Yorkers.
Can the Chelsea location be modified to accommodate adaptive sailors? If not, what will happen to HRCS' adaptive sailing program once the Dyckman Marina facility is closed next year?
No, Chelsea cannot be modified--it's too busy with too much wake for the transfer work needed for participants with spinal cord injuries (SCI) who make up a significant percentage of our Adaptive participants. While we have a dock in Chelsea, it cannot be accessed at all tides.
We don't yet have an alternate plan yet. There are few facilities in NYC that can accommodate wheelchairs and our sailboats. We are talking to everyone we can, but at this point we don't have a solution.
Roughly how many adaptive sailors does HRCS provide with access to sailing and sailing instruction to at the Dyckman Marina facility each year?
Last year we served 250 adaptive participants out of Inwood. We worked with nine partner organizations: Bronx James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital Spinal Cord Center, NYC Spinal, Wheeling Forward, Women on Wheels (W.O.W.), Challenged Athletes Foundation, Heroes on the Hudson, Impossible Dream and VISIONS.
The program has three pillars: events with partner groups, family sails and lessons, and membership for longer-term engagement.
Is HRCS exploring other Westside facilities where the organization could operate? If so, could any of those locations accommodate adaptive sailing?
We have been assessing any and all, but they are few and the logistics of access for participants in wheelchairs is complicated. We have toured and assessed a number of sites, but have not yet found one that can meet the operational parameters.
I notice on the HRCS website that the organization also runs after-school youth development programs at the Dyckman Marina location. Could these students continue sailing out of the Chelsea location, or is Chelsea too far for these students to travel? And if it is too far, does HRCS have any recourse to retain these students?
We are committed to continuing Sail Academy for our Inwood students and will continue running our after-school program in the schools. Since it happens year-round, and much of the content is related to STEM and social-emotional learning and not sailing, we are confident we can provide meaningful programming. But it will be significantly impacted.
There are no alternate locations that are close enough to allow them to sail after school. We are looking for opportunities for sailing on weekends, school holidays, and summer breaks - but it will be difficult.
Is there anything else that you'd like to add, for the record, about the closing of the Dyckman Marina or the impact that this closure will have on HRCS?
When Dyckman is closed next year, all four marinas operated directly by Parks will either be closed or under significant construction. The 79th Street Boat Basin construction was scheduled to begin in 2021, but the Marina has been closed since, and the construction has not yet started. World's Fair Marina is also a decade into construction. This is part of a larger pattern of closures and management issues that bear greater scrutiny. We are not the only community group that has experienced this.
Since we learned of the closure in 2022, HRCS has advocated for Parks to stage the project to allow access for us and other groups during construction. We support the investment in the waterfront that this project presents; but it lacks a comprehensive vision.
With the reconstruction of the waterfront and pier, there should be an equal investment in upgrading the outdated facilities on land to create a 21st century marina that is a gateway to the waterways, not a gated parking area for private boats. Currently no such plan exists.
If you want to learn more about HRCS and our programs, you can visit www.hudsonsailing.org