Daily What?! There’s a Street Called the Polar Bear Club Walk on Coney Island

During the whole Banksy craze in NYC, this photo by Emily Pier surfaced amongst images hashtagged #banksyny. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club hosts an annual New Years Day swim at Coney Island (some fabulous photographs of epic costumes here). The club has been around for 110 years and the walk was officially unveiled on Stillwell Avenue December 11, 2008.

According to this news report on the Polar Bear Club website, the club was “cited for its continued presence at Coney Island and the charitable work the club performs in strengthening the Coney Island community,” during the dedication ceremony.

Last week, Gothamist reported that The Polar Bear Club had hosted its first swim of the season and has room for 10 new members. You can of course, also just go on any Sunday to join in the swims.

Get in touch with the author @untappedmich. See more quirky NYC facts and discoveries in our “Daily What?!” series. Submit your own via Twitter with the hashtag #DailyWhat.