It was easier than ever to take the polar bear plunge in Coney Island this year.
“Last year, it was much colder. When you went in, the shock of everything, you couldn’t talk,” said Jon Rosenblum, a 55-year-old Bayside resident who has taken part in the plunge for eight years in a row. “Today, it’s not that cold. It’s like the summertime. The sun is shining.”
Rosenblum was one of 2,500 people who broke out their bikinis and jumped into the 43-degree water, though not everyone agreed that their dunk was as pleasurable.
“The water was freezing and I was numb this time, but we got blessed with good weather,” said 28-year-old Justin Moye.
This year’s event was far warmer than previous years, with temperatures reaching the high 40s.Matthew McDermott“It’s so good for the mind, body and soul,” said Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, who was wearing a Wonder Woman costume. “This is how you start the year with purpose, determination. It’s kind of magical.”
This was the 49-year-old New Jersey lawyer’s fourth time taking part in the annual tradition, which started back in 1903 by eccentric billionaire Bernarr Macfadden. She brought her 20-year-old son along this year.
“It’s a fun way to bring in the new year,” Nathaniel Wolf said.
Participants were hoping to reach their $80,000 fundraising goal for Camp Sunshine, a camp in Maine for children with cancer.
Last year, the group sent 40 families from Brooklyn to the camp, and expected to get as many there this year, too.
“We’re the only camp in the entire country that invites your family to camp, not just your ill child,” the camp’s development director, Michael Smith, said. “So the entire family has time to re-energize, regroup and hopefully restore hope for the future.”
