The annual Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge is held in Brooklyn, New York City.
Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club and thousands of participants gather at Coney Island Beach for a cold-water swim on New Year’s Day. The event is associated with winter swimming, charity fundraising, and a festive start to the calendar year. It is one of New York’s best-known New Year traditions, although it occurs on January 1 rather than during the midnight celebration itself.
The Coney Island Polar Bear Club traces its history to 1903. The group describes itself as the oldest winter bathing organization in the United States. Participants face the Atlantic Ocean in cold weather, and organizers emphasize safety, supervision, and charitable causes.
Coney Island is a peninsula and neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, famous for its amusement area and beachfront. The plunge is therefore not held in Manhattan’s rivers or at a New Year’s Eve ball-drop site; it is a separate daytime tradition in Brooklyn.