“Naked” Polar Bear Cruise on board the Circle Line raises funds for the Wildlife Conservation Society
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, Pier 83
West 42nd St. at 12th Ave.
Saturday, February 25, 10:30 am – 12 noon
Spectators $20, participants free
212-563-3200
www.circleline42.com
Founded in 1903 by the Father of Physical Culture, Bernarr Macfadden, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club celebrates each new year with its members jumping into the ocean on January 1, braving freezing cold weather conditions. But that’s not the only time those crazy old souls take off their clothes and luxuriate in bitter temperatures, which they believe have health benefits for the human body. On February 25, the CIPBC will join forces with the Wildlife Conservation Society for the fourth annual “Naked” Polar Bear Cruise aboard the Circle Line. It’s free to participate, although you are encouraged to solicit donations from friends and family, raising money for every minute you can remain in your bathing suit outside on the cruise ship, with prizes going to the man and woman who last the longest. (No, you will not be jumping into the Atlantic.) Once it gets too much for you, there will be hot chocolate waiting inside. It’s harder than you think; last year only a handful of people made it through the full hour. If you want to go along for the ride but not strip down to your bathing trunks or bikini, it’ll cost you twenty bucks, with all proceeds going to the WCS, which oversees the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium, the Central Park Zoo, the Queens Zoo, and the Prospect Park Zoo.