by Young Executives Board member Max Litt
The spring racing season is already well underway for high school and collegiate rowers, and it seems like the weather is finally heating up as well. Those of us who take a more recreational approach to the sport can perhaps take our time getting back on the water. At any rate, the changing of the seasons is a good time to take stock. I’ve been a fan of Row New York for a while for bringing this sport, which has been pretty good to me over the years, to new generations of student athletes and other people who otherwise wouldn’t even think about rowing.
For all its 520+ miles of coastline, rowing in NYC is no easy matter. Not only do we have weather-mandated erg season (of which this past winter was a case example) but a legacy of waterfront industrial uses and active shipping has meant access to safe, rowable stretches of water is pretty limited. Young people that grow up in NYC can go through their entire childhood without realizing they’re right near the water (although some projects are aiming to change that). Those of us that do find the water may take for granted that in areas where we do have access, the water is going to be clean and safe, but it has taken billions of City dollars since the early 2000s to make the water cleaner than it has been in the past hundred years. The recently released OneNYC plan for growth, sustainability, resiliency, and equity is packed with initiatives to build on this progress, which is great news for rowing and for our city.
Through its athletic and education programs, Row New York cultivates an appreciation of what it takes, as a person, as a team and as a city, to transform lives through rowing.
Max Litt is a professional environmental consultant with non-profit and public sector experience in New York City. He started rowing in 2003 as a freshman at Cornell University and stroked the LM8+ to National Championships in 2006. Max currently rows with the New York Athletic Club and recently joined Row New York’s Young Executives Board.
