What you need to know about the Polar Bear Plunge
By Bill Roundy Time to grin and bear it!
Thousands of people are
expected to descend on Coney
Island on New Year’s Day for the Polar
Bear Plunge, to wade into the ocean
and prove their daring, and wash
away their hangovers with a blast of
icy water. But a much smaller group
of people do the same thing every
Sunday morning between November
and April, and they gave us some
advice for first-time plungers.
First: sign up in advance. Roughly
2,500 people jump into the water
during the Coney Island New Year’s
Day Polar Bear Plunge each year,
according to Alexandra Silversmith,
of the Alliance for Coney Island. If
they all decide to sign up on the day
of the event, it is going to take forever,
so visit www.polarbearclub.org and
complete your registration in advance.
A $25 donation is encouraged.
On the day of the event: Show up
by noon, or earlier if you have skipped
that first bit of advice and still need to
register. Registration starts at 10 am,
on the Boardwalk at Stillwell Ave.
Third, dress for the occasion.
Make sure your outfit includes sandals,
surf boots, or old sneakers, said
the president of the Polar Bear Club.
“Having something on your feet
can really make a difference,” said
Dennis Thomas.
The crowds will be divided into
groups of 500 people, and gangs will
start charging for the water at 1 pm,
with more groups following every
five to 10 minutes. But once you and
your comrades are up, don’t be in too
much of a hurry to get in the water,
said one 14-year veteran of the Polar
Bear Club.
“Take your time — don’t shock
your body,” said Karen Schmidt.
Thomas also advised taking your
time in the water — especially if
you want to take full advantage of
the day.
“I find there’s a three-to-four minute
barrier — if you can get through
that, you can stay in as long as you
like,” said Thomas.
Another Polar Bear member
warned that you might be having a
good time in the water, but you don’t
COURIER LIFE, D 44 EC. 28, 2018–JAN. 3, 2019 24-7
want to stay at the party too long.
“When you start to feel like the
water is normal — get out! Because
you have hypothermia,” he advised.
But avoid bringing clothing with
too many buttons or zippers, because
your hands may be shaking too much
to fiddle with fasteners — think pullovers
and sweatpants.
“No laces or buttons,” warned
Schmidt. “Because you’ll be shivering.”
New Year’s Day Coney Island
Polar Bear Plunge (Coney Island
Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue in
Coney Island, www.polarbearclub.
org). Jan. 1 at 1 pm. $25 suggested
donation.
By Bill Roundy Make a post-plunge plan!
So you’ve just finished
the New Year’s Day Coney
Island Polar Bear Plunge into the
ocean — or perhaps you’ve watched
your foolish friend do the same. Now
what? There is plenty to do in the
People’s Playground on New Year’s
Day!
After-party
Party with the Polar Bears at
the Plunge’s official after-party at
Coney Island Brewery. The small
space below MCU Park plans to
install a heated tent in its front yard
to accommodate the huddled masses
yearning to get drunk. The brewery
has eight taps, but your first
choice should be The Plunge — a
Belgian-style ale with a warming
hit of spice — and for today, $1
from each Plunge ale sold will go to
the Coney Island Alliance. A glass
to commemorate the occasion can
also be yours for $10.
Coney Island Brewery 1904 Surf
Ave. at at W. 17th Street, (718) 996–
0019, www.coneyislandbeer.com.
11:30 am–8 pm. Free.
Eat up!
Fill up after your ordeal in the
freezing water! In addition to the
many fried foods available on the
Boardwalk, several eateries along
Surf Avenue will be open. Stop
for nature’s most perfect food — a
Nathan’s hot dog at Nathan’s Famous
Frankfurters (1310 Surf Ave. at
Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island,
www.nathansfamous.com). For a sitdown
meal, you can grab a coalfired
pizza from Grimaldi’s (1215
Surf Ave. between Stillwell Avenue
and W. 12th Street), or make your
out-of-town visitors feel at home
with a stop at Grimaldi’s next-door
neighbor Applebee’s. (Note: usual
Coney Island mainstays Kitchen 21,
Wahlburgers, and Garguilo’s will be
closed on New Year’s Day).
Seaside sorcery
After a cold snap of reality, stop
by a family-friendly show of marvels
from Magic at Coney! You can catch
either of two afternoon performances
from the enigmatic magician Lee
Alan, illusionist Omar Olusion, and
mentalist Gary Dreifus.
Sideshows by the Seaside (1208
Surf Ave. at W. 12th St., www.magicatconey.
com). Noon and 3 pm. $10
($5 kids).
Second spot: The owners of Atlantic Avenue’s Long Island Bar, Joel
Tompkins, left, and Toby Cecchini, just opened their new Rockwell
Place restaurant in Fort Greene. Photo by Caroline Ourso
By Julianne Cuba These restaurateurs
have come a Long
way!
The guys who years
ago reopened Atlantic
Avenue’s iconic Long Island
Restaurant as a bustling bar
with the same name debuted
a brand new food-and-drink
spot in Fort Greene this
month.
But this time, the coowners
— who meticulously
restored their Long Island
Bar , which is within the landmarked
Cobble Hill Historic
District — built their new
eatery Rockwell Place from
the ground up, with a look
they described as more modern
than that of their other
well-preserved watering
hole, but not without some
blasts from the past.
“The interior is pretty
radically different, it’s sort
of an industrial modern
space with furniture touches
from the 1950s and 1960s,”
said Joel Tompkins. “More
modern sleek.”
The new joint is tucked
away on the quiet street it
is named after, but just a
short walk from some of
the area’s new high-rises
and long-standing cultural
venues such as Bric and
the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, whose residents and
patrons started flocking to
the restaurant shortly after it
opened on Dec. 11, according
to Tompkins.
“More people are discovering
it each day,” he said. “I
really like the idea of having
a bar around the corner
from the Harvey Theater,
where people can come and
go after a show. As far as I
know, you have to walk pretty
far to get to a place with a
similar caliber of cocktails
and food.”
Tompkins eyed the space
for years — starting back
in the early aughts when he
used to live on the block —
and said he and co-owner
Toby Cecchini pounced on
it when the lease finally
became available in 2017.
And Rockwell Place’s
interior isn’t the only detail
that differentiates it from its
sister spot — the chef at the
65-seat eatery is cooking up
a menu of New American
dishes that Tompkins
described as more elevated
than Long Island Bar’s pub
food.
“We have a similarly
sized menu, but it’s a different
style of food,” he said.
The change in cuisine
may come as a disappointment
to fans of Long
Island Bar’s burger, which
many critics hail as among
the city’s best , but did not
make the cut when it came
to putting Rockwell Place’s
menu together, according to
Tompkins.
“We don’t have burgers
and fries,” he said.
Still, both he and
Cecchini believe their Fort
Greene eatery will become
a go-to neighborhood watering
hole just like its beloved
sibling.
“It’s just a delightful
space to be in, warm and
welcoming,” Tompkins said.
Rockwell Place (31
Rockwell Pl. between
DeKalb Avenue and Fulton
Street in Fort Greene, www.
therockwellplace.com). Open
weekdays from 5 pm to midnight,
weekends from 5 pm
to 2 am.
Boardwalk brews: Ruby’s Bar & Grill in
Coney Island will be a hot spot after the
New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge.
Photo by Steve Solomonson
Island hopping
BEAR NECESSITIES
Polar pursuits
Duo behind Atlantic’s Long Island Bar
open new restaurant in Fort Greene
Run for it: Thousands of Brooklynites will lunge toward the freezing waters on New
Year’s Day. Photo by Paul Martinka
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