Polluted waterway Newtown Creek is getting a boathouse for real, full-sized kayaks, but not everyone wants to have only the bottom of a kayak between themselves and one of the country's grossest bodies of water. Here's a potential alternative: the Newtown Creek Armada. It's a public art installation, now seeking $3,000 on Kickstarter, that will allow visitors "to pilot a fleet of miniature, radio-controlled boats along the creek's surface while at the same documenting the hidden world beneath its waters." And without actually touching those waters at all!
The mini boats, according to the project's promo video, will be built from materials found around Newtown Creek, and each boat will have an underwater video camera. The Kickstarter dough will go toward the cost of the cameras, and any extra funding will allow the armada crew to "set up video portals showing other parts of the creek at the boat pond site." Bonus: pilots of miniature radio-controlled boats don't have to worry about boating within three hours of a rainfall.
Here's the project's Kickstarter promo video:
· The Newtown Creek Armada [Kickstarter]
· Newtown Creek coverage [Curbed]