Some New Yorkers Begin 2016 With the Polar Bear Plunge

Hundreds of New Yorkers ushered in the first day of 2016 by taking a plunge in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

New Yorkers at the annual Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo: AP screengrab)

Hundreds of New Yorkers ushered in the first day of 2016 by taking a plunge into the icy cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean at Brooklyn’s Coney Island.

The annual event is put on by the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, and is held to raise money for charity.

Some of the participants did it for the first time, while others have been doing it for years.

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club bills itself as the oldest winter bathing organisation in the US.

Its members swim in the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island every Sunday from November through April.

The club uses the donations from the annual event to send children with life-threatening diseases, plus their families, to Camp Sunshine in Casco, Maine.