On Tuesday in the Bronx, Speaker Julie Menin said her office locked in $1.5 million in the FY27 city budget to scale up the Wave Makers program, with a goal of delivering roughly 60,000 free swim lessons and reaching more than 9,000 second graders across all five boroughs. The expansion builds on a 2024 pilot and combines City Council funding with philanthropic support, which organizers describe as a focused push to narrow racial and income gaps in swim access and cut down on preventable water deaths.
What the funding will cover
According to City Council, Menin’s $1.5 million allocation, which is set in the FY27 budget, will pay for lessons for another 3,000 second graders and cover roughly 58,500 to 60,000 additional instructional sessions. Asphalt Green will run the larger program as part of its Safe Swim NYC work and will use pools in every borough so children can take lessons at no cost to their families. The Gray Foundation is listed as a philanthropic partner that is helping support outreach and scaling.
Why advocates say the expansion matters
Public health experts and youth advocates have long warned that unequal access to swim lessons is a life and death equity issue for Black, Latino, and low income communities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury death for very young children. National surveys cited by the USA Swimming Foundation show stark racial and income gaps in access to formal swim instruction, which means many children never get basic water safety skills.
Pilot findings and rollout
Program leaders say the Wave Makers pilot brought 15 pools online in 2024 and delivered nearly 54,000 lessons to about 3,000 second graders in its first year, bringing the total number of students served so far to roughly 6,000, according to the Council release. The Wave Makers Universal Swim Report, which the Council cited, recommends about 25 to 30 high quality sessions per child in order to reach core water safety competencies.
Budget context and next steps
The $1.5 million pledge is folded into the FY27 budget agreement that Speaker Menin and Mayor Zohran Mamdani reached on June 30, 2026, the Mayor’s Office said. City and nonprofit partners say the next phase includes mapping available pools, coordinating with the Department of Education and the Parks Department, and expanding instructor training and community outreach so lessons can be scheduled in the same places families already use for school and summer programs.
