# NYC Beaches & Waterfront AI Agent Connect > NYC Beaches & Waterfront MCP provides direct access to New York City's coastal data. Your AI client can check enterococci water quality samples, look up seasonal beach attendance, find designated waterfront public access areas, and identify specific public beaches across the boroughs without needing an API key. ## Overview - **Category:** environment - **Price:** Free - **Endpoint:** https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_NVsyXm1207L7pockHLBhoj2QG25ObOaJDQw85FNS/ai-agent-connect - **Tags:** new-york, nyc, beaches, water-quality, enterococci, waterfront, attendance, wpaa ## Description You can use this MCP to decide exactly when and where to hit the water in New York City. Instead of digging through city databases, you just ask your agent if the water is safe to swim in or which beaches are currently the least crowded. The tool provides live enterococci water quality samples that you can compare against EPA advisory levels to ensure a safe swim. You can also pull seasonal visitor counts to avoid the biggest crowds or find specific waterfront public access areas that are already built or currently in the planning stages. Whether you are looking for a specific beach in Brooklyn or checking the status of a new waterfront project, this MCP gives your AI client the specific data points needed to plan a trip or research city coastal access. ## Tools ### count_water_samples This tool provides a quick count of water samples within a specific window. Use it to see how many data points are available before running a more detailed search. ### list_beaches This tool lists the nine named public NYC beaches and their respective boroughs. It is the best way to get the exact beach names required for other tools in this MCP. ### list_waterfront_areas This tool retrieves information on approximately 78 designated waterfront public access areas. It includes details on construction status, maintaining parties, and planned square footage. ### search_beach_attendance This tool searches seasonal daily visitor counts for NYC beaches. It covers attendance data from 2010 through the 2025 season. ### search_water_samples This tool pulls live enterococci water quality samples for specific beaches. You can check recent readings against EPA advisory levels to see if the water is swimmable. ### top_beaches_attendance This tool ranks NYC beaches by their total visitor counts for a given season. It helps you identify the most popular locations through the 2025 season. ### top_beaches_water_quality This tool ranks beaches based on their water quality over the last year. It highlights the worst enterococci readings to show which locations have exceeded EPA advisory limits. ## Prompt Examples **Prompt:** ``` Is the water swimmable at Orchard Beach right now? ``` **Response:** ``` The most recent enterococci samples for Orchard Beach show readings that you should compare against the EPA single-sample advisory of 235 MPN/100 ml. ``` **Prompt:** ``` Which NYC beach had the most visitors in 2025? ``` **Response:** ``` Based on the 2025 seasonal data, the beach with the highest total attendance was the most visited location. ``` **Prompt:** ``` Which beaches are in Brooklyn? ``` **Response:** ``` Brooklyn contains two public beaches: Manhattan Beach and Coney Island. ``` ## Capabilities ### Water Quality Monitoring Your agent checks live enterococci samples against EPA safety standards. ### Crowd Analysis Your AI client uses seasonal attendance data to predict beach popularity. ### Access Point Discovery Your agent identifies designated waterfront public access areas and their current construction status. ### Beach Identification Your AI client pulls exact beach names and borough locations for accurate data queries. ## Use Cases ### Safety Verification Check if recent bacteria levels at a specific beach exceed EPA advisory limits before swimming. ### Crowd Avoidance Compare seasonal attendance rankings to find quieter beach alternatives. ### Urban Planning Research Identify planned waterfront access areas and check their current development status. ### Borough Navigation Quickly find which public beaches are located in specific boroughs like Brooklyn or Queens. ## Benefits - Eliminates the need for manual API key management or complex database queries. - Provides live water quality data for immediate safety checks. - Offers historical attendance trends to help avoid peak crowd times. - Centralizes waterfront access and beach data into a single interface. ## How It Works Connecting to this MCP gives your AI client immediate access to NYC coastal datasets. 1. Connect your preferred MCP-compatible client to Vinkius. 2. Ask your AI agent a question about NYC beach safety or attendance. 3. The agent selects the appropriate tool to query the NYC Open Data. 4. The agent processes the raw sample or attendance data into a clear answer for you. ## Frequently Asked Questions **How fresh is the water quality data?** The water quality dataset is live, with samples from as recent as September 2026 available. **Do I need an API key to use this?** No, this is a keyless MCP. Vinkius handles the connection so you can use it immediately. **What are the EPA safety limits for swimming?** The EPA uses a single-sample advisory level of 235 MPN/100 ml and a 4-week geometric-mean criterion of 291 MPN/100 ml. **Can I find beaches in Manhattan?** There are no beach parcels located in Manhattan according to the beach lookup data. **Does this include data for future waterfront areas?** Yes, the waterfront access tool includes status updates for areas that are currently approved or planned for construction. **Do I need an API key?** No. NYC Open Data serves all public datasets anonymously over its SODA API (data.cityofnewyork.us). This MCP defines no credentials and needs nothing configured. **Do the text filters ignore case or match partial values?** No. The NYC data platform only supports exact-match filters, and this MCP stores beach names three different ways across its tables: the beach map and the water-sample table use UPPERCASE names ("ORCHARD BEACH" — the water-sample tool auto-uppercases its input), while the attendance table uses title case ("Orchard Beach", "Wolfe's Pond Beach" with a straight apostrophe). Borough codes on the beach map are the single letters B, Q, R, X (there are no beach parcels under M — Manhattan Beach is in Brooklyn). Use list_beaches to see the exact beach names, and a search tool with no filters to see the exact stored values in each table. **How do I read the enterococci values?** The samples report enterococci in MPN/100 ml. Use the two EPA reference values: 235 MPN/100 ml is the single-sample advisory level and 291 MPN/100 ml the 4-week geometric-mean criterion. A reading above 235 flags the water above the swim advisory; a null enterococci value means the count was below the detection limit (the units_or_notes field says so). top_beaches_water_quality gives each beach's worst reading over the last year. **How fresh is each dataset?** Water samples are live — September 2026 samples are available. The attendance table ends at 2025-10-08, so its tools take a season year (2010-2025, default 2025) rather than a rolling window. The WPAA table is a planning registry (statuses like "Approved (to be constructed)"), not a live status feed, and it carries no coordinates.