Mosholu Day Camp: A Beloved Bronx Summer Tradition for Over 35 Years

Mosholu Day Camp, located in Orange County, New York, is an eight-week summer program where kids spend their days outdoors enjoying a range of activities — from swimming and archery to woodworking and theatre. 

Greater Riverdale is nearly an hour away from the grounds, but families in the neighborhood have been sending their kids to Mosholu for years. 

Mosholu Montefiore Community Center has run the camp for 36 years, but moved to the Orange County location 13 years ago. The land stretches 66 acres, located on Lake Cohasset and surrounded by forest. 

There are wooden cabins for campers to rest throughout the grounds, organized by age groups, five to 15. Groups are given their names —  five-year-olds are rascals, eight-year-olds are bobcats and 10-year-olds are wolves, to name a few. 

Ten-year-old Scarlett Helms from Riverdale, who has been a camper since she was five, said her favorite part of the camp is swimming. She also warned The Press to watch out for the spooky stories. 

Jane Wolf, a camper for three years, also said she loved swimming, as well as archery and cooking. She takes the bus from Riverdale every day. 

“It [camp] wakes me up and it gives me exercise,” Wolf said. “The counselors are different every year — they’re always fun and they treat you with respect.” 

Mike Halpern, assistant executive director, has been with the community center for 34 years. Before joining Mosholu, Halpern was a New York City teacher. 

“I love the opportunity for kids to be themselves,” Halpern said. “When I taught kids in a classroom, no matter what, you still had to have them follow a particular curriculum.”

Erin McCormick, who lives in Spuyten Duyvil, has taken her daughter Lucy to the day camp for four years. 

“It’s an opportunity for them to get outside, learn different skills and play for the summer — the things I wish I could have done as a kid,” McCormick said. “We took her [Lucy] on a hike last weekend at Bear Mountain, and she told us all about turtles,  frogs and all of the things she’s learning about in nature.” 

McCormick also said the camp was affordable. Parents pay $3,750 for each of their kids for eight weeks at Mosholu. Buses pick up the campers across the Bronx, Harlem and New York and take them to the grounds five days a week. 

“It’s really fun and I get to play with my friends here,” said nine-year-old Lucy. Her younger sister, five-year-old Ginny, is joined her for the first time this year. 

The COVID-19 pandemic drew McCormick and other parents to Mosholu. In the summer of 2020, it was one of the first day camps to reopen. Halpern said the grounds had no cases of COVID that year. 

Terrence Moran lived in Riverdale when he enrolled his son, Thomas, in the camp during the pandemic. They have since moved to Yonkers. 

“It was a safe place for my kid to go in the middle of COVID,” Moran said. 

Moran added that once Thomas was back socializing with other children, he quickly readjusted to post-pandemic life. 

Eleven-year-old Thomas said he likes to get away from electronics at Mosholu. 

“Devices make me crash out,” he said. 

Thomas is considering becoming a lifeguard or counselor once he ages out of the camp. 

His goal is not uncommon for the Mosholu staff. After turning 16, some of the campers train to become employees. 

Program director Tanika Francis, from Kingsbridge,  has been with the camp since she was a freshman in college, 17 years ago. 

“[Mosholu Day Camp] is different from the city. It’s not a classroom, so the experience is not learning behind a desk,” Francis said. “It’s fresh air. It’s what our city kids need.”

Hannah Kimerling, an aquatics instructor, grew up in the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative in Van Cortlandt Village. Now 25, she has been with the program for two decades. She first learned to swim at the camp.

“It’s just home,” Kimerling said. 

Mosholu has a fully integrated special-needs program, Camp Sunshine. A number of the campers and staff members are on the spectrum. There is no difference in activities, with the exception of an extra counselor in groups with Sunshine campers.

“We have an instructor come in and teach us different ways to help with Sunshine kids — either with surrounding environments or different activities,” said Sunshine counselor Sayyin Holland. “It’s always good to encourage them, I just like to see them develop.” 

Michael Garcia, an operations staff member, has aged out of special education services through the city. After the summer camp, Garcia will be working at the community center. 

“I’m going to work hard in the center...Whenever somebody needs me to help them,” Garcia said.

With returning families, longtime staff, and a program that has lasted three and a half decades, Mosholu Day Camp remains a fixture in the Bronx community. 

“Camp is all about where kids should really be kids … letting them play and learn, make new friends, try new things,” Halpern said. “It’s definitely a special place.