Sante Scardillo swims in Red Hook channel every day

A Little Italy man with a taste for thrills has turned the polluted and Staten Island Ferry-littered waters of the Upper New York Bay into his very own sanctuary.

Sante Scardillo, who declined to give his age but admitted he qualifies for an MTA discount, swims in the choppy waters of the bay from June through November in nothing but his bathing suit and a swim cap.

“Sometimes two,” he told the Post, “if it’s a very cold day.”

A boat full of people recently yelled out to the real-life Cosmo Kramer as they sped by, telling him they almost didn’t see him.

“Well, you did see me!” he yelled back, recalling the exchange ahead of his final swim of the season Saturday.

While swimming in New York waterways is not encouraged, it’s not illegal either.

The Italian native began swimming daily 30 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2020’s pandemic closures of city pools that he thought about taking a dip in the less than pristine waters surrounding New York City.

“The waters of the Ionian Sea off the coast of Puglia in which I started swimming as a baby, are Caribbean-like, crystal clear,” he explained.

Getting used to the murky waters around the Big Apple was an adjustment.

“I’m in my own world when I swim, and suddenly something touches me and I’m back to reality,” he said.

He’s never encountered anything more sinister than planks of wood hitting his head and sand sharks swimming underneath him, Scardillo said.

But detritus and sea creatures aren’t the only worries.

“Most waters of New York City are safe to swim in during dry weather,” said Em Ruby, the Advocacy and Policy Coordinator at Riverkeeper, an environmental organization working to protect New York City waterways.

After a rainstorm, when raw sewage is dumped straight into the area’s waterways, is a different story.

“It can make people sick,” said Ruby, who recommended waiting 36 hours after a storm before jumping back in the water.

But Scardillo, who swims an hour a day in the bay, has never gotten ill from his outdoor swims.

“The average New Yorker thinks it’s dangerous. I haven’t had any problems,” he said, while admitting the effort is not for the faint of heart and noting, “I do not stop for breathers.”

“You can’t put your feet on the ground in the open sea,” he said. “The variables are countless. … I don’t know when I’m coming out or if I’m coming out.”

“It calms me,” said Scardillo, who said he’s aware of the famed “Seinfeld” character’s swim in the East River, even if he doesn’t own a television. “I have my best ideas when I swim.”

“If low tide falls around sunset, you can see the sunset with the Statue of Liberty in the background and the lower Manhattan skyline, and look the other way to see the Verrazano Bridge. It’s really so beautiful. Some people need a vacation because they hate their daily lives,” he said.

“I love mine.”