Tag Archives: New York City

9/11, Twelve Years On

Posted on September 11, 2013 by | 31 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

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Photos taken on yesterday’s Hidden Harbor Tour organized by the Working Harbor Committee. Many more photos to come!

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Posted in New York City

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Tugboat Races 2013

Posted on September 5, 2013 by | 38 comments

By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina

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Last year, on the spur of the moment, we attended our first-ever Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition (see the writeup, “We’re Off to the (Tugboat) Races!”).

We were stunned, blown away, and delighted by the experience.

So it’s only natural that this year, we were conflicted. On the one hand, we were eager to go again; on the other hand, how could it possibly live up to the previous time?

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Let’s just say… it did.

Continue reading →

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Posted in New York City, Science and Technology

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Exploring Long Island Sound with 2 Geeks @ 3 Knots

Posted on September 3, 2013 by | 54 comments

By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina

IMGP6776 cropped smallA couple of weekends ago, we set out to visit our friends and fellow kayakers Alex and Jean, who are also fellow bloggers at 2 Geeks @ 3 Knots (check out their lovely blog!). They live in New Rochelle, just outside New York City, and just off Long Island Sound.

Heading out to the Sound on a summer weekend is pretty typical for New Yorkers.

IMGP6852 cropped smallWhat’s a little less typical is getting there by kayak.

But hey—we’d been there quite a few times before and knew the route pretty well. And this time we’d have the luxury of spending the night with our friends—so we’d have the chance to explore more than we usually can on an out-and-back trip. We’d been eagerly anticipating this trip for several weeks.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Kayaking, New York City

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The Cardboard Kayak Race

Posted on August 24, 2013 by | 22 comments

By Johna Till Johnson 

Every now and then something comes along that’s just a sheer delight from start to finish.

Yesterday, it was this video of the 2013 City of Water Day’s First Annual Cardboard Kayak Race.  It features practically all of my favorite things: kayaking, engineering, competition (the thrill of victory and the cold splash of defeat), creativity, ingenuity, and whimsy. All on a beautiful summer’s day in New York!

The event was hosted by the Metropolitan Water Alliance, a not-for-profit that, in its own words, “works to transform the New York and New Jersey Harbor and Waterways to make them cleaner and more accessible, a vibrant place to play, learn and work with great parks, great jobs and great transportation for all.”

The Cardboard Kayak Race is exactly what it sounds like: Teams of competitors are each given identical materials from which they construct, and then race, cardboard kayaks. Starting materials include:

  • 10 5×5 squares of cardboard
  • 10 rolls of packing tape
  • 3 rolls of gaffer tape, and
  • a box knife

The video is long (though well worth watching—it will leave you laughing with joy!). But  if you’re pressed for time, here are some highlights:

  • The first 12 minutes feature various shots of boat construction
  • At 12:00, judging commences. You’ll meet the teams, which include the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, the NYC Watertrail Village Community Boathouse, the High School of Math, Science, and Engineering Alumni, El Centro (from Staten Island), the North Brooklyn Boathouse, the Stevens Institute of Technology, the Stuyvesant High School Village Community Boathouse, and the US Coast Guard Marine Inspectors.
  • There’s a great comment at 17:30 where the judge asks the Coast Guard team, “Which do you think is the front part of the boat?”, then adds, “I don’t want to confuse you with technical questions!”
  • The race begins at 18:18
  • There’s a nail-biter of a finish at 19:15
  • Disastrous and heartbreaking collision at 19:50
  • Dramatic capsize at 20:46

It’s all wonderful fun, and well worth the watch!

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Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Science and Technology

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Travel Theme: Play

Posted on August 23, 2013 by | 20 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Play.

Blow your horn
... And sing out loud!

From the 2013 Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

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Posted in New York City, Photography

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Carefree

Posted on August 16, 2013 by | 56 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Carefree.

In New York City, carefree is still pretty intense.

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From this years Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

Another Carefree post is here.

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Paddle to Long Island Sound

Posted on August 14, 2013 by | 36 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Last weekend, the currents took us on another of our favorite paddles—from Pier 40 in Manhattan round the Battery, up the East River, through Hell Gate, and round Throgs Neck into Long Island Sound.

Rounding Throgs Neck is like entering another world. The towers of Manhattan are still visible—all this is still within the borders of New York City!—but they are tiny in the distance. The broad blue Sound opens up. Shoals of white sailboats cruise past. Rocks are crowded with cormorants. We paddle past lighthouses and round islands—City Island, Hart Island, Pea Island…

Here are a few photos (click on any photo to start slideshow).

We paddle down the Hudson, with the Statue across the harbor
North Cove
Jersey City across the river
Round the Battery
Downtown architecture
South Street Seaport
… has a certain 19th-century look
Under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges
Looking back at Downtown
Williamsburg Bridge
Midtown Manhattan
Two towers and a sail
We pass the UN
Into Hell Gate
Good current!
Off Rikers Island
Prison barge
The next two bridges: Bronx-Whitestone and Throgs Neck
Just before rounding Throgs Neck, we look back at tiny Manhattan
Stepping Stones Light
Grim Hart Island
We land on Pea Island for lunch
Green vista
Red and green
Siesta
Fishermen offshore
Time to get back into the boats…
Cormorant (and gull) rock
Off City Island, we paddle between hundreds of moored sailboats
The wind is freshening, and the sailboats are going out
Back into the East River
Hell Gate again
Under the Hell Gate bridges
… toward Manhattan
The Domino sugar factory and the Williamsburg Bridge in the late afternoon light
Under the Willliamsburg Bridge
Moody skies
Downtown vista
Brooklyn Bridge
South Street Seaport once more
Into the sun
Round the Battery
Dramatic skies over Jersey City
Sailing at sunset
The glass towers above North Cove reflect the light
Silhouettes
Evening light
Can’t get enough of the sunset!
Sunset cruise
We head home
Last look

More photos are here.

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Posted in Kayaking, New York City

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Travel Theme: Architecture

Posted on August 12, 2013 by | 30 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Architecture.

Manhattan, of course, is full of dramatic architecture. But it’s sometimes hard to grasp it all from the inside. You need to stand a bit apart—or even better, sit in a kayak!

Here is some of Manhattan’s architecture that we saw on our paddle just this last weekend (full set of photos is here):

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Posted in Architecture, Kayaking, New York City, Photography

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Weekly Photo Challenges: One Shot, Two Ways in Architecture

Posted on August 11, 2013 by | 20 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s photo challenge from The Daily Post is One Shot, Two Ways, and from Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack? it is Architecture.

New York City overwhelms with its architecture, old and new, at ground level and high above. The photographer has to choose whether to capture the details of the architectural landscape or to portray the soaring verticals…

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Another “One Shot, Two Ways” post was here.

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Posted in Architecture, New York City, Photography

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Travel Theme: Sweet

Posted on July 26, 2013 by | 8 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Sweet.

Even heaven is not sweet, but bitter sweet… and it’s to be found in Brooklyn!

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What are these space aliens doing wandering the streets of Brooklyn? Read the full story here!

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Posted in Photography

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