By Vladimir Brezina
On Sunday, the weather broke. After weeks of hot humid weather, there was suddenly a chill in the air. Morning mist shrouded the higher towers of Manhattan, and later when the sun broke through, the air remained crisp and cool. Here and there, leaves were already turning. Fall had unmistakably arrived.
Perfect weather for a Manhattan circumnavigation!
Here are some photos:
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Kayaking, Manhattan, Manhattan Circumnavigation, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography
By Vladimir Brezina
A routine paddle from Lower Manhattan up the Hudson—up the West Side of Manhattan, under the George Washington Bridge and along the Palisades—and back, about 30 miles. Nothing special.
But I do have a few photos…
By Vladimir Brezina
… where the towers of the old World Trade Center used to be.
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Monochromatic.
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged Manhattan, Monochromatic, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2015, Urban, Weekly Photo Challenge, World Trade Center
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
The lively school of fish flashing by probably should have been a clue.
On our kayak trip several weeks ago, we decided to pay a visit to the Gowanus Canal. I know it seems crazy to paddle on a heavily-polluted Superfund site, but we both have a secret fondness for blasted industrial landscapes. And the canal also features charming, idiosyncratic quirks: festive murals, and a houseboat or two.
Or at least it did, upon our last visit. We hadn’t seen it since just before Superstorm Sandy. Then, the mood had been somber, filled with foreboding and a sense of upcoming loss. We feared what the storm would do to the places we’d come to love, Gowanus among them.
True to our fears, Sandy kept us off the water for months, and in the nearly three years since then, we didn’t make it back to Gowanus to see how it survived. So this trip was very much an exploration: How much had Sandy destroyed? And what was left?
Things had definitely changed, as it turned out—but not exactly in the way we expected.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Gowanus Canal, Kayaking, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Pollution
By Vladimir Brezina
Aboard Bateaux New York‘s boat Celestial for a sunset dinner cruise
We’ve seen the Celestial cruising around the harbor many times from our kayaks, but this is quite a different experience ;-)
Plenty of opportunities for selfies with the Manhattan skyline
There go our kayaking buddies!
The Manhattan skyline in the dusk
… and round the Battery for more photo-ops in the East River
Posted in Life, New York City
Tagged Bateaux New York, Boat Cruise, Celestial, New York City, New York Harbor, Sunset
By Vladimir Brezina
The Hermione was a French frigate that, most famously, in 1780 carried the Marquis de Lafayette to America with news of French help for the American Revolution. The Hermione was then a brand-new ship, having been built in Rochefort, France, in 1779. She survived only another few years, being wrecked in 1793.
But now there is Hermione 2.0! A full-scale replica, she was built again in Rochefort and launched in 2014. Earlier this summer, she sailed across the Atlantic for a tour of the major US ports of Franco-American historical significance.
We went to see her when she arrived in New York City.
Here is a selection of photos from that visit (click on any photo to start slideshow):
Posted in Science and Technology
Tagged American Revolution, Frigate, Hermione, Marquis de Lafayette, New York City, Sailing Ship, Ships
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
As paddling trips go, this one wasn’t much: We left shortly before noon, and returned just after 2 PM—nothing like our typical day-long expeditions.
The weather was perfect: clear, sunny and dry with a light breeze. No wind, waves, or other “conditions” that make for an exciting kayak adventure.
But since it was our first trip together in quite a while, we were happy just to be on the water.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Kayaking, Morris Canal, New York City, New York Harbor
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
“We’re going to the cardboard kayak races this weekend, right?” Vlad said, looking at me expectantly. I glanced back dubiously.
We’d missed the 2013 race, the first year that the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance had organized the race as part of its City of Water Day, but we’d thoroughly enjoyed the video. Last year, I’d provided kayak safety support for the race, while Vlad took photos. And we wrote it up on Wind Against Current.
As much fun as the race had been, did we really need to experience it again?
Yes, we did! So last Saturday we headed out to Governors Island, on a sultry summer day that started out reasonably comfortable, but promised heat and stickiness by the afternoon.
By Vladimir Brezina
Impressions of this year’s fireworks over NYC’s East River—
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Independence.
Posted in New York City
Tagged East River, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Independence Day, New York City, Photography
By Vladimir Brezina
The doors of NYC’s Upper East Side in the springtime—
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Door.
Posted in Nature, New York City, Photography
Tagged Door, Manhattan, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2015, Spring Blossoms, Weekly Photo Challenge
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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