From a sea kayak floating off Pier 40 in lower Manhattan, you get a
whole new perspective on New York City. The bustling metropolis falls
away, and you are alone except for the sporadic barge traffic and the
incongruity of students walking the high wire as part of a trapeze
school in the Hudson River Park just beyond the seawall.
If the Hudson rises, it is most immediately noticeable to people
like Randall Henriksen, who has led sea-kayaking expeditions here
since 1994. From his perch in the front of the kayak, Hendriksen
points to a green-and-white state Department of Environmental
CHAPTERTHREE
Greater New York: Urban Anxiety
Jim Motavalli with Sherry Barnes
39