With the recent events of September 11, 2001, New York
City has come into the world spotlight as a city of courageous people. It’s
a city known to many for its checkerboard pattern of densely trafficked
streets, the bright lights of Broadway, the financial district of Wall
Street, its elegant penthouses of Park Avenue, and the endless tenements of
Harlem.
William Kornblum shows his readers a different side of New York in his
new book, At Sea in the City. Long before any of the above existed,
there was New York’s watery side. The city’s five boroughs stretch over
an archipelago of islands, crisscrossed by streams, rivers, tributaries and
bays.
For people like Kornblum, New York is shaped by the water surrounding and
invading it. For them, the city’s waterways have brought riches, either
through trade or piracy, and, more importantly, freedom. Kornblum, a New
York City native and longtime sailor, has spent decades plying its waterways
in his restored catboat, Tradition. This book is about his rambles up the
East River, down tributaries, and around Manhattan to catch glimpses of the
city that never sleeps. He sleeps on the water, eats on the water, and
explores the hidden industrial waterways that have long-since been
forgotten.
While he sails, he interweaves the history of New York with his accounts
of piloting a small sail boat in New York Harbor. He reveals mysteries and
secrets of past events and tells stories of the men and women who made the
waterways their own. Along the way, he lays bare the true character of New
York.
In this engrossing book–the kind a reader can’t put down–he takes
his readers along as he sails through and around his hometown, retelling the
history of the city’s waterfront and maritime culture and the stories of
the men and women who made the water their own.
This book is not only well written, but a joy to read. It makes the
crowded streets of New York City disappear and its romantic waterways come
to life. Anyone who loves sailing will love this book–and even those who
have never sailed will find themselves totally captivated by its charm.
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