DEP organizational chart for 9/11 emergency response, Sept 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

cAo^vo-- canoes powered by strong-looking women. And then, voila! As tourists gaped, our flotilla of red, blue and yellow kay­ aks nosed up to the eastern edge of Liberty Island and stopped, the statue looming overhead. Ashore, a uni- formed gospel group swayed and sang. Off to our left, the Staten Island Ferry sliced through the blue-flecked waters of Upper New York Bay to Lower Man­ hattan, whose concrete cliffs served as the metaphoric “golden door” of the Emma Lazarus poem. “It was quite an American moment,” Jim Kuser, 30, a vice president of Merrill Lynch in Princeton, N.J., said later. The statue and Ellis Island are poi­ gnant, potent national symbols, “and it was neat,” Kuser said, “to see the statue from up so close, with the gos­ pel singers there, and all of us free to paddle around. “There aren’t too many places you can do all this.” Added Chris Castano, 32, another Merrill Lynch vice president; “It’s a ter­ rific experience. You get a great per­ spective on the city, and it’s a good workout to boot.” On Saturdays and Sundays from mid-May to mid-October, the Down­ town Boathouse runs trips to the statue or the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum at the end of West 46th Street. For ei­ ther trip, walk-up kayakers must arrive by 8 a.m., bring something to drink, know how to swim, sign waivers and, if necessary, take part in the lottery. There are no reservations. First-timers are common. One was Ted Reiner, 36, a lawyer from Man­ hattan’s Upper West Side. The pro­ gram, Reiner said, was one of those rare things in life; “It exceeded my expectations. “It was extremely well organized, it felt safe, and it’s just...” — he searches for a word — “. . . it’s just staggering that you can do something like this on the spur of the moment, in New York, for free. “It sounded too good to be true, but it wasn’t. “I love New York.” For some, the Liberty trip was a kind of physical crucible. I’m generally fit, but I last kayaked in 1992, and for me this was an arduous upper-body workout. Afterward, my trapezius mus­ cles felt twitchy, my lateral deltoids and biceps on fire, my hands mildly blistered. But also I felt exhilarated. Kuser was right; It was a great Ameri­ can moment. •

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