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"Let Me Tell You" is a series of columns from our expert editors about NYC living, including the best things to do, where to eat and drink, and what to see at the theater. They publish each Wednesday so you’re hearing from us each week. Last month, Senior News Editor Anna Rahmanan ate at the only mushroom-centric restaurant in NYC and wrote about it.
When our New York Editor Shaye Weaver asked which team member wanted to jet ski on the Hudson River and write about the experience before summer’s end, my hand flew up.
A minute later, though, panic ensued: what, exactly, had I just volunteered to do? Would my husband get mad at me for potentially putting my life in danger? Would I be bringing home some strange bacteria that lives in what I thought was the Hudson River’s polluted waters? Would I survive?
My husband’s reaction (“cool, do it”) helped turn my anxiety into excitement. A true devotee of all things New York on land, it was time I finally got to experience the city from its waters. And, so, I reached out to Sea the City, the most aptly named company I’ve ever heard of and one of the main ones offering jet ski tours in the area. My journey was booked.
The only instructions I was given prior to my visit were to wear a bathing suit, to prepare to get wet and to expect the activity to be on despite cloudy weather (don’t worry: Sea the City staff is filled with pros constantly checking weather patterns before letting boats and jet skis out under their purview).
Sea the City is actually based out of New Jersey, a fact that, I must be honest, threw me for a loop: I never really dare venture out to our neighboring state unless catching a show at MetLife which, concert goers probably know, is actually the hardest venue to get to in the area.
It took me an hour and a half to drive there from Long Island, where I live, but city dwellers can hop on a quick ferry from downtown Manhattan and get right to the marina.
Once I actually got to the water, my averseness to Jersey suddenly evaporated: the view of the Manhattan skyline from our next door state will truly take your breath away. It is not often that we get to see our own Manhattan from a different perspective, truly taking it in in all of its glory from a distance that isn’t really distant after all.
I also must admit that the portion of Jersey City that I had to traverse to get to the harbor felt like a mini Brooklyn, with families walking by the water and … smiling? That’s not something you see much of in New York.
While gazing at the view, Sea the City’s owner Adam Schwartz introduced himself and explained he’d be leading my private tour on his own jet ski.
“Oh, so I’m riding by myself?” I asked him.
“Yup,” he responded.
“Be cool, Anna” I said to myself.
Replying to my comments about Jersey (sorry, Adam, I had to!), the owner explained that dock space is generally hard to secure in Manhattan, which is why, although living in Brooklyn, he decided to set up his business on this side of the water.
“Our location also affords easy transportation for Jersey residents by car and New York locals and tourists via ferry,” he said. “We are also in the only calm water port in the harbor, making for a much nicer experience overall.”
Adam’s attitude immediately put me at ease, especially since he used that same nice but stern tone after I hopped on my own jet ski and felt anxiety pangs all through my legs. The first rule of jet skiing? Don’t panic.
We kicked off our trip slowly, reaching a buoy before speeding off.
Adam warned me to stay about 10 jet skis away from him but I quickly realized that meant going at a pretty fast speed that not only would get me wet—which I was obviously okay with—but could, perhaps, cause me to fall off the jet ski. Don’t panic, I kept saying out loud to the wind.
Here’s a tip: driving a jet ski is sort of like driving a car. You don’t want to look down but straight up and ahead, which is easy to say from the comfort of dry land but not as simple when being shoved up and down by waves in the middle of a body of water.
But then I actually looked up and felt like the wind was knocked out of me, in a good way.
New York City, the beautiful, romantic, breathtaking city that we all see in the movies, was right in front of me with, virtually, nothing in-between us.
I was by the Battery, with the World Trade Center right in front of me, the first stop of my tour, but was able to see a big portion of downtown Manhattan as a whole.
There are two main things that will catch your attention while looking at the skyline from the river. First, the immensity of the skyscrapers, an aspect of our town that somehow gets lost while rushing from one neighborhood to the next, sometimes doing so while underground. Being able to look at the buildings all at once, in a single glance, is absolutely insane.
The second thing that you may notice is the silence. The sounds of the city—the cars, ambulances, the people screaming, the loading and unloading of things, the air conditioners, tourists shouting in different languages—are part and parcel of its character, what makes it special. They contribute to the very essence of New York, so being able to see the city without those sounds is pretty jarring. It almost feels like cheating before turning into an extraordinary experience. I felt like I was looking at a more polished version of New York, without any distractions. It almost felt fake but paradoxically let me appreciate parts of the town that I don’t get to dwell on often, like the amazing architecture.
After taking it all in, Adam asked me to turn off the motor and position myself right across from the World Trade Center so that he could take a photo of me—a service that comes with your tour.
Adam gave me the thumbs up and we proceeded down the coast, all the way down towards Brooklyn, passing Jane’s Carousel in Dumbo to take a picture of me by the Brooklyn Bridge.
On my journey around the tip of Manhattan, it occurred to me that it took me a fraction of the time to get near Brooklyn than it would have had I opted for more “traditional” modes of transportation. There is a whole world of possibility outside terrestrial New York—Air! Water!—and I started wondering why we don’t take the time to explore the city in different ways more often.
Next up: the Statue of Liberty.
Here is a disclaimer, though: whether you’re a tourist, a lifelong New Yorker or a transplant, you should absolutely take the time to head to Liberty Island to visit Lady Liberty in the flesh.
That being said, you should also try to take in the landmark from nearby waters. It is not just about the view being awesome but the fact that seeing it from a different perspective will imbue you with the spirit of the statue. You’ll be reminded what this town stands for: liberty, the pursuit of joy and the creative, the ability to be the best humans we can be with access to some pretty awesome things to do around here.
Not to wax too poetic or romantic, but that’s really what it is like to take control of your own jet ski in the middle of the river we live right next to but never truly explore: you will feel liberated, at ease, invincible. If you are able to glide on the Hudson—which, by the way, is really not dirty—on a jet ski on your own, who knows what else you are capable of?
And just like that, Adam and I embark on the final leg of our maritime journey, heading back to Jersey. Suddenly imbued with the strength of a superhero, I decide that I can ride very fast back to the marina and, although about to fall head first into the water every few minutes, I realize that sometimes a little thrill goes a long way in reminding you that we live in a pretty fucking amazing city.
Time Out tip: Book a Sea the City jet ski tour in the fall. Although the company operates from April through December, the fall season is the best time of the year to ride on a jet ski, when weather conditions out on the water are usually close to perfect.