A gentle breeze whisks through the reeds, pushing the waters of Jamaica Bay with it. Gliding along the water, a flock of ducks, lined up like an invading army, eyes the surface and occasionally drops their heads below water, dipping into the bay like feather-clad biscotti in a flood of cappuccino.
The quaint sounds of nature are interrupted by a roar and a screech. A Europe-bound Airbus A380, the world largest jet airliner, cuts a swath through the sky like a bullet, rising from the main runway of John F. Kennedy Airport; its engines screaming, piercing eardrums. The startled ducks take flight, as if chasing the jetliner in anger for disturbing their afternoon.
It is at that moment, you remember: this is New York City.
The contrast of a coastal marshy lagoon and the Western Hemisphere’s largest urban area tells the story of a battle between man and nature that man has long been winning. But local residents, businesses, and city and federal officials, tired of watching a natural wonder devolve into a cesspool, aimed to turn that tumultuous coexistence into one of symbiotic cohabitation – and they are succeeding.