Steve Cameron, Sophia Hatzikos, and I launched into the Coney Island Creek at a cool little beach at the very end of Bay View Avenue.
We saw the wreck of the yellow submarine,
but most of the “The Ghost Ships of Coney Island Creek” were hidden below the tide.
Steve is studying geography at Hunter, doing his thesis research about urban waterways, climate change, and private property.
I asked him the question that I never ask (because I want it to stay true in my mind), “Is land always public between high and low tide?”
“Not always,” he said.
For instance, it is not public in Massachusetts, where he is from. Private property there extends to the low tide mark, unless in certain situations where you have fishing gear.
In NYC, the intertidal zone is hard to reach, and since most of the shore is a flat wall of cement, it wouldn’t matter anyway.
People seem to find their way there even so,
like these guys we saw fishing with cast nets along the shore of Calvert Vaux Park.
We talked about the latest developments around Governor’s Island, Bush Terminal Park, and places in the New York Harbor with public shorelines.
Sophia is an artist too. She makes beautiful sculpture, video, and installation,
all connected to the elemental movement of water that she researches through swimming and traveling. (This image is from her 2025 Exhibition ‘Zesti’ at Kransberg Arts Foundation, in St. Louis, Missouri.)
Her family is from Greece, and they spend a few months there every year on a sailboat. She just got her captain’s license so she can take care of the boat, and eventually, her family.
She told us about the Greek relationship with the water; how it is not just climate change but economic challenges, questions of sovereignty, and fishing rights that are changing life on the islands.
“Where do you want to end up after school?” Sophia asked Steve. (Maybe because she is also wondering where to end up—and how to get there.)
He said he didn’t know exactly. We talked about how so many cities in the world will change in the next decade, as the waterfront changes. It seems like lots of places will need him.
We landed back on Coney Island so Steve could get to class, his first day back for the fall.
When we were getting out of the boat, Steve accidentally stepped one foot fully in the water.
It seemed like a good way to start school—with one foot wet.
I noticed when I took this picture that Sophia was not wearing shoes at all.
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