$2.75 will buy you more than you imagine in NYC. You can travel from one world to another, from the Cloisters to Chinatown, from the Bronx to Broadway, and on the way encounter those unexpected moments that make life in this city so addictive. Now there are even more reasons to get hooked. The Mayor has introduced a whole new network of ferry rides, and the longest, from Wall Street to the Rockaways, is a beauty. Even when the weather is not.

Pier 11, just below Brooklyn Bridge, is the kickoff point for a one hour high speed ride that takes in the Statue of Liberty and a killer view of lower Manhattan, before tacking south for a one stop pause in Brooklyn and hitting the open sea. On Monday the fog was so heavy that the ride became a titanic adventure. Towering freighters appeared out of nowhere, bridges suddenly arched overhead, and visibility turned white, while the fog horn blared long and loudly at anything that might be in the way. Fortunately the warning worked – or didn’t need to – but the magic of the mist conjured up the adventure of the unknown, and when the Rockaways finally appeared out of the fog, it was like discovering a new world.

The ferry has a full bar should the idea of icebergs prove too daunting – although clear skies on another day would provide distracting views of Coney Island, Red Hook, and the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. Sandy leaves a legacy on the fringes of the shore and the massive building at Sunset park still strides the railway tracks where trains from all over the country deposited their troops on the way to the Second World War. You may be lucky enough – as we were – to have a fellow cyclist point out the highlights along the way, and unless you do as he did and ride the 3 hour journey from beginning to end, you will need another $2.75 to get back to town…