Henry Perahia is retired from the city these days: he’s reached what he calls the “KMA” stage of his career. (Hint: the first word is “kiss”, you work out the rest.) When he and I first met he was Chief Bridge Officer for the City of New York, responsible for the planning and administration of all aspects of design, construction and maintenance of approximately 850 City-owned bridges, tunnels, and culverts. (Never, ever forget the culverts.) He has nothing but admiration for the men and women who keep a city moving in a storm. “It snows, you get that plow out, you get the people out of bed, and you do what you got to do,” he says, pointing out that as far as the East River Bridges are concerned – Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg – a certain skill with a snowplow is required. “The bridges have finger joints” – which allow for expansion and contraction of the roadway – “and they’re a little bit raised up. So you have to know about that.”
