You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.

你可能會想知道為何我會把自己搞成這樣

To see how I got here, we first have to talk about islands.

想知道答案，首先要來談談島嶼

You may not realize it, but New York City is full of them.

你可能沒察覺過，但紐約市其實充滿島嶼

Manhattan itself is technically just one 13.4-mile-long island.

事實上，曼哈頓本身只是個 13.4 英里長的島

You've also got Governors Island,

除此之外，紐約還有總督島、

Liberty Island,

自由島

as well as Staten Island.

以及史泰登島

But there's one island in New York that you may not know about,

但紐約還有一個你可能不太了解的島，

and no, it's not the tiki bar Jade Island,

不不，我們要說的不是翡翠島這個餐廳，

which is fabulous by the way — do yourself a favor and try the pu pu platter.

他們的餐點的確不錯 — 可以吃吃看這家餐廳的 pu pu 餐，慰勞一下自己

It's called U Thant Island.

這座島叫做吳丹島

And it's one island in New York that nobody is allowed to visit.

是一座位於紐約且任何人都無法進入的島

It sits in the East River, right below Roosevelt Island near the UN headquarters,

它坐落於東河，鄰近聯合國總部，就在羅斯福島的正下方，

and for something so tiny has a pretty fascinating history.

而這麼小的島其實有著相當吸引人的歷史

In 1892, construction of an underground rail passage began

1892 年，有一條地鐵路線開始動工

that was meant to connect Manhattan to Queens via a tunnel under the river.

這個路線是透過河下的隧道來連接曼哈頓以及皇后區

Builders had to drill through the granite under water,

建造者必須從水底的花崗石中鑽出一條路，

and that excavation produced excess landfill, which accumulated

開鑿的過程產生多餘的廢物垃圾，經過堆積之後，

and eventually produced a tiny mound of rocks,

最終堆成一座小的石頭山，

or as we in the biz call it, an island.

或以商業定義來說，堆成了一座島

The island was originally named Belmont Island, after August Belmont Jr.,

起初這座島名叫貝爾蒙特島，以 August Belmont Jr. 命名的島，

the man who financed the construction project.

August Belmont Jr. 是建造工程的資助者

The original tunnel is now used by the 7 Train.

這條隧道如今是由 7 個班次的列車所使用

And as for the island, minus the occasional tanker collision, up until recently has had a pretty uneventful existence.

至於這座島，除了偶爾的油船碰撞事件，直到最近仍沒沒無聞的存在於此

Then an organization called the Peace Meditation at the United Nations,

接著，聯合國底下有個叫做「和平冥想」的組織，

a Buddhist group that followed spiritual leader,

是一個追隨精神領袖、

prolific artist,

多產藝術家

and super-ripped dude Sri Chinmoy, leased the island from the city in 1977.

以及親穆儀大師的佛教團體，他們在 1977 年向紐約市政府租了這座島

They rechristened it U Thant Island to honor the third secretary general of the UN, a former

他們將這座島重新命名為吳丹島，以紀念聯合國第三任秘書長、

Burmese diplomat named U Thant,

緬甸前外交官的吳丹，

who was a friend of Sri Chinmoy.

也是親穆儀大師的好友

They also did some light landscaping and erected a 30-foot metal “oneness arch.”

他們同時也做了點美化並豎立一座 30 英尺的「單拱橋」

But they were only allowed to visit a few times a year

但他們一年只被允許登島幾次

because of the heightened security around its neighbor the United Nations.

因為鄰近聯合國的安全保護相當嚴格

All remained peaceful on U Thant until 2004, when New York City hosted the Republican National Convention.

直到 2004 年紐約市舉辦共和黨全國代表大會，吳丹島一直處於平和的狀態，

A filmmaker and artist named Duke Riley decided to protest by rowing a boat out to U Thant in the middle of the night,

有一位名叫 Duke Riley 的電影製作人及藝術家想要抗議，決定在半夜划船前往吳丹島，

unfurling a giant glow-in-the-dark flag from the navigation tower that's on there,

並在島上的航行塔台上展開一個半夜會發光的旗子，

and declaring it a sovereign nation,

並對這座島宣示主權，

before being apprehended by the Coast Guard.

後來便被海上保全逮捕

So I called the New York Office of Land Management and tried to schedule a visit.

所以我打給紐約的土地管理辦公室，打算安排一場島上的參觀行程

Hey, I wanted to call and see if it's at all possible to set up a time to go visit U Thant Island on the East River?

您好，我打來是想問是否可以約時間前往位於東河的吳丹島參觀？

Oh, it's not.

噢，不行啊

At all, like, for anybody?

完全不行嗎，是任何人都不行嗎？

I did some checking, and he's actually right —

我確認了一下，他說的確實沒錯 —

nobody is allowed to visit U Thant Island.

任何人都不允許往參觀吳丹島

Turns out it's now a protected sanctuary for migrating birds,

原來這座島目前是被保護的，是為了讓遷徙鳥類休息的庇護所，

including a colony of double-crested cormorants that nest in the “oneness arch.”

包括在「單拱橋」上築巢的雙冠鸕鷀棲息地

So you can't actually go on it, but I still wanted to get as close as I could.

總之，你不能真的登島，但我還是想盡我所能地近距離看看這座島

Despite a total lack of experience and a quickly approaching thunderstorm

儘管我從沒有划獨木舟的經驗，而且雷暴雨也快來了

I jumped in a canoe and headed out onto the lovely East River.

我還是跳上了獨木舟並前往可愛的東河

We through the water, passing Williamsburg and Roosevelt Island,

我們划著船，駛過威廉斯堡以及羅斯福島，

until we finally saw it in all its glorious, tiny splendor.

直到看到這座輝煌又小的島

To most people, it may look like just a pile of rocks in a filthy river.

對多數人來說，這個島看起來就是骯髒河水中的一堆石頭

And ... I guess it sort of is.

嗯... 我也是這樣想

But there's also something kind of wonderful about it too.

但這座島也有相當有趣的地方

Being up close to it made me realize that there's something special about U Thant.

靠近這座島一看讓我了解吳丹島的特殊之處

Amidst the hustle and bustle and millions of people, there's this 125-year-old speck

在熙來攘往的茫茫人海之中，

of land tucked away from —

藏著這 125 歲的土地 —

So I learned a thing or two about what not to do when your canoe starts tipping over.

不過我還是學到了翻船的時候有什麼是不可以做的

And as it turns out, I sort of did make it onto U Thant Island after all.

結果是，我也算是來過吳丹島了

Granted, it was in an effort to not drown in the East River, but I think it technically still counts.

當然，這是為了不在東河被淹死才爬起來的，但嚴格來說也算是上島了吧

I didn't die, which was good, and I'm glad I was actually able to see U Thant close up.

我沒死，真是好事，也很高興我能近距離看到吳丹島

But for now, I think I might just stick to this island, which is a little bit more my speed.

但此時，我想我還是待在翡翠島吧，這邊才是我的地盤