New York City Rails in Briant Park ( bryant park) , My daughter > THumb   and rails leading to subway ....

  Have a great Sunday everyone... ;)

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      This one is PSed
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Red On the Coney Island Boardwalk

Orange On Seventh Avenue and 37th

Orange On 14th Street and 6th Avenue

Red at Bryant Park Spring Fashion Show

Thumb Red Making a Fashion Statement at The Show
Reminds me of the Hendrix lyrics, "She walks with a bell-clock round her neck
So the hippies think shes in with time"

Howie and I went to the Spring Fashion Show at Bryant Park a couple of times, to check out the um, ah, fashions.  Posting shortly.

Brighton Beach Ave on my walk home tonight.

Castle Clinton Battery Park, inside tickets are sold to the Statue of Liberty Ferry.

Undisclosed Location Still Unguessed Courtyard

Sun Sign 44 on 32nd street off Park Avenue

The first three photos show how narrow the Canyon of Heroes is.  The Canyon of Heroes is Lower Broadway from Battery Park running past Wall Street to City Hall. Broadway is an old indian path and was the stage coach route from NY to Boston as it is named in the Bronx, "Boston Post Road". The first three photos and the last one were taken last week. All the other photos are from today's parade

Ticker Tape Parade 2007 Giants

Rainy Morning

Waiting for the Rain

Reflective Moment

Walking Between the Rain Drops

I present my compositions from the top of the Empire State Building, looking South, toward Lower Manhattan.  It was an overcast day.  Feel free to skip the commentary and just open the photos.

This photo shows one of the World Financial buildings on the left.  Staten Island is in the background and the cranes on the right are in New Jersey.
NY Harbor - Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

In this photo the Flatiron Building is in the foreground where Fifth Ave meets Broadway.  Following Fifth Ave up the center of the photo, the trees are Washington Square Park.  The Arch at Washington Square Park is almost visible. The bridge in the background is the Verrazano Narrows bridge and connects Brooklyn to Staten Island.  The statue of Liberty and Ellis Island can be seen in the upper right and the tower to the right is in Jersey City, NJ.  
The wide view looking south

This photo shows the Flatiron Building in the lower right corner. The trees in the foreground are Madison Square Park at 23rd Street.  Moving up Broadway to the left and the trees are Union Square Park at 14th Street.  The bridges on the top of the photo are from left to right the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge and they are toll free bridges connecting Manhattan with Brooklyn.
Flat Iron Building

Golden Cupola

Lower Manhattan - I can identify most of these buildings by memory, but I won't bore you with the names.  The red building in the center foreground is one of the buildings of NYU surrounding Washington Square Park.  If you put your mouse pointer on this building then move further downtown and a little to the right you'll reach a rectangular building which is Seven World Trade Center at 60 stories high.  The World Trade Centers One and Two would have been behind this building at almost twice the height at 110 stories, literally scraping the sky.
Lower Manhattan

The thumb is the Empire State Building from Union Square Park at 14th Street.

NY Harbor Views, July 5th, 2006. – the three photos are from the Staten Island ferry which runs from Lower Manahattan to Staten Island.  The ferry is free, there are no lines like at the Statue of Liberty ferries and the view is spectacular.  I would suggest a ride if you are in town.

Statue of Liberty.  Not much has changed here.  Our lady of the harbor is still greeting the immigrants.  She is a witness.  Statue of Liberty

This photo and the next one could have been taken seconds apart.  If you are on a ship entering the harbor and look to the left you’ll see the statue and if you look ahead you’ll see the next photo.

NY Harbor and Lower Manhattan as seen from a ship in the harbor.  Don’s photo shows the George Washington Bridge in the upper left corner.  This is truly amazing.  I do not recall ever seeing a photo that shows the Battery and the George Washington Bridge.  The bridge is just too far away. Don’s photo is looking up the Hudson River to the west.  My photo shows the Brooklyn Bridge in the lower right corner looking up the East River and also shows a shadow of the Empire State Building.  The Brooklyn Bridge is very close to the Battery.NY Harbor Lower Manhattan Skyline

Battery Park as seen from a ship.  Don’s photo is looking East, my photo is looking North.  Most of the buildings in Don’s photo are still standing. Castle Clinton is very significant in Don’s photo.  In my photo the fort is in the middle of the photo behind a ferry and is dwarfed by the Wall Street towers.  The significant building in my photo is the Woolworth building, just seen looking up Broadway. Battery Park

A final word - The hairs on my arms stood up as I took several of these photos.  The time between 1945 and 2006 may seem long, but it is as long as the wink of an eye.  The time it takes for the little snow flake stars to fall in a crystal ball of New York City.

So here’s the first post.  I’m starting at the Empire State Building because Thanksgiving is coming up and one of Don’s photos shows the intersection where they perform the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The photos will open with scroll bars.  Maximize the window, click in the window first, and then use the scroll bars if necessary.  

Empire State 86th floor Observation Deck Views- November 16, 2007.

Chrysler Building looking north east – A lot of the buildings are still standing.  The bridge in the background connects Manhattan to Queens.  The bridge is called the Queensboro Bridge by people who live in Queens and it’s called the 59th bridge by people who live in Manhattan. In 1945 Queens was mostly farm land. I was born is Jamaica, Queens in 1957. The island in the middle of the river is Roosevelt Island.  Chrsyler Building and Queensboro Bridge

If you walked over to the north side of the observation deck, you would see the next photo.

Looking north up Fifth Avenue – The two black buildings in the upper center left are Rockefeller Center and Central Park is behind those two buildings.  Bryant Park can be seen in the lower left corner, with the roof of the NYC Public library fronting 5th Ave and 42nd street.  The big building at 5th and 42nd is 500 5th Ave and in 1945 one of the tallest buildings in the world.  If you look closely at my photo following Fifth Ave uptown, you’ll see the twin steeples of St. Patrick’s Cathedral close to the Rockefeller Center Buildings. Further up Fifth Ave you’ll see the apartments bordering Central Park East. Looking North Up Fifth Avenue Use the scroll bars

Looking down on Macys – This photo I could not take because the west side of the Empire State Building was closed due to high winds.  I stuck my camera out from the north side and just shoot blind eyed down to the west side where Macys is.  The intersection in Don’s photo is 34th Street where 6th Avenue meets Broadway.  It is the site of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The interesction in my photo is 35th street. Looking Down on Macy's

The Park was mellow because of the weather, so we headed off to the Village.

The Village is off the Manhattan grid, with small winding streets.  The main intersection we stood at, on Christopher Street and 7th Ave South, had about seven streets intersecting. Some north/south streets wind east/west intersecting other north/south streets.  These photos cover only a small section of the Village.

Green Witch Village was fascinating.  It's been awhile seen I've gone in deep. I brought a map with me.

Green Witch Village

Northern Exposure

For more information on this parallel post to my Southern Hospitality post and/or info on Thornton Lathrop, please see my profile.

South American Tourists in Times Square

Grand Central Terminal

Sailors in Times Square

Store Front

New York Life Building

Each stop of the train shows you a different neighborhood; people and buildings and cars and billboards and all the other paraphernalia that is a part of urban life,  and you wonder, "how can they put an amusement park in the middle of all of this?"  And then the train, on it's raised platform high above the streets, rounds a bend, headed for the last stop on the line, and suddenly you see unfold right there in front of your eyes....

The roller coaster is what you see first, followed by the ferris wheel...and you think to yourself, "Man, what a photo that would make at sunset, when the light of the day is fading and the neon lights come on..."  But it's the middle of the day and the sun is shining brightly, glinting off all of the chrome and the glitter below; beckoning you, as the train pulls into the station.

As you exit the subway, the park is right across the street.  As you stand there on the street corner, waiting for the WALK sign to start flashing green, you can already smell the grease and the popcorn, and hear the excited screams from the children on the rides at the kiddie park.  The first time you come here, you need a little while to breathe deeply and take it all in; it's a visual smorgasbord - where do I want to point my camera first?  

But I've been here once before, so this time, it feels like a homecoming, a chance to visit again with some of the things I remembered so fondly from the last visit, and maybe to walk down a different street and see something new and unexpected as well.   And this time Pablo is with me, a native, who sees this park every day, and our conversation as we walk adds so much color and history to this place that so enthralls me.  

I have an ongoing love affair with old amusement parks, you see.  Each sign on the midway, with it's faded and peeling paint, the old rollercoasters, whose cars screech on the wooden tracks as they go around the corners, the old men on the midway, who promise wonderful prizes of teddy bears - two dollars will getcha four chances, don'tcha know - as they beckon you with the same tired lines they've been using for years, yet each day they seem to breathe new life into those challenges and bring in new customers....they fascinate me and keep me coming back again and again.

And when I'm tired and it's time for a break, I walk out to the Boardwalk and look at the ocean...maybe I'll grab an ice cream cone and sit for a minute as I watch the little children throw popcorn to the seagulls on the sand....The pier beckons, but it's a long way off, and I'm tired and a little hungry.  Nathan's is closer, only a little walk away, and the line at the takeout window is not too bad today.  

So we head off in search of hot dogs, as the shadows get longer and the wind picks up....and a little while later, I jump back on a train and head home, my memory card and my head full of wonderful memories of another day at the amusement park...

a day at the amusement park

Sorry Orbit, maybe some colour next time...

New York; where you find the best and the brightest of everything...a city of a million hopes and a million dreams and a million stories...some happy, some sad, but no two are ever the same.  I'm drawn to her, this city that never sleeps...From the brightly lit skyscrapers towering over Times Square, to the frenetic pace and the cacophony of sights and sounds on 42nd Street  to the calm urban oasis that is Bryant Park , she fascinates me.  She amazes me with her audacity; she intimidates me with her sheer size and mass of humanity.  Wandering the streets, she amuses me, she humbles me, visually she sometimes overwhelms me...she always leaves me wanting more....

And each time I return, she greets me with both callous indifference and open arms, an only-in-New-York experience...."Come on in and join us", she whispers.  "The show is about to begin and we've saved you a table.....welcome back ..."

Los Angeles skyline in 1973, shot from the American Cement building at MacArthur Park, looking east on Wishire.  In 1990,the skyline was dominated by addition of tallest building in California, The U.S. Bank Tower, a/k/a Library Tower.1973

1978, circled Manhattan Island by boat, where skyline was captured with the World Trade Center towers, now changed forever since the tragedy of 9/11

Traveling up the Hudson, we passed rows of the old piers like this one.

Golden, Colorado, as seen from Lookout Mountain.  Coors Brewery buildings in upper right quarter.  1972

Early morning view from Grand Teton lodge.  1972

Manhattan is unique, but I come home to Coney Island and we bring it up another notch.  Only one photo for today, more to come shortly. For Smalls, who commented on my post yesterday, "Everytime I think you can't come up with anything unusual ever again...you do..."  

Organ Grinder and His Monkey

It's very rare for a weekday snow storm in Manhattan and very difficult for the sanitation department to clean the streets of the snow.  Usually they'll do their work at night when the streets are relatively deserted. The Blizzard of 2006 occurred over the weekend and by Monday morning the streets and sidewalks were clean.  Last Wednesday (2/14/7) we had some snow followed by sleet and in places where the snow wasn't cleaned immediately on the ground now is 2 inches of frozen snow you can ice skate on.

The following photos were taken during the snow storm using a Canon Rebel G film camera.

Snow Storm 2007
 Midtown Manhattan

For all the brave firefighters here on Photographica (I know who you are but I’m afraid if I try a list I’ll forget one of you) and for all the firefighters throughout the world.  

As part of the Main Street challenge, to compare different Main Streets, because every Main Street has a Fire House, here are a few photos, for your viewing.

Manhattan
Engine 4, Pride of Midtown, Roaring through Times Square

Engine 26, Garment District, The Bat Cave 1

Engine 26, Garment District, The Bat Cave 2 note the bat symbol on the floor

St Lukes, Roosevelt Hospital NYFD EMS

Brooklyn
Avenue U, Watchdawgs, Brooklyn 1 note the finger painting in the windows.

Avenue U, Watchdawgs, Brooklyn 2  

My Main Street (in BW film)
Coney Island, Brooklyn 1 A very old wooden sign, repainted many times

Coney Island, Brooklyn 2