Last time I went to New York I wrote a reasonable amount about it so I’m not sure that I have much to add this time. Instead I’ll mainly just let the pictures do the talking.
The hotel I was staying in was not far from Times Square, so I passed through on a number of occasions. It’s always busy, especially early evening when this image was taken ((I thought that “Live View” on my DSLR was a bit of a gimmick but it does allow me to take pictures like this where I wouldn’t be able to get my eye to the view finder.)).
I always wonder about the artists who paint pictures and caricatures of passing tourists (I saw exactly the same thing in Montmartre the previous week). On the one hand they’re making a living from their art, something that probably most artists are unable to do. Yet I’m sure it’s not what they set out to do.
The following day I decided to cross this river and head into Brooklyn. Since I’d just read about it in Wired and because it’s a “classic,” I decided to cross over the Brooklyn Bridge.
As with all American monuments and significant structures, it has a flag flapping away at the top.
Even half way across the bridge you get some great views back over Manhattan. And looking a little further left you can even catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. But whenever you stop to look or take a picture you have to be very careful that you don’t walk into someone or that a cyclist doesn’t accidentally knock you over. The footbridge was very busy.
Once on the other side I wandered around, had some excellent ice cream and considered my options for the rest of the day. While pondering I stumbled across this view of the Empire State Building through the legs of the Manhattan Bridge.
Back on the other side of the river I took a stroll near Central Park.
The following day I realised that while I’d seen the Empire State Building up close, I’d never really seen the Chrysler Building, which is nearly as famous, just as distinctive and only slightly smaller. I was looking forward to seeing the art deco interior but it was closed and I couldn’t get in. Instead I had to make do with this reflected shot of the outside.
Finally, on my final way back to the hotel with my camera, I realised that I’d seen a lot of these street vendors selling sun glasses and other “high end fashion at knock down prices”! I had to fire off a few shots.
And then it was back to the airport and home. Never a good thing but for some reason I was less affected by jet-lag than usual. In some sense, that made the weekend even better.
