New York City

The Manhattan skyline from New Jersey. Taken from the bus with my iPod. July 11, 2013. (iPod)

With a main span of 486 metres (1,595 ft), the Brooklyn Bridge was the first steel-wire suspension bridge ever built & the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903. As with any historic & ageing structure, the bridge requires periodic repairs and upgrades, with a current up-keep project due to finish in 2014. Walking across the bridge is a quintessential New York City experience, a NYC must-do and something I seem to do, and enjoy, every time I’m in the city – it was the first thing I did on this latest visit to the city. Brooklyn Bridge, New York City (). July 12, 2013.

Are You Living Your Dream? Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, USA. July 12, 2013. (iPod)

A wet & windswept Yankee Stadium. Game 1 of 3 in Yankee Stadium over the weekend, a Friday night game, was a bit of a washout. A 90-minute rain delay meant I didn’t get home – damp, cold & tired – until 1 a.m. But at least I saw a Yankee win, the only one of the weekend. This was my first time in the new Yankee Stadium which opened in 2009. It’s big, shiny & bloody expensive. Yankee Stadium, The Bronx. New York, USA. July 12, 2013.

Noon on New York City, day 3, & it was right back to Yankee Stadium for game 2 of the weekend series with the Minnesota Twins. The sun was out, and so were the crowds. This is a picture of the carnival scene on River Avenue outside Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York, USA. July 13, 2013.

Game day on River Avenue outside Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York, USA. July 13, 2013.

Peanuts & beer remnants after the game in Yankee Stadium. It’s a hell of a job to clean this place after a game. And I’d never leave this much beer in a (plastic) glass, not with the beers costing $12 a pop. The Bronx, New York. July 13, 2013.

Yankee fans smiling (even though their team lost) as they walk through Macombs Dam Park, across from the new Yankee Stadium, seen in the distance. This park was, up until its demolition, the site of the old, 1923 Yankee Stadium, the so-called ‘House That Ruth Built’. It was demolished between 2008-2010 (the Yankees may be the most storied franchise in world sports but even they don’t need two baseball stadiums) and fittingly a public baseball park now stands where the old field used to be, a couple of hundred yards from the newer & (seemingly) better Yankee Stadium. Macombs Dam Park, The Bronx, New York, USA. July 13, 2013.

Riding the NYC Subway en route to Grand Central Station/Terminal, New York City. July 13, 2013. (iPod)

The Main Concourse of Grand Central Station/Terminal. I didn’t have much of a photography to-do list for my time in NYC but I had wanted to come here to photograph this, Grand Central’s impressive main concourse. Needless to say I wasn’t alone in doing so – look carefully and you’ll see a few other photographers with tripods. However, for some reason for the hour or so I was here no one seemed too interested in getting this shot, a 1.3 second exposure captured from the middle of the stairway at one end of the concourse. Grand Central Station/Terminal. New York City, USA. July 13, 2013.

Traffic at Pershing Square outside Grand Central Station/Terminal, New York City, USA. July 13, 2013. (iPod)

Iconified as “The Crossroads of the World”, “The Center of the Universe”, and “The Great White Way”, Times Square is, & according to Travel + Leisure magazine October 2011 survey, the world’s most visited tourist attraction, hosting over 39 million visitors annually with approximately a third of a million people passing through daily. And I’d well believe it. I’ve been here numerous times over the years, & at various times of the year, but I’d never seen it so busy. Ever (granted it was a Saturday evening in mid-summer). I snapped a few shots and got out of there, thankful I did. Times Square, New York City. July 13, 2013.

Needless to say I wasn’t alone toting a camera around Times Square either. Moving around wasn’t the easiest but at least I was more mobile than Mr. 2 Full Frames & an oversized Lowepro bag. Times Square, New York City, USA. July 13, 2013.

Walkers in a busy Times Square. In my opinion neon & crowds don’t photograph very well. A mass of legs crossing a road does. But each to their own. Again I got a lot of attention taking this picture. Times Square, Manhattan, New York. July 13, 2013.

Captured with my iPod outside my hostel en route, once again, to Yankee Stadium yesterday on my last full day in the city. Near the corner of 106th & Central Park West, New York City, USA. July 14, 2013. (iPod)

The third & final game of the weekend series was probably the worst of the lot with regard to the home team’s performance. But the sun was out again & the stadium was at its busiest so this was the most photogenic. Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York. July 14, 2013.

The NY insignia. This was the busiest stadium day of the whole 3-game weekend series against the Minnesota Twins (the game was a sell-out) and with so many people mulling around pre-game I was quite fortunate to get a clear, unobstructed shot, if only for a second, of the massive, interlocking NY insignia embedded in the ground outside Gate 4 of the new Yankees Stadium. The iconic NY insignia first appeared on a Medal of Honor produced in 1877 by Tiffany & Co. for a New York City Police Officer shot in the line of duty, the very fist medal recognising bravery given by the NYPD. In 1909 it was adopted by the New York Highlanders baseball team, the team that would, in 1913, become the present-day New York Yankees. The rest, as the saying goes, is history & today the NY insignia is a pop culture icon & one of the most recognised logos in the world. Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York, USA. July 14, 2013.

On the platform of 145 Street subway station, Manhattan, New York City, USA. July 14, 2013.

The 8-acre National September 11 Memorial opened on 11 September, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the attacks. It consists of two pools set in the footprints of the original towers, with 30-foot waterfalls – the largest in North America – cascading into a centre void with the names of the victims inscribed on surrounding bronze parapets. The Memorial design, by architect Michael Arad & landscape architect Peter Walker, was a winner of an international competition, one of 5,201 submissions from 63 countries. The National September 11 Memorial, lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. July 14, 2013.

The original World Trade Center complex was a 16-acre commercial complex built between 1966 and 1987. The 7 building complex contained the two tallest buildings in New York City, the 414 metre (1,360 ft) tall, 110 storey-high Twin Towers. I’d stood on top of the original South Tower three times, the last time being about 6 months before the attacks. I was also here about 7 weeks after the attacks (in late November 2011). The memories of that visit, specifically the sight & smell of the destruction of this area of lower Manhattan, will stay with me for a long time. The National September 11 Memorial at the redeveloped World Trade Centre, lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. July 14, 2013.

Towers of the rebuilt World Trade Centre towering over The National September 11 Memorial. Construction continues on the surrounding World Trade Centre projects. The fully redeveloped complex will include the Memorial, commercial office space, retail units, connections to public transport, & a museum, currently under construction. The plan calls for a spiral of new towers around the Memorial site. In this picture of people overlooking the Memorial South Pool in the late afternoon, One World Trade Centre, formally called the Freedom Tower, clearly stands out. At 541 metres (1,776 ft), it’s the tallest building in the country, the centrepiece of the $3.9 billion complex and a symbol of New York’s ability to overcome the worst of tragedies. Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. July 14, 2013.