Manhattanhenge 2011 - July 12

Since I missed the event in May, the Manhattanhenge that was set to take place on July 12th and 13th was all I've been able to think about.

I was lucky enough to see this rare sunset from 34th Street and 1st Avenue, and capture the "Peoplehenge" phenomenon that takes place too as photographers take over the intersection between green lights to get the best view.

Practice shot for Manhattanhenge, just minutes before it occurred!


Paparazzi waiting for Manhattanhenge, just minutes before it occured!


"Peoplehenge"


Close call with a cab


Scary bus traffic speeding by


Cell phone capture


More to come from tomorrow's Manhattanhenge viewing!

The view from Rare View

Fancy burgers and fancy views from the Rare View Rooftop Garden in Murray Hill:

230 5th

20 floors or so above 5th Avenue and 27th Street (and only a few blocks from where I work), the best roof top garden in town is set against a perfect blue NYC sky.

I'd heard of this place before but had never been lucky enough to be invited to a party or get together here until this weekend. A few friends and I went, willing to brave the expensive cocktails and appetizers for a chance to enjoy all of the views and comfort that this spot has to offer.

I recently saw a scene from The Bachelorette set on this roof top, but it all looked so different in person. There were beautiful plants, flowers and topiary structures everywhere. Benches, bars, palm trees, fans, umbrellas and candles were everywhere too.

And even though my camera lost both memory space and power, I was able to capture the views of nearby landmark buildings and the aforementioned flowers, palm trees and topiary structures.

View toward Gramercy/the East of the NY Life Insurance Building


Cat topiary behind one of the bars




View uptown of the Empire State Building



View toward Gramercy/the East of the NY Life Insurance Building later in the night

Views from Midtown

My work sent me out to another one of our furnished apartments to assist in a photo shoot, this one being at The Centria, located in Midtown by Rockefeller Plaza. While the professional photographer took his interior shots with a Nikon D200, I take my hobby/for fun shots with a little Sony.

With this particular photo shoot, both of our pictures came out with different backgrounds. We started at noon with the sky looking dark and gray, and ended at 1:30 with a clear blue sky and cottony white clouds.


The view from one of the bedrooms looking south


Close up of the Empire State Building


At one point the view looked like this:


But an hour before it looked like this!




View towards Avenue of the Americas

Hudson River, Pier 66 Maritime

I traveled from Mid-Chelsea to the edge of Manhattan and out to Pier 66 to take some pictures of Jersey City and the Hudson River. I last went out there in March for the Fountain Art Fair and it was very cold out on the water.

It was windy and sunny so it was hard to see anything or to even stand still (the winds were powerful enough to blow you a few feet away!) but I managed to spot the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as some buildings in lower Manhattan and Weekhawken, NJ.

From there I had lunch at The Frying Pan, an historic lightship docked on Pier 66 Maritime that serves as a sort of dive bar/seasonal bar and grill with a tiki bar. In March when I attended the Fountain Art Fair that took place on the ship, I could feel the boat rocking from the wind and water, and it did the same when I was out there on this windy May day!!


View of Jersey City, the Goldman Sachs Tower and the Statue of Liberty
(to the left of the tower)


View towards Midtown and the Empire State Building


Park on Pier 66, view towards New Jersey


View toward Chelsea Piers from the dock of The Frying Pan


The John J. Harvey fireboat, situated next to The Frying Pan, formerly of the FDNY.

Goodnight Moon

While walking home alone up Broadway to 5th Avenue, I spotted the moon. That's a rarity in the city as it's usually blocked from view. I noticed a couple of people taking pictures of it, so I joined in. We were on the corner of 20th Street I believe, and even though it was after 8:00, there was still a bit of daylight with a hint of night-light.

I walked a few blocks north toward Madison Square Park and on my right was the Metropolitan Life Tower with the clock and then on my left was the Empire State Building. Even though I see it every night, you'll still find me taking a picture of it for some reason. And as we go into the end of Spring and the beginning of the Summer season, I hope to see more of the moon every night.

Looking East on 20th Street

The Met Life Tower at One Madison Avenue

The Empire State Building

Empire State Building Colors

I've been seeing pictures of the Empire State Building a lot more lately - mainly thanks to NewYorkology and ESB_Lights on Twitter. The twitter handle LatinoEvents posts gorgeous photos from time to time as well. It's cool to learn about the meanings behind the different colors that appear every other night or so—on Halloween the lights were orange and the next day for the ING Direct NYC Marathon, they appropriately stayed orange. Recently they were purple to honor the March of Dimes foundation, and blue for World Diabetes Day.

Tonight, it was back to its usual white.

Two famous buildings from a distance

From Queens you can sometimes see two of our city's most famous skyscrapers - The Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building. Whether it's dark or bright, day or night, you can see their pointy tops beyond the few tall buildings and water towers in Long Island City.

It's always nice to be on the subway and look out the windows or across the platform to see amazing sights like these. I hope that everyday commuters take a moment every now and then to enjoy the unique and bold sights and sounds that we have all around us from whatever point in New York City we might be in - Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, The Bronx or Manhattan.

View of The Empire State Building and Chrysler Building from Queens borough Plaza

Night shots

Because it's been so hot out during the day lately, I've been going out in the evenings more when it cools off a little bit. Movies with a view are much better in the dark, and participating in Central Park's Film Festival is easier when the sun starts to go down (especially when it's raining).

Even shopping on a Saturday in the city is easier when you start around 5 or 6 pm. Stores stay open just late enough, but not late enough that you shop too much or as much as you would when it's early afternoon (this is good)!

One of the greatest things about nighttime in the city is the view of illuminated building tops. The lighted points and edges make great photo opportunities and are of course interesting and beautiful.

The Empire State Building, seen from 21st & 6th


Met Life Tower, view from Broadway and 23rd Street

Building in Union Square, on East 16th Street

another building in Union Square, on East 16th Street

The Empire State Building

Everywhere I go in the city, I see one particularly tall building from almost every street corner and public park - The Empire State Building. The best view of course is either from an airplane window or from right below it on 5th Avenue and 34th Street, or from nearby in or around Herald Square. But I love to see it when I'm farther away inside a Chelsea art gallery or maybe out and about in the Flat Iron District or the SoHo area. It's always a wonderful and familiar sight!


view from 33rd Street and Park Avenue


view from Madison Square Park/Flat Iron District

view from Bryant Park on 42nd Street between 5th & 6th

view from the elevated subway in Astoria, Queens


view from the Leows movie theater on 32nd & 2nd

Broadway in Bryant Park

Every Thursday throughout this summer, Bryant Park will be hosting Broadway in Bryant Park out on the lawn behind the New York Public Library. This past Thursday, songs from The Little Mermaid, 9-5, Toxic Avenger and Pure Country were performed. I love every one, especially Toxic Avenger! 

You can get a sandwich from 'wichcraft, pull up a chair and take in the view (of both the Bryant park stage and beautiful Manhattan above the park's trees).

Here's their calendar for this summer's performances.

The crowds and a view from behind the stage

Allison Janney and crew performing a song from 9-5

View of the Empire State Building (34th & 5th) 

Top of the Empire State Building

Back in February I went to the top of the Empire State Building for the painstaikingly third time in my life. The first trip up was when I was in 8th grade, during a school field trip to Washington D.C. and NYC. The second time was with a group from my dorm at Marymount Manhattan college (where I stayed during a summer internship back in '06), and most recently on Valentine's Day with my boyfriend who was in town visiting me from Florida.

He got all of the good pictures because he has one of those professional cameras, whereas mine is pink and little and only 7.2 megapixels.


View towards 14th Street Union Square


So close and yet so far: the buildings vs. the fence along the viewing deck