Tag Archives: Manhattan

In Preparation for Landing, Please Return Your Seat Backs to Their Full Upright Position… and Take Out Your Cameras!

By Vladimir Brezina

Like everyone who travels often enough by airplane, I’ve seen breathtaking things from the plane’s window: towering cloud formations, lightning storms, the brilliant colors of sunrise and sunset, and the map-like pattern of land and water sliding into view below.

But until yesterday, I’ve never taken out my camera. Looking out through a misted, scratched window at a cramped angle not under my control, the photographic situation didn’t seem too promising.

Still, I’ve always been tempted in one case—when landing in New York City. When landing at LaGuardia Airport, especially, if the wind is right the plane flies along the length of Manhattan, offering spectacular low-altitude views of the city.

So yesterday, when it looked like we were following that flight path once again, I got out my camera. And I was not disappointed!

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Winter Dawn Over Manhattan From the Statue of Liberty

By Vladimir Brezina

At dawn, around 6:30 a.m. at this time of the year, the Statue of Liberty is, of course, closed to visitors. But it’s possible to see the dawn spread over New York Harbor and over Manhattan from the high-definition streaming webcam mounted high up in the Statue’s torch.

These photos span just 30 minutes as the new day arrives. A brightly-lit cruise ship makes its way up the harbor; early-morning ferries zip back and forth across the stretch of water between the Statue and Manhattan.

These photos were taken on Saturday, February 4, 2012—the day that Johna and I paddled out to Swinburne Island to see the seals. Early that morning, I was checking on the harbor conditions and watched, entranced, as this sequence unfolded…

Getting Together in the Park: A Photoessay

By Vladimir Brezina

With a white coat of freshly fallen snow hiding for the moment the drabness of winter, it was a bright, festive day in Central Park yesterday.

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Everyone was out having fun!

Everyone was in a happy, outgoing mood. And so, more than usual, it was a day for getting together with other members of your species…

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A Winter Paddle Around Manhattan

By Vladimir Brezina

On Saturday, the air temperature was predicted to be in the 30s, then falling rapidly after dark. The water temperature was in the 40s. With a cold front coming over in the afternoon, winds were predicted at 15-20 knots, with gusts up to 30 knots. There was a small craft advisory.

A perfect day for a nice paddle around Manhattan!

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Once More Around the Reservoir at Sunset

By Vladimir Brezina

Jogging around New York City’s Central Park Reservoir at sunset on New Year’s Day 2012

Across the water, the towers of Midtown

As the sunset fades

Above, a single white cloud remains

The individual photos are here.

New York Cityscapes

By Vladimir Brezina

I always promise myself that I will go out especially to take photos of New York City’s spectacular architecture. And I will… some day!

In the meantime, though, incidental photo-ops offer themselves… I posted some of the results a while ago in Beauty and the Beast. Here are a few more.

More photos are here.

Winter Sunset at the Reservoir

By Vladimir Brezina

The Central Park Reservoir is just a couple of blocks from my door. Its 1.6-mile perimeter path offers a perfect short walk for that spare hour… I go often, rain or shine, and bring my camera.

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Last time, the brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds of Fall were everywhere. But now Winter rules. I got to the Reservoir just in time to see the short day’s setting sun light up the last few scraps of color…

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But happily the more subdued palette of Winter offers its own, subtle possibilities…

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Happy Winter!

By Vladimir Brezina

This morning at 12:30 a.m. EST, as most of us on the East Coast slumbered, we passed the winter solstice. So from now on, days will be getting longer! On the other hand, winter is here. And it’s predicted to be cold and snowy.

In anticipation, here are some photos from last winter, taken on January 27, 2011, in New York City’s Central Park just after the nor’easter that dumped a record 19 inches of snow there…

More photos from that day are here.

Paddling to Manhattan Island: A Photoessay

By Vladimir Brezina

From no direction is it as obvious that Manhattan is an island as from the south.

Clear across the Upper Bay the ramparts of Manhattan draw the eye.

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Sometimes Manhattan is a fantastical mirage that we paddle toward again and again…

… sometimes it shimmers in the sunset and is gone as the last light fades.

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Ice Skating in Central Park

By Vladimir Brezina

Ice skating on the lakes and ponds of New York City’s Central Park was popular in the 19th century. But that was a more robust time. These days, the ice that forms on these bodies of water is thin and insubstantial…

But there is the Wollman Rink! We walked past it on Saturday as the day was drawing to a close.

The lines were just a bit too long, and we too impatient (and cold!), to actually go skating on this occasion. But the skaters’ movements in the fading light did create some intriguing photos…

We’ll be back another time. At the northern end of Central Park, there is also the Lasker Rink, which is less crowded.

More photos from that day, and other New York Cityscapes, are here.