Tag Archives: Manhattan

Backlit

Posted on November 21, 2013 by | 56 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

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Yesterday afternoon in New York City’s Central Park (click on any photo to start slideshow)—

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More photos are here.

56 Comments

Posted in Nature, New York City

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers

Posted on November 15, 2013 by | 43 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Layers.

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At the 9/11 Memorial, Manhattan.

43 Comments

Posted in New York City, Photography

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

Posted on November 8, 2013 by | 56 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Habit.

Gus the polar bear was one of the stars of Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo. New Yorkers took to him probably because, as a result of being cooped up in the equivalent of a tiny apartment, he was a creature of neurotic, not to say compulsive habits, such as obsessive swimming. But, like a true New Yorker, he managed to thrive on his neuroses—he outlived both his younger female companions, and finally died this past summer, aged 27 (which is quite old for a polar bear).

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56 Comments

Posted in Nature, New York City, Photography

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Spooktacular!

Posted on November 4, 2013 by | 23 comments

By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina

DSC_0112 cropped smallMy favorite holiday is Hallowe’en. What’s not to love? There are small children, gaudy costumes, and plenty of candy. Plus, my Goth-girl side revels in the idea of celebrating darkness, death, and the onset of winter.

But over the years, I’ve celebrated more in the breach than in the observance, since the end of October is one of the busiest times in my industry. (I’ll never forget hearing the joyous noises of the Austin Hallowe’en parade from my hotel room, where I was chained to my computer with an imminent deadline.)

So this year, I was delighted to break free from work and meet Vlad over at the Third Annual Halloween Spooktacular. It’s an Upper East Side block party, or rather mini-street fair. The organizers block off the street and hold costume contests—not just for children, but for adults, families, and pets too. There’s a DJ, a bubble artist, and did I mention the candy? And the houses are lavishly—indeed, extravagantly—decorated. (After all, this is the Upper East Side.)

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23 Comments

Posted in Art, New York City, Society

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It’s That Scary Time of Year Again…

Posted on October 28, 2013 by | 26 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

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… and the residents of our neighborhood don’t let you forget it!

(click on any photo to start slideshow)

Last year’s Halloween photos are here, and the previous year’s here.

26 Comments

Posted in Art, New York City

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A Moonlight Manhattan Circumnavigation at the End of Summer

Posted on September 23, 2013 by | 43 comments

By Johna Till Johnson

(Sorry, no photos this time! For one thing, I didn’t have a camera. And for another, it was, ahem, dark. So I’ve used a few of Vlad’s photos from previous circumnavigations.)

She rose up ahead of us, brilliantly lit in all her resplendent orange glory: the Staten Island Ferry, blazing against the dark night sky.

It was around 3:30 AM, and she was docked at Whitehall, at the southern tip of Manhattan.

Regular readers of this blog know that I’m deeply wary of the Staten Island Ferry. (“Deeply wary” sounds way better than “scared silly”, which is closer to the truth—of all the ferries, this one is the largest and seems to move the fastest, and I worry irrationally that one day I’ll be caught in its churning engines.)

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A daylight view of the Staten Island Ferry at Whitehall

This night was no exception: There were ten of us, and the brisk ebb current was pushing us relentlessly into the ferry’s path.

The question was (with apologies to the Clash): “Should I stay or should I go?” Should we bank on the ferry’s remaining docked for the five minutes it would take us to glide past, or should we hold up and wait, back-paddling against the current, while she departed?

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43 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, New York City

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How Many Bridges Circumnavigating Manhattan?

Posted on September 18, 2013 by | 89 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Some of the Manhattan bridgesIt’s interesting to look occasionally through the search terms that people have entered to reach your blog. And recently, quite a few people have been arriving at Wind Against Current with the query “how many bridges circumnavigating Manhattan”. They’ll have been disappointed in not finding an answer—until now!

Another popular query is “how many islands in New York City”. Unfortunately, that question does not have a definite answer—it depends on what you consider an island, and on the state of the tide.

But “how many bridges circumnavigating Manhattan” does have a very definite answer. And the answer is…

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89 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Science and Technology

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Exploring Long Island Sound with 2 Geeks @ 3 Knots

Posted on September 3, 2013 by | 54 comments

By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina

IMGP6776 cropped smallA couple of weekends ago, we set out to visit our friends and fellow kayakers Alex and Jean, who are also fellow bloggers at 2 Geeks @ 3 Knots (check out their lovely blog!). They live in New Rochelle, just outside New York City, and just off Long Island Sound.

Heading out to the Sound on a summer weekend is pretty typical for New Yorkers.

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But hey—we’d been there quite a few times before and knew the route pretty well. And this time we’d have the luxury of spending the night with our friends—so we’d have the chance to explore more than we usually can on an out-and-back trip. We’d been eagerly anticipating this trip for several weeks.

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54 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, New York City

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Ederle Swim 2013

Posted on August 27, 2013 by | 49 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Under the Verrazano Narrows BridgeOn Sunday a week ago, August 18th, I found myself once more in my kayak accompanying a long-distance swimmer through New York Harbor.

It was the day of this year’s Ederle Swim, a 17.5 -mile open-water swim from Manhattan to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, organized by NYC Swim. This year’s swim was in fact the centennial swim, since the first successful swim over that course, after a number of failed attempts, occurred a hundred years ago almost to the day, on August 28th, 1913.

My swimmer this year was Barbara Held, from San Diego, California. Having completed her Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming—the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, the Catalina Channel, and the English Channel—Barbara was looking for new challenges!

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49 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Sports

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Travel Theme: Architecture

Posted on August 12, 2013 by | 30 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Architecture.

Manhattan, of course, is full of dramatic architecture. But it’s sometimes hard to grasp it all from the inside. You need to stand a bit apart—or even better, sit in a kayak!

Here is some of Manhattan’s architecture that we saw on our paddle just this last weekend (full set of photos is here):

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30 Comments

Posted in Architecture, Kayaking, New York City, Photography

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