By Vladimir Brezina
The new World Trade Center tower can be seen for miles out at sea, and at night it becomes a luminous beacon to guide sailors, and kayakers, in—
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Luminous.
By Vladimir Brezina
The new World Trade Center tower can be seen for miles out at sea, and at night it becomes a luminous beacon to guide sailors, and kayakers, in—
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Luminous.
By Vladimir Brezina
Halloween 2015 is over—and it was quite a party! So much so that I didn’t even have time to post my photos of the Halloween decorations—if that is the right word—seen this year in our neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Some of the old favorites made return appearances (here are the photos from 2011, 2012, and 2013), but there were many imaginative, even artistic, new additions. Many of the residents of our neighborhood obviously feel a strong need to keep up with the Joneses, no effort or expense spared, in this department as in many others… The huge crowds of trick-or-treating kids loved it all, of course!
(click on any photo to start slideshow)
Even more photos are here.
Part II, with photos of the costumes at the Halloween block party itself, is coming soon!
Posted in Art, Culture, New York City
Tagged Block Party, Halloween, Manhattan, New York City, Photography
By Johna Till Johnson
People often ask why I live in New York. Yes, it’s crowded. And expensive. And even though the crime rate is way down from the 1980s when I first lived here, it’s still a city—with all the dangers a city brings.
I try to explain, but the truth is, it’s not the cultural richness. Or the wonderful food. Or even the variegated mix of people.
It’s that New York can continue to surprise and amaze me. As it did on a recent overcast autumn day: I’d just finished brunch with a friend and decided on the spur of the moment to walk the three miles home. I made it less than half the way there when I noticed that the density of police officers had picked way up. And then I heard it: Music, and a few green-and-white-clad people dancing in the street.
A few more steps, and I was in the midst of a full-on street festival, with floats, marching bands, music, and dancing. Apparently it was the 55th birthday of Nigeria (who knew?) and celebrants were out in force. (Well, technically, modern Nigeria was founded on October 1, 1960, but close enough…)
I walked the next several blocks with a gigantic grin on my face. The music was infectious, the colors brilliant, and the energy electric. And by the time I got to the end of the festival, my heart was dancing along with the dancers.
Posted in Life, New York City
Tagged Manhattan, New York City, Nigeria, Parade, Street Life
By Vladimir Brezina
A fire? Nothing out of the ordinary.
But a fire in a cozy fireplace in a New York apartment, deep inside a high-rise building? We are already beginning to appreciate how extraordinary that is, as winter is surely coming…
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, (Extra)ordinary.
Posted in Life, Photography
Tagged (Extra)ordinary, Fire, Fireplace, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2015, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
As we returned from our paddle on Sunday night, the Manhattan skyline glowed in the last rays of the sunset, then grew cool with a myriad twinkling lights—
(click on any photo to enlarge it)
And here are some GoPro clips of that part of our trip (the water drops on the lens are a distinct nuisance!):
.
The story and photos of the rest of the trip are here.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Kayak Photography, Kayaking, Manhattan, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Sunset
By Vladimir Brezina
This is how we’ve always before seen the Yellow Submarine of Brooklyn—
—but what a difference a fresh coat of paint makes!
(story and more photos here)
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Paint. A second contribution is here.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography
Tagged Kayaking, New York City, New York Harbor, Paint, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2015, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, Yellow Submarine
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson
In the town where I was born,
Lived a man who sailed to sea,
And he told us of his life,
In the land of submarines.So we sailed on to the sun,
Till we found a sea of green,
And we lived beneath the waves,
In our yellow submarine…
The yellow submarine isn’t just an invention of the Beatles—it exists for real. And it had gotten a paint job, courtesy of our friend Erik Baard and his HarborLab crew. So we decided it was high time to paddle out and see the results.
Let me back up… in the waters of Coney Island Creek, just off Gravesend Bay, there rests—amazingly, improbably!—a yellow submarine. We’ve told a fuller story here, but suffice it to say that the story of its existence just underscores the crazy sense of possibility that permeated the 1960s.
But it’s closing in on 50 years since the yellow submarine was launched, and it had become somewhat the worse for wear. So when we heard it had recovered its original cheerful coloring, we had to go see.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Brooklyn, Coney Island, Kayaking, Long-Distance Swim, Manhattan, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Yellow Submarine
By Vladimir Brezina
Ah, the familiar first signs of Fall: the first crisp days and chilly nights, trees beginning to turn color here and there, migrating geese honking overhead…
And, of course, the Tugboat Race.
Every year on Labor Day Sunday, the Working Harbor Committee brings together, in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan, a collection of New York Harbor tugs—those that can spare a rare half-day off work—to engage in
various feats of tugboat strength: a race, nose-to-nose pushing contests, a line-throwing competition, and, for the kids as well as hyper-competitive tugboat captains, a spinach-eating contest.
We’ve attended the last three years, and written quite a bit about the occasion (in 2012, 2013, and 2014). So let’s go straight to the photos of this year’s event, the 23rd Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition!
Posted in New York City, Science and Technology
Tagged Boats, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Race, Ships, Tugboat, Tugboat Race
By Vladimir Brezina
Move!
No, you move!
In NYC, gridlock doesn’t just happen on land…
Scenes from this year’s Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition. Many more photos to come!
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Move.
Posted in New York City, Photography, Science and Technology
Tagged Boats, Move, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2015, Ships, Travel, Tugboat, Tugboat Race, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
New York City architecture is ruled by rigid grids. But often the result is surprisingly fluid…
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Grid.
Posted in Architecture, New York City, Photography
Tagged Grid, Manhattan, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2015, Weekly Photo Challenge