Wordless Wednesday: cue the Gershwin...

Rainy day on the High Line

One of the items on our (unfortunately) short NY attractions list was one of the city's finest achievements—the High Line park.

The photo above is taken from the walkway, at one of the points where you cross over a busy street below. These were some of the most photogenic points on the regrettably short walk we took (you'll remember, from my last post, that it was rainy and rather cold). Here's another street shot:

But of course the most remarkable aspect of the "park" is the walkway itself...

I'm sure it would have been much more crowded on a nicer day...

I'd love to see it in springtime!

As you can see in that last shot, there are stretches where the buildings are right on top of the line; I wonder how noisy those apartments would have been when the train was running! But now they're just, I'm sure, super-fancy addresses.

And of course, in the distance, are even more remarkable buildings. The way views are in almost any direction, from anywhere in this amazing metropolis...

But closer at hand, are some interesting art installations and other objects, like this seemingly ancient arch...

I couldn't find (through an admittedly cursory google search) what it is, but I assume perhaps it was part of the original rail infrastructure?

Our visit to the Big Apple was much too short, but perhaps we'll go back for another visit, and not wait 18 years this time. Here's a farewell shot of the Manhattan skyline from the window of our plane, taxiing for takeoff from EWR...

Out and about in NYC

I shared one of our major Big Apple adventures with you in my last two posts. But—spoiler alert!—there's a lot more to see in this wondrous metropolis. Just the architecture, for one element, presents photo opp after photo opp. Here are just a few samples:

everybody gets a bay window!

starting to crumple? or just avant garde?

So much to note in that last picture: the cool oval building, the busy Manhattan streets, the inviting rooftop on the building down the street...and this was from our hotel window! So neat that we got a room on a high floor. Here's another shot of the oval building, on whose ground floor you'll find a relaxing and entertaining bar where we spent a great evening with family and friends...

A couple of interior shots of buildings in the World Trade Center area, that didn't fit in my earlier posts, are worth an appearance here. First stop is the opulent insides of Brookfield Place, where we mainly just needed to find a restroom, but it was pretty dazzling in addition to providing that amenity...

Another over-the-top building in the area is of course, the Oculus, which I showed you in this post. Here's a more whimsical micro-view of one of its stores...

The other big item on our must-see list (in addition to the 9/11 Memorial) was the High-Line, and I'll tell you about that next time. But on our way there, especially because it was raining and we were hungry, we walked through the Chelsea Market.

We really didn't know what to expect from this space, other than shelter from the rain, and, we hoped, some lunch. Wow! What great "food court" it is! We had some wonderful soup, delicious ice cream, and enjoyed window shopping all along its length. It was too hard inside to get a good picture that really shows what it's like, but there were all kinds of displays like this one, that illustrated the building's interesting history...

Yes! The building was once a Nabisco factory! You can learn more about the site through the link above.

We did eat very well during our stay, as might be expected in such a culinary capital. We decided not to sample these bagels, however, seeing as how being "on line" would have taken up much of our morning...

Another major excursion was to the Frick Collection, a wonderful museum with some amazing paintings. No photography allowed, though, except in their handsome courtyard...

There are certainly more museums that we could have visited, as well as other attractions of all kinds. We did go out to Liberty Island on our last visit, in 2001, but Ellis Island is on my list for next time. Unfortunately, this is as close as we could get in 2019...

This place is definitely worth multiple visits!

WTC Memorials

I know it took a long time for folks to decide what to do with the space where the WTC towers once stood in lower Manhattan. But, after our visit there recently, I would say it was definitely worth the wait.

We didn't even go into the museum, but found that with our limited time, just strolling around the plaza was a very moving experience. And one which left us with a profound appreciation for the care that was taken, and is being taken, with memorializing the tragic events of 9/11.

Part of the reason for such deep appreciation was the on-site sources of information about the meanings of various elements: regular signs, a handy and informative computer "handbook" (see on the left) as well as an enthusiastic and informative security guard (more about him in a minute).

I talked about the Oculus building last time; you can see it next to the museum in the background of the photo above. As I mentioned, it was designed to resemble a dove of peace.

But the most peaceful elements in the plaza are the enormous pools that occupy the footprints of the two towers. You can see a bit of the North Pool in the photo above. These are perhaps the most beautiful, appropriate, and moving water features I've ever seen. 

Of course the buildings were large, so these are impressively large spaces. But they are so impressively designed as well!

Perhaps the aspect of the features I found the most compelling is the "void" into which the water falls in the center of each pool...a unique and oddly both disquieting and comforting element...

You can learn more about these, and the other features of the plaza, at this website

We knew about the names etched around the borders of each pool, but had no idea of how carefully arranged they all were. As we learned from the computer "handbook," (and this was confirmed by the website referenced above), the names around each pool are specifically the people who died in each building. The South Pool includes names of those killed in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. Moreover, names are grouped together based on affiliations, both personal and work-related.

The most wonderful thing about the names though, is this:

When we first saw this flower, we assumed it was put there by a relative of the person named, as flowers and other memorabilia are often left at the Vietnam Memorial. But it's even more moving: the Museum puts a flower by names on the persons' birthdays. Is that not a lovely way of remembering these folks?!

Whereas this practice was explained by a sign, we were curious about some slabs of granite that were only labelled as the "Memorial Glade." Here is one of these sculptures:

Fortunately a helpful security guard was nearby and we asked about the area. As he told us (and you can learn at the website) this area was a late addition to the site. It recognizes the construction

workers and others that labored to clear the site, and suffered health problems as a consequence.

The metal bands that seem to encircle the granite are taken from the wreckage of the buildings. And the orientation of the slabs, at an angle, is designed to echo the ramp that lead down into the pit at Ground Zero, where many of those honored did their work.

You can see a bit more of the Glade, along with the retreating figure of our helpful guard, in the photo  above on the right. 

Across Liberty Street from the main memorial plaza is one more impressive memorial, of a kind. In addition to the Survivor Tree (which you can learn about here) it's the only object from the wreckage that is part of the Memorial area. Here's a look at it from the main plaza (note the red box):

And here's a closer view...

It's a large sculpture that was located in the WTC plaza, placed there in 1971, and called "The Sphere." According to a sign next to its present location, it was found in the rubble of the buildings and later donated as a memorial. 

Very photogenic...

...it's also a stark reminder of the violence of that morning's events. Not restored in any way, but looking like it did in the ruins of the towers, on the base the damage is particularly visible...

You can learn more about the sculpture, and see what it looked like before September 11, 2001, at the Wikipedia link above.

I heartily recommend a visit to the lower tip of Manhattan Island when you are in New York. I've become something of a connoisseur of memorials in my late adulthood, and this is one of the finest I have seen.

WTC Architecture

First on my list of sites to visit during a long weekend in the Big Apple was the 9/11 Memorial area downtown. And in spite of gloomy, somewhat cold, weather, we were very glad to have seen these wonderful memorials (more about them next time) and the amazing architecture on display around them.

One WTC is of course the most striking of the buildings, and, unsurprisingly, I couldn't stop snapping photos of it...

It's even cool when it just shows up in reflection...

Before visiting the area, we knew about One WTC. The building that surprised us was this one...not sure how we missed hearing about it, but...WOW!

It's the Oculus, which is really just a swanky mall. But what an amazing structure! From all angles!

Here's what it looks like inside, completely (somewhat early) decked out for the holidays...

The balcony at the center of the second photo above is where we stood to take the first one. It really feels like you are inside some sort of starship or space station!

There are some neat older buildings in the area, too, providing that balancing of tradition and futurism that New York has always been famous for. Here are a couple examples of the early 20th century architectural vocabularies...

But of course everything in this area revolves around the events of 9/11/2001, and the museum commemorating the events is an impressive piece of architecture as well...(we didn't have time to tour the museum...maybe on our next visit?)

the Museum is the low angular building in the center of this photo

As we were informed by an enthusiastic security guard (more about what he told us next time), the Oculus itself was designed as part of the memorial space, to resemble a dove in flight. It does look like that, doesn't it?

And it's hard to avoid including the explicitly-memorializing elements of the space in your photos. You can see bits of the impressive fountains in the two pictures above. And then there's the "sphere," across Liberty Street. I'll tell you more about these somber, beautiful reminders of the tragedy next time. They deserve their own post, not just out of respect, but because of how visually striking and moving they are.