NYC - the architecture

Stepping out onto the streets of Manhattan is intoxicating.  From the moment you open the door, a cacophony of noise assaults you - traffic, honking horns, the click of heels on the sidewalk, the jibber jabber of people talking to each other and of course, into their phones.  It's like going from 0 to 60 mph in one second.  One of my favorite parts about visiting the city is entering the streets that first time.  In addition to the noise, you are surrounded - literally enveloped - in skyscrapers.

Before we visited for the first time, a friend of mine told me, "Don't forget to look up."  She was right.  There's so much to watch - and to watch out for - right in front of you, that it's easy to forget the entire world above you.  The buildings stretch so high they look like they curve; some of them actually do curve.  When they were first built, people wouldn't go up in them because they believed there wouldn't be enough oxygen in the atmosphere once they reached the top.

Looking around the city these days, it's impossible to believe it was once like so many other major American cities:  farmland.  Here's a taste of the architecture we saw this time around.

The concrete canyon effect.  More of these below.

Fire escapes are so much a part of the architecture, you almost don't even see them after a while.  But I think they're pretty in their own way.

The Empire State Building.  We're right below it, so you can't see the antenna on the top.

See the wooden water towers?  These are also everywhere.

Check out the juxtaposition of different types of architecture right next to each other.  This is very common and is part of the charm of the city.

These food vendors are very much a part of the Manhattan landscape.  In fact, they are so prosperous that they have to pay property taxes, just as the actual businesses in buildings do.  According to our tour guide, the hot dog stand at the Met had to pay $500,000 for its license, and about $20,000 per month in taxes alone.  Maybe I'm in the wrong job??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last picture is Harlem.  It's uptown.  See how different the architecture is?  It feels like a different world - well, it is a different world.

That pretty much wraps up the NYC trip - until next year!