New York City Nights

City nights, city lights. NYC, August 2006.
(Click pictures for larger view)

"It is the only town where one's eyes are drawn all the time away from the ground into the sky." ~ Freya Stark, Dust in the Lion's Paw

Early August in New York; hot and humid, but it's New York! After Wicked we walked around on our way back to the subway. The streets were teaming with people even at 11PM; bicycle rickshaw taxis on every corner and lined up next to the theaters. Potential customers swarmed out of the lavish venues, talking excitedly, laughing; reliving the magic just witnessed. The larger than life billboards, flashing police cruiser lights, gigantic television screens high on the side of a building playing commercials for hair color, designer jeans, Nike. Horns honking, the smells of hot dogs and pizza and the rumble of the subway below ground, followed by a blast of air through the vent grates in the sidewalk beneath our feet. Times Square, Radio City Music Hall, downtown Manhattan; the city is alive at night, even more so than during the business day.


Manhattan skyline.

"New York is a galaxy of adventure at once elegant, exciting and bizarre. It's a city that moves so fast, it takes energy just to stand still." ~ Barbara Walters

Back in Brooklyn, we watch the skyline of Manhattan from the apartment window with the lights outlining the buildings and shining brightly from the windows of skyscrapers. The night crews are cleaning offices, business men and women are working late, night traders dealing in the overseas markets; all in preparation for a new day.


Empire State Building

Further to the north stands the Empire State building; tall and straight with the spire lit brightly. Some nights it is red, other nights green. Tonight it is white, crowned with a blinking ruby jewel. The skyline of New York, morning or night; priceless.

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