New York NY

What is there for me to tell you about New York? You’ve seen it in countless movies and TV shows, you may even feel like you know the city although you’ve never been. It’s the yellow taxis, the Empire State building, the subways, the crowds, the street stalls, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the ‘I heart NY’ t-shirts, Central Park, Times Square, corner grocery stalls, fire escapes and people from all walks of life. What I can tell you is that in August it’s hot. Really hot. A heavy humidity that you can’t escape while you remain on the streets and the subways feel like ovens. There are tourists at every turn and the garbage on the dirty sidewalks really smells. Nevertheless, it is still New York. It is still busy with life of all shapes, forms and varieties. The people like to talk and they like to live. The parks are cool and peaceful, the restaurants vibrant, and the city full of icons. There is so much culture and difference that it’s hard to believe all this fits on a small island.

Yellow  taxis drive past a red brick Art Deco building in Midtown, a yellow traffic light hangs above and steam from the subway fills the air; The iconic Art Deco Chrysler Building glimpsed through the green foliage of Bryant Park.

American flags flutter against a background of tall sky scrapers in Midtown; A couple wait to cross the street, standing in the middle of the road because the Midtown street has been closed to traffic for a weekend market.

A homeless man sits and looks through plastic bags outside the grandiose New York Public Library, a sign beside him reads ‘Find the Future’.

Empty chairs are scattered across the grass in the summery sunshine of Bryant Park; Looking down Lexington Avenue beyond the subway steam to the iconic Chrysler Building.

An ‘I heart NY’ souvenir t-shirt stand beside a dirty road just off Times Square.

A man reads the newspaper in the shade Patience, one of the proud lions guarding the steps of the New York Public Library; A girl reads a book amongst the cool greenery of Bryant Park.

A hot dog and pretzel cart on the busy intersection that in the corner of 42nd St and 6th Ave, also known as Avenue of the Americas.

Three empty seats outside the grand and ornate white marble New York Public Library; Pigeons line up along the top of a yellow traffic light on 5th Ave.

Passers-by admire a giant yellow teddy bear lamp sculpture in the middle of Midtown office buildings.

A human Statue of Liberty busks among the crowds outside Central Park; A decorated horse in Central Park waits to give a carriage ride.

People walk through Central Park in the summer heat, the skyline of 59th St glimpsed through the trees.

Crowds of people relax on the green grass of Central Park to try and escape the heat.

Big stone pavers and shady old trees along the sidewalk outside Central Park; The distinctive architecture of the Guggenheim Museum with an ice cream truck outside.

A young man looks up train times at a booth inside the ornate Grand Central Station; Inside Grand Central Station a sign on the curved tiled ceiling points to trains in one direction and the oyster bar in the other.

Crowds of people in the brightly lit Times Square on a hot August night.

The New York skyline viewed across the top of Central Park trees from the roof of the Metropolitan Museum; A young woman listening to her ipod waits to cross the road on 5th Ave.

A rainbow of summer stone fruits for sale at the Union Square Farmers Market; Trendy locals shop for produce at the Union Square Famers Market.

A table piled high with fresh corn for sale at the Union Square Farmers Market.

Fresh baguettes in baskets at the Union Square Farmers Market.

Couples sit and watch the window over the traffic along the High Line in Chelsea, a disused elevated railway line which has been converted into a walkway park; The Empire State Building with yellow flowers and the buildings of Chelsea as seen from the High Line.

Looking across the High Line vegetation down to the streets and buildings of Chelsea.

Pink and yellow daisies growing on the High Line; A couple relaxes in the sun and reads on wooden lounge chairs on the High Line with the old red brick warehouses of Chelsea in the background.
Delicious and unusual summery flavours of People’s Pops icy poles sold along the High Line.

Despite the intense humidity, a barista makes coffee on the High Line for the waiting crowds; Bright yellow daisies against red brick buildings along the High Line.

Looking out from the High Line onto a ubiquitous old rusted fire escape hanging off a brick building.

A group of friends laugh together in the summer sun at the end of the High Line with city buildings behind.

A run down corner store in Chelsea selling flowers; A classic New York stoop with ornate iron fence in Chelsea.

Looking down the sidewalk in Chelsea to a row of iconic stoops with ornate iron fences.

It’s a city of dogs on leashes, a happy smiling daschund waits to cross the road.

Walls of tiered glass and modern sky scrapers with a glimpse of the street below, cars dwarfed by the monolithic glass buildings; Looking along Manhattan island towards the Financial District from the top of the Empire State Building with it’s distinctive diamond wire.

On a hot humid grey day looking from the top of the iconic Empire State building to the other icon, the Chrysler Building.

Tourists at the top of the Empire State Building with it’s distinctive diamond shaped wire fence and coin operated viewers.

Tourists point out the sights of New York from the top of the Empire State building.

Tourists walk the length of the Brooklyn Bridge, taking pictures as they go, passing a wooden bench seat with ornate ironwork; Three big ferries heading out to take in that famous New York landmark, the State of Liberty, which in reality is far smaller than you would imagine.

A couple pose to have their picture taken half way along the Brooklyn Bridge, traffic and the sky scrapers of the Financial District behind them.

Two friends pause halfway along the Brooklyn Bridge walk to have an animated conversation; Looking up towards the cloudy blue sky and the mess of cables and distinctive arches that is the Brooklyn Bridge.
Crowds of people, both locals and tourists walk between walls of cables along Brooklyn Bridge, the distinctive arches behind them.

A man takes a photo of himself on this phone from the Brooklyn Bridge while others pause along the walk to take in the skyscraper skyline.
The tight streets of the Financial District, wth old buildings reflected in new ones.

Two women sit and eat lunch salads right out the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall St; Grand columns holding up the American flag outside the Wall St’s New York Stock Exchange.

Crowds gather, tourists photograph and pose, and two men hug outside Federal Hall and it’s statue of George Washingon on Wall St, the place where he was inaugurated  as the first President of the United States.
From Battery Park, on the southern tip of the Manhattan island, a young man photographs himself with his phone in front of the Statue of Liberty, behind him a ferry loaded with tourists trying to get a closer look at the icon.
Lunch, a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel with capers.

A muslim family walk past a typical New York apartment with the ubiquitous fire escape in the East Village; A man browses a small shop selling hats and sunglasses in the East Village.

A woman rides her bicycle down the street in the humid heat, past other bicycles parked on the sidewalk in the East Village.

A woman sits and waits outside a packed cafe in the East Village in the humid heat, as a couple browse the menu; A red fire hydrant on the curb.

All sorts of shapes, sizes and abilities at a free weekend aerobics class held in the middle of an East Village street.

Another ubiquitous sight in the city, a NYPD traffic cop directing traffic with fluro yellow vest and white gloves.

People sit and relax on park benches amongst the cool greenery of the Washington Square park.
A jazz trio, with saxophone and double bass play in the humid heat of Washington Square while a women reads a book nearby; Three young women sit by the fountain in Washington Square and talk.

A New Yorker sits on a park bench in Washington Square and checks his iphone; People of all ages get together to play chess in Washington Square.

In Greenwich Village, an ATM, a bicycle, neon signs and an Ethiopian restuarant on a typical New York street; A FDNY firefighter smokes a cigar out the back window of the fire truck as it drives down a Greenwich Village Street.

A woman sits on a stoop in Greenwich Village and talks on her cell phone, a bicycle and a street-side ATM near by.

Trendy young New Yorkers dine outside a busy restaurant in Greenwich Village; Busy sidewalks, bicycles and fire escapes in Soho.

Three young men walk down the sidewalk in Soho, past a stickered ornate lamppost and cardboard on the curb awaiting garbage collection.

A woman buys a cool bottle of water and a giant pretzel from a street stall in Soho; Paved streets and a man hole cover, with a stylish women on her phone on the sidewalk.

Anything goes in New York and nothing is completely unexpected, two men cross the street with surfboards in Soho; A woman buys an iced tea to cool off from a street stand near the flea market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a woman walks down the steps into the excruciatingly hot subway with an iced tea.

People promenade along the pier at the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn despite the heat, the skyline of New York behind them shows the Empire State and Chrysler buildings hazy in the humidity.

A door in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg covered in stickers and an advertisement for an apartment; At the Sunday Brooklyn Flea Market on the Williamsburg waterfront mirrors and handbags are arranged on a cyclone fence for sale.

A trendy man browses old typewriters, suitcases and cameras for sale at the Brooklyn Flea Market on the Williamsburg waterfront, with the Empire State Buildings hazy from the humidity in the background.

Cut off denim shorts and bright short sleeve shirts for sale at the Brooklyn Flea Market on the Williamsburg waterfront.

A corner grocery store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, selling flowers with a bicycle and garbage can out the front; In Williamsburg one woman heads down the steps to enter the hot subway as another walks past.

Green plants in pots grow alongside stoop steps in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Crowds head out of the subway in Williamsburg, checking their watches and talking on cell phones, past a mess of parked bikes.

In the sometimes more peaceful and residential Brooklyn Heights, steps lead up to a red brick apartment building or house with a flower pot at the door; Stoops and iron fences in the leafy residential Brooklyn neighbourhood of Park Slope.

From the Brooklyn Heights Promenade a young tourist couple take photos of the hazy Manhattan Skyline.

Two scooters parked outside a red brick apartment building  in Brooklyn Heights, with an American flag hanging in the window; Grand, ornate and old stoop steps with a flower pot at the door in Brooklyn Heights.

To see more photos of American cities go to San Francisco CA, Seattle WA or Chicago IL.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 12th, 2011 at 6:25 am. It is filed under cities and tagged with America, city, lifestyle, New York, people, summer, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.