A repost with one lovely view of the city today. My version will be up later (much later)….Thanks Ailsa
Category Archives: Manhattan
4-21-11 Boat Moorings (Despite the temperature summer must be coming)
I went by to visit the hawks again this morning and as I arrived at the nesting area I saw the Samantha Miller dropping buoys into the river north of the 79th Street Boat Basin. I spoke with Sven of Miller\’s Launch, the company that runs the Samantha Miller, and he tells me that they were dropping in the moorings for all the people who summer their boats here. They will pick the moorings up in late fall.
3-18-11 Just Two Folks Talking
I had planned to go to Irvington today but for reasons that even I don’t find interesting, it didn’t happen.
However it was a gorgeous day (70+ degrees and sunny) and one of my reasons brought me down to 72nd Street so I decided to walk north to 102nd.
Some city employees (Union, I bet) were surveying at the 79th Street Boat Basin. I felt bad for them. They had all this heavy gear on and looked uncomfortable and hot, unlike many of the people out on the path.
I really like this last midtown section of the bike path that the city built over the river. It is very different from everything else near it and gives you a true sense of being on/over the river. I was taking the picture below which I am not 100% with but is here for context -
when a woman came up to me and hit me with a variant on that old surfer line: “You should have been here yesterday” The Endless Summer.
“You missed the photo opportunity yesterday” she said. She told me that she had been walking the day before and seen a 4′ (four foot) long beaver swimming upstream! She called people over to make sure she wasn’t seeing things and yes it was a beaver. We agreed that such an occurrence could only indicate good things for the river and its ecology. We talked about the fact we both walked the Hudson everyday and how much we liked this river. Then we discussed the hawks that have returned to the park and the ones that live on Riverside Church, she wished me luck in my project and said she hoped I would see the beaver the next time, and we went our separate ways.
I then looked down into the river and saw… a condom floating by.
I very much enjoy these random conversations that I frequently have (now that the weather is improving). Something about a guy with a camera, walking slowly, zig-zagging, kneeling or lying down, climbing on benches, and shooting… attracts conversation.
3-3-11 Thursday – A View From Riverside Park
There are days, like this morning, when I feel very much like this little guy. Perpetually about to launch but never managing to fly.
2-28-11 125th Street Station
In my experience, the 125th Street Station on the 1 Line is the only place on the MTA that you can see the Hudson. I have been there and shot several times already this year but I have always then walked north or south and shot other areas and per my one picture a day preference – violated only 3 times in 58 days- it has lost out every time. Which is strange when I think about it because I am a city guy and this is about as city as a view of the river can get. I love the energy of the city that you can feel from here. Although, admittedly, it feels much more mid-20th Century when the USA built the middle class and got things done than 21st century. Today, I decided to just shoot from the platform and then put the camera away. And that is what I did.
Random thoughts for the day:
The” joke” that describes the USA in March, 2011: A unionized public employee, a member of the tea party, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the tea partier and says, “Look out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie.”
Jane Russell died less than 24 hours after James Franco.
2-25-11 Soaked To The Bone On Friends Seminary Day in NYC (Bonus Photos!)
Did you know that February 25th, 2011 was declared Friends Seminary Day by Mayor Bloomberg in honor of the School’s 225th anniversary? Well it was. Friends Seminary
Friday was wet. I was out on the river at the Boat Basin when the weather cleared a bit and the rain stopped.
and this amazing fog/cloud rolled in.
I thought I would walk up the river and shoot and if it did start to rain, I had my raincoat, an umbrella and waterproof shoes. At about 90th street the sky started getting really dark but, hey, I was only 12 blocks away from the 101st Street underpass and …I had my raincoat, an umbrella and waterproof shoes. At around 95th Street the wind started to blow hard (I found out later between 40 and 50mph) and I saw this…
and in about 30 seconds it started to rain…sideways …from the river. It turned out that my raincoat didn’t cover all of my legs and my boots while waterproof for puddles, snow, and regular rain had met their match. Luckily, it was blowing from only one direction and as long as I faced the umbrella straight into the wind it was able to protect the camera. When I finally got under the bridge I was totally soaked. It is now 24 hours later and my boots and raincoat are still wet through. But, my camera gear is all snug and dry so all is well.
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Temporary Spring 2-18-11
Today was the first day that kids and teens were all over Riverbank Park. Between the 60 degree weather and the start of President Week break – man the hormones were flying. Lots of folks playing basketball and teams practicing for the baseball season as well.
Riverbank truly is a great park despite being built on a sewage plant. I love its Amphitheater.
Ah, The Stories We Could Tell, 2-16-11
It seems to me that as human beings we are always trying to impose order on the random chaos that daily surrounds us. Much of what happens during a day, be it at work, school, home or out among our fellow beings, while logical in the moment, does not really make a whole lot of sense in the larger context of our lives. So we create a narrative to explain what we are seeing and doing. We tell ourselves a story to make our day, or our lives coherent.
So, here is my question. What story do you create around this shoe and this engine mount and engine?. Are they related or is it a coincidence that they came to the riverbank in such close proximity? I wonder what story or stories the owners of this detritus are telling?
2-15-11 Macbeth and The Power of the Mind
I took this image this morning not knowing how appropriate it would seem after watching Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood play the Macbeths in Rupert Goold’s filmed adaptation of the 2008 stage production of Macbeth which has just been released on Netflix and DVD. Macbeth -PBS The interpretation is very much focused on the internal needs and lives of the leads and the bitter coldness and power of their imaginations and the society they create. Both performances are extraordinary as are the performances of most of the supporting players, especially Christopher Patrick Nolan as the Porter, Michael Feast as Macduff, and Martin Turner as Banquo, and I cannot recommend this film enough.
Ah, okay boss, but what does this have to do with the Quotidian Hudson? The power of the mind. Yesterday was a lovely, spring like day. Today was very February. It was not a special day, cold but nothing extreme, windy but not excessive. We have had many worse days as recently as last week but everyone on the river was grim. The runners looked pained, the dog walkers (but not the dogs) looked unhappy and were complaining.
Why? Well, I would suggest it is because we are human beings, we are very adept at adapting and utterly brilliant at developing false ideas. I can’t tell you how many people told me yesterday that it could hit 60 degrees on Friday and so…it only stands to reason that if it is 56 on Monday and will be 60 on Friday then all the days in between must be similar and indeed, (Hosanna!) winter is gone! No more freezing days, no more ice on the path. Why? My mind has decreed it so!
Oops.
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