City Scapes, Vistas, & Architecture
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were completed and open for business in 1973, between my first summer in New York and my return to teach middle school in 1974.
One of the aspects of New York City that I love is that it’s walking city. On Saturdays and/or Sundays, I often grabbed my camera and walked. In fact, my usual New-York-fast-walk was replaced by a leisurely meander. You’ll see many of these meanderings in other chapters.
Walking in New York was full of surprises… interesting buildings, intriguing people, smells that ranged from the disgusting to the mouth-watering. I walked and ate and walked and snacked and walked.
Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge, 1975.
A view, through the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge of Lower Manhattan a bit further north than the previous photo. You can see the Twin Towers on the right, just a couple years after their completion.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center from the roof of my apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The Beresford Apartment Building on the west side of Central Park. View from across The Lake in Central Park.
The Arsenal Gallery on the east side of Central Park at E. 64th Street.
“Roaming around for a few hours looking for landmarks no longer there. Pawnshops, diners, flophouses gone. Some changes around the Flatiron Building but it is still there. I stood in awe just as I had done in 1963, saluting its creator Daniel Burnham. It took just a year to build his masterpiece with its triangular ground plan. Walking home I stopped for a slice of pizza. I wondered if the triangular shape of the Flatiron Building had triggered my desire for it. I got a coffee to go, which spilled over the front of my coat, as the lid wasn’t secured.”
— Patti Smith (2015) M Train. New York: Vintage Books (pp. 76–77).
The Flatiron Building, between 5th Avenue and Broadway at East 23rd Street. This view is looking south with 5th Avenue going straight down the middle and with Broadway veering off to the left. 23rd Street crosses just before the Flatirons Building.
The Empire State Building barely visible through the smog. Looking north on 5th Avenue ….. from maybe 8th Street or 10th Street.
Looking west above 14th Street from around 8th Avenue.
14th Street looking west from 8th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The American Legion is on the left and the Park Slope Jewish Center is on the right.
Looking west on 14th Street from 8th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Bridge walkway heading towards Brooklyn from Manhattan.
At the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan, the Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers & the Urban Assembly Maker Academy, which occupies part of the taller of high school building.
111 Fifth Avenue.
A small section of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.
Saint James Church on Madison Avenue at 71st Street.
Alice Maynard shop on 65th Street at Lexington Avenue.
Bank Melli Iran on Madison Avenue at 59th Street. This bank is no longer there…. I wonder why?
Amie Fashions.
Tending the entrance. Unknown location.
Unknown building front.
Unknown fashion store with Doric Columns.
Unknown building.
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Nice to see our common trails. I spent years on 8th and 6th Ave in Park Slope, and all around the town, with years in Philly and Denver in between, then a few places in uptown Manhatten, where I am now! 🙂