Washington Heights, St. Nicholas Avenue Between 188th and 187th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

As promised, here are more buildings with cut-outs at the roof top.  Please enlarge this so you can see how they're made.  Also, take a look at the intricate brickwork.  This building is on the northeast corner of St. Nicholas and 188th St.





Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

This is the building next to it, and together, they make up the entire block on the east side.  Just walking along the street, seeing those storefronts, you wouldn't guess there's all that fancy stuff at the top, would you?  Let's all make a resolution to look up more.  I know it feels uncool, but if you assume an imaginary profession, you can make it work.  Me, I'm a street photographer.  You could be a landmarks surveyor.  Or a building inspector.

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East Village, Fourth Avenue Between 12th and 13th Streets

And now to conclude this walk, I give you three rooftop shots. The first one was taken from the block between 11th and 12th, but who's counting?



Mary Sargent © 2009 ………… click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 ………… click to enlarge

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……….. click to enlarge


It looks like tomorrow is a beautiful day. Maybe I'll get that long walk I've been longing for. Craving spring.

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Chelsea, Seventh Avenue at 25th Street

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………….. click to enlarge

I have finally left 26th Street – this blog was eight nights on one block. Not one street, one block. A pretty good block, I thought.

Now I've turned onto Seventh Avenue on my way to Whole Foods and Garden of Eden on 23rd Street. This is the northwest corner of 25th and Seventh.



Mary Sargent © 2009 ……….……….. click to enlarge

And up above, we have one of those old faded signs. If you like old signs and signs in general, go immediately to New York City Signs – 14 to 42 Street. Another obsessive – of the best sort.

Tomorrow I hope to start a new walk.

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Hudson Square, King Street Between Varick Street and Sixth Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Last Friday, after therapy, I went down to Soho to a new optician recommended by my opthamologist. I knew this guy would be more expensive than Lenscrafters, but I was never happy with my glasses from Lenscrafters and I've suffered with them for years, so I figured it was time to get good glasses. I deserved good glasses, I told myself.

So I took the No. 1 to Houston and walked into that area now being called Hudson Square even by people who live there, not just real estate agents, so I guess I'll have to acquiesce. Before it was called Hudson Square, it wasn't called much of anything, so it did need a name, but Hudson Square just sounds so wrong. So fancy. Not appropriate. I'll try to give up complaining after tonight.

I walked one block of King Street, then crossed Sixth Avenue into Soho.

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Washington Heights, 181st Street Between St. Nicholas and Audubon Avenues

Last
Last block I showed you four pictures of street vendors and people. I have photos of a different sort for this block, but I hope they give you a feel for the street. Here's four:



Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

see

see

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Greenwich Village, 3rd Street Between Mercer Street and LaGuardia Place

Mary Sargent © 2008 ………………………….. click to enlarge

I am standing on 3rd Street shooting between two buildings at a building on 4th Street with other buildings in back of it probably on Washington Place. Just so you know. Just so you don't think it's a stage with a painted backdrop.

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Upper West Side, Broadway Between 109th and 108th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Those of you who care about such things will be troubled to notice that I went from 109th Street to 108 and then doubled back to 109-108. I share your unease. It's because I didn't get out for a photowalk today as I had planned. Let's hope tomorrow goes better.

There's that sun I was talking about. According to my metadata, this shot was taken at 6:19:32 p.m.

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Upper East Side, Park Avenue Between 86th and 96th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

What did I tell you? These are four different blocks on Park Avenue between 86th and 96th and you'd almost think I was showing you the same block four times.

But there are a few breaks in the uniformity and you will see them soon.

By the way, I was able to discover that the very first building at the top of the page (on the northwest corner of 86th Street) was built in 1923-24 and that Condé Nast lived in the penthouse and gave great parties.

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Midtown, 58th Street Between Seventh Avenue and Broadway

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………. click to enlarge

I wanted to show you this photo last night, along with the other two, but it got so late and I was all snarled up in Photoshop, so I gave it up. Not that I changed it today. I gave that up, too. I just wish sunlight was hitting those towers.

Notice the small building in the middle. That's the one from the first two photos; here it's seen in a larger perspective. I've mentioned before my fondness for these old small buildings left standing alone with their sides exposed. It's not clear to me if this one is due to be demolished or it's just going to have a new neighbor. Anyway, you see it here surrounded by its taller, clunky and undistinguished neighbors. And off in the distance gleaming like the Emerald City of Oz are the ethereal towers of the Time Warner building.

OR, off in the distance, tall and menacing, are the cold, inhuman towers of the TIME WARNER BUILDING.

Read it as you will, but you must admit, it does seems to have many elements of the contemporary New York streets. And I haven't even mentioned the dumpster in the foreground.

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Midtown, 57th Street Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2008 …… .. click to enlarge

This is a street level view of The Metropolitan Tower, the tall reflective building from last night's photo. As we were walking toward it, it looked as if there were a giant shimmery mural on the side of the building. If you're at all interested in architecture, you must read Carter B. Horsley's article on this building. He's quite enthusiastic and uses words to describe it like ferocious, belligerent and narrow-focused. But in a good way. Meanwhile, the AIA Guide sniffs that it is a "gross and insensitive intrusion." As for me, just slap some glass on it and I'll like it.



Mary Sargent © 2008 …… .. click to enlarge

Here's another view showing the sharp edge of the triangular tower that rises above the rectangular base. It's cozying up next to the Carnegie Hall Tower, built around the same time. The Metropolitan Tower was built in 1987 and the Carnegie Hall Tower 1986-1990. Grossly insensitive? They seem happy enough together to me. You decide.

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Financial District, Rector Street at Trinity Place

Mary Sargent © 2008 ………. click to enlarge


Shot from Rector Street, these buildings are north of Trinity Church. The old and the new – nice foils for each other.

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Financial District, Rector Street At Trinity Place

Mary Sargent © 2008 …….. click to enlarge

This is to the side and behind the Trinity Church spire.

Trinity Church was built in 1846 and is the third church to stand at this site. The first was destroyed in a fire in 1776 while the British held New York; the second was torn down in 1839 after being weakened by severe snow storms. NYC-Architecture.com has a nice gallery of old images of the current church. I particularly like the one that shows it as the tallest building around.

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Inwood, Academy Street at Nagle Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

So yesterday, New Year's Day, I was in a hurry to shoot while the sun was out, so I took the No. 1 to Dyckman Street and walked one block up Nagel to Academy Street. This final three blocks of Academy was pretty dull photographically speaking. One can always look up.

A sky like this seems to call forth that age-old question: Mommy, why is the sky blue?

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Inwood, Nagle Avenue between Dyckman and Academy Streets

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all got plenty of sleep and have been busy fulfilling your resolutions. I, myself, got up extremely late today (with good reason) and have decided to put off the resolution thing until tomorrow.

Except for one. I was looking vacantly out the window, coffee cup in hand, and noticed that although rain had been predicted and it was mighty gray out there, it wasn't actually raining, and since I do like to start the new year with a photograph taken in the new year, I was pondering the possibility of getting dressed and going out there. While I was mulling it over, the sun broke through and dramatically transformed the scene outside my window. Well that galvanized me, although I was pessimistic that it would remain sunny long enough for me to get some shots. For that reason I picked a location close by, yep, Inwood.

Here's the good news, folks. The days are getting longer! You heard it here first. That sun was still shining at 4:15. So although I'm sure there's plenty of miserable weather ahead of us and spring will take forever to get here, we can all take comfort in the lengthening days. Oh, thank goodness.

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Hell's Kitchen, 33rd Street Between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

There's the starkness of the streets (see yesterday) and then there's this. I'm thinking this would make a good jigsaw puzzle.

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Chinatown, Canal Street Between Centre and Baxter Streets

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge



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Midtown, 45th Street Between Depew Place and Lexington Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2007 ………….. click to enlarge

Lacking inspiration at ground level, I tried looking up.

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Theater District, Eighth Avenue Between 43th and 42nd Streets

Mary Sargent © 2006 ………. click to enlarge

Sometimes I feel like the rawest tourist. Is this building believable? Doesn't it look like a graphic design? Why haven't I heard about it? I have the feeling everyone knows about it but me.

Looking at this, you know you're in the theater district.

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Hell's Kitchen, 46th Street Between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2006 ………………………… click to enlarge

I look up a lot more than I used to. The great thing about doing this is you can do anything you damn please, you can look up, over, stare, gawk, study your map, and it doesn't matter what people think, whether they think you're a tourist or just dimwitted, because you know better, you know you're a Street Photographer. Yeah.

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