Edward Steichen
Flatiron Building 1904
(This file is in the public domain in the United States)
As a former employee of Radio City Music Hall I can tell you what an amazing place with many surprising nooks-n-crannies it is--literally. When I worked there, some rooms (dorms for the performers) seemed at that time, to be almost nearly untouched by time, with beds, sinks, fixtures and other items dating back to the 1930's. Walking through there was like being taken back, through a time machine. Also, having toured different areas of the Music Hall, including the sound control room which was (and most likely still is) high up near the ceiling giving spectacular views of the entire stage and seating, it didn't take me long to conclude that the entire Radio City complex, with its lower level area leading to subway and plenty of specialty shops, was more like a city within a city. My office, which I shared with my boss, overlooked the marquee giving us nice views of the building across the street and Avenue of the Americas.
A True New York Tale
I began to first develop my love for New York buildings...New York architecture as a young child visiting Manhattan with my dad. By then my parents had purchased their second house in Queens having migrated from Manhattan. But my uncle, my father's twin brother still lived with his family in Manhattan. With my uncle being my father's only relative living in New York, they were very close and visits to his Manhattan apartment were nearly every Sunday. It was during these weekly visits, these Sunday drives into the city that my father would point out various buildings to me, to see and appreciate. My father was enamored of New York architecture and one who never ceased to delight in and hold respect for those towering canyons of steel.
Our sight-seeing on wheels became a ritual of sorts with us. But my favorite part of it was when we had come off the 59th Street Bridge and made our way to where the Plaza Hotel was. I can recall how I would spring to life feeling energized by the sights and sounds of the Plaza, limos, handsome cabs with their tranquil horses clip-clopping along, and scores of people out walking at this busy intersection. My father would always drive through the park (Central Park) in order to cross from the East to the West Side where my uncle and his family lived. Once we arrived on the West Side, finding parking was always a problem which aggravated my poor father to no end. On more than many occasions he seemed more like the Flying Dutchman in search of a landing pad. And there were times we'd end up walking blocks from the car. But this too gave us an opportunity to appreciate the various building structures in New York, as we walked past one type after another.
On the way home was the best part of it all. By this time it was sunset and night time would be approaching fast. Back through Central Park we'd go--this time from the West to the East Side. Sometimes I would stretch out in the backseat of the car (this is at a time before mandatory seat belt laws). I would lie down and look out of the rear window in order to see the tops of the buildings as we drove and got closer to the East Side. My father would usually have some music playing on the radio, what you might today call "elevator music", and this time we would both just quietly and contently soak in the sights and sounds of the city around us, with it's skyscrapers lit up against the backdrop of a velvet sky.
My mother, being from Texas, would often fuss with my father to 'leave New York and move west'. Neither one of us believed she really meant it though. My dad would protest, steadfastly pronouncing that he wasn't going anywhere--that he would die in New York. Years later, being a man of his word, that is exactly what he did--right there in a Manhattan hospital among the skyscrapers.
-DiamondHead
Here is a wonderful artist who really likes to draw New York buildings and who leaves 'no stone' unturned.
"All The Buildings In New York" work by artist James Gulliver Hancock
http://allthebuildingsinnewyork.blogspot.com/
Flatiron Building 1904
(This file is in the public domain in the United States)
...and Radio City Music Hall.
As a former employee of Radio City Music Hall I can tell you what an amazing place with many surprising nooks-n-crannies it is--literally. When I worked there, some rooms (dorms for the performers) seemed at that time, to be almost nearly untouched by time, with beds, sinks, fixtures and other items dating back to the 1930's. Walking through there was like being taken back, through a time machine. Also, having toured different areas of the Music Hall, including the sound control room which was (and most likely still is) high up near the ceiling giving spectacular views of the entire stage and seating, it didn't take me long to conclude that the entire Radio City complex, with its lower level area leading to subway and plenty of specialty shops, was more like a city within a city. My office, which I shared with my boss, overlooked the marquee giving us nice views of the building across the street and Avenue of the Americas.
A True New York Tale
I began to first develop my love for New York buildings...New York architecture as a young child visiting Manhattan with my dad. By then my parents had purchased their second house in Queens having migrated from Manhattan. But my uncle, my father's twin brother still lived with his family in Manhattan. With my uncle being my father's only relative living in New York, they were very close and visits to his Manhattan apartment were nearly every Sunday. It was during these weekly visits, these Sunday drives into the city that my father would point out various buildings to me, to see and appreciate. My father was enamored of New York architecture and one who never ceased to delight in and hold respect for those towering canyons of steel.
Our sight-seeing on wheels became a ritual of sorts with us. But my favorite part of it was when we had come off the 59th Street Bridge and made our way to where the Plaza Hotel was. I can recall how I would spring to life feeling energized by the sights and sounds of the Plaza, limos, handsome cabs with their tranquil horses clip-clopping along, and scores of people out walking at this busy intersection. My father would always drive through the park (Central Park) in order to cross from the East to the West Side where my uncle and his family lived. Once we arrived on the West Side, finding parking was always a problem which aggravated my poor father to no end. On more than many occasions he seemed more like the Flying Dutchman in search of a landing pad. And there were times we'd end up walking blocks from the car. But this too gave us an opportunity to appreciate the various building structures in New York, as we walked past one type after another.
On the way home was the best part of it all. By this time it was sunset and night time would be approaching fast. Back through Central Park we'd go--this time from the West to the East Side. Sometimes I would stretch out in the backseat of the car (this is at a time before mandatory seat belt laws). I would lie down and look out of the rear window in order to see the tops of the buildings as we drove and got closer to the East Side. My father would usually have some music playing on the radio, what you might today call "elevator music", and this time we would both just quietly and contently soak in the sights and sounds of the city around us, with it's skyscrapers lit up against the backdrop of a velvet sky.
My mother, being from Texas, would often fuss with my father to 'leave New York and move west'. Neither one of us believed she really meant it though. My dad would protest, steadfastly pronouncing that he wasn't going anywhere--that he would die in New York. Years later, being a man of his word, that is exactly what he did--right there in a Manhattan hospital among the skyscrapers.
-DiamondHead
Here is a wonderful artist who really likes to draw New York buildings and who leaves 'no stone' unturned.
"All The Buildings In New York" work by artist James Gulliver Hancock
http://allthebuildingsinnewyork.blogspot.com/
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