So far this visit, the Empire State Building has been lit mainly white. Tonight it's a bright orange. At first I thought it might be related to Halloween (orange and black appear to be the standard colours). But I just checked online and they have a regular calendar of lighting and tonight it's in honour of a mentoring program called iMentor. The program's signature colour is orange.
By the way, there will be special Halloween lighting on the 31st.
... all lit up you look so pretty!
Before leaving Australia I purchased two tickets for the Empire State Building with the express purpose of experiencing it in the day and at night. As the skies were still clear I decided tonight was an opportunity not to be missed.
Armed with some wise photography tips from my friend Steve, I headed off at dusk. Unfortunately I miscalculated how quickly the sun would set and consequently got there a little later than I think would have been optimal. But it was still just as breathtaking.
Once again my express ticket ushered me past snaking line after snaking line. I cannot emphasise this enough; if you ever go, spend the little extra for an express ticket. I must have passed many hundreds of people. I can't imagine how long they'd been waiting for.
So this was my first attempt at serious night time photography with this camera and as you can imagine there are a number of parameters to play with. Unfortunately, the small the screen on the camera makes it hard to really tell which are working the best. I should have checked the histograms but I didn't think of it at the time. Now I've seen them on my iPad I feel I could fine tune and do better. But they're still the best night time shots I've ever been able to achieve. Thanks Steve!
On the way back to the hotel I passed the pop-up food stalls in Greeley Square that I encountered on Saturday. I was feeling peckish so got myself some goats cheese and rosemary "mac & cheese". Very tasty.
As it was still 20 blocks to the hotel I decided to take the subway. Unfortunately I caught the wrong line, but luckily figured out my mistake before getting too far off track. Before long I'd made my way back to the right line and the 14th street station safe and sound.
Yesterday was a perfectly clear day in NYC so I decided it was the day to use one of my Empire State Building tickets. The observation deck opens at 8:00 but by the time I'd finished fluffing around I didn't get there until about 9:00. But that didn't worry me because I'd purchased an express ticket online before leaving Australia.
But to my disappointment, I still found myself at the end of the only queue once entering the building. This queue snaked around for a while and it took about 15 minutes to move through; I was starting to feel a bit ripped off about the express ticket.
Then one of the attendants called out for express ticket holders and everything changed. I learnt to have my ticket with the express side showing and that made all the difference. One flash of that and I was ushered past countless subsequent queues and first into the lifts. I really didn't have to wait again. So my advice is pay the little extra; it is SO worth it.
As for the observation deck itself - it was crammed with people and freezing cold but utterly amazing. I've done quite a few towers over the last couple of years but this was the best by far. And being outdoors you had a really clear view as you can see below. I just kept slowly working my way around snapping and feeling totally in awe of this incredible city. It was a real "pinch me" moment. The only downside was that, because it was still early, the light was too low downtown to get good pictures. It ended up looking a bit hazy. But uptown had plenty of shadows and brightly illuminated buildings.
And all the time in my head was a line from "Moments of Pleasure" by Kate Bush - "the buildings of New York, just look like mountains through the snow"
I have another ticket and I plan to go back at night.
I have had a truly amazing day today in New York. Possibly the best day of my holiday. The weather has been brilliant and I experienced a huge range of emotions. I want to write about each in detail. But for now, here's my "60 second summary" (Anna will get that reference).
I got up early to go to the Empire State Building observation tower. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe New York from up there.
In the afternoon I took the subway to visit the 9/11 Memorial. I'm glad I wear glasses most of the time these days because they helped cover up the tears that kept seeping out each time I glanced at the names inscribed around the two waterfalls.
Then I made my way to Battery Park and back to the hotel along the Hudson River. Just gorgeous.
I'll write more about the first two, with pictures, tomorrow.
I'm going to get ready to go out for a little while tonight. There's an "avant garde" performance happening in the lobby of a hotel as part of a music festival that I want to catch.
