We Can Do It Too

I’ve been mining the digital collections of the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress for over ten years for dramatic pictures of NYC. Here’s one you won’t find in a library, taken by Tim Michiels:

I have not changed anything from the way Tim’s phone recorded the view (looking south along Central Park West). The air-quality index was good the last few days, so I think that glow was “golden hour” sunset rather than pollution; there’s either a bit of fisheye distortion going on, or the earth’s curvature is a lot more noticeable than I remember.

You’ve got the Billionaire’s Row towers just south of the Central Park, the yellow-lit crown of the new 270 Park Avenue, the aqua-lit spire of the Empire State Building, and some red and blue gaudiness at Times Square. (The building just to the left of Central Park West / Eighth Avenue with a flagpole is the current New York Times building.)

In the right foreground is the curved mansard roof of 285 Central Park West. And, just barely visible in the park, is Belvedere Castle. (Imagine a vertical line running down from 432 Park, the leftmost of the three tallest skinny towers in the distance. That line hits Belvedere above the center of the photo.)

In addition to being a visually-arresting picture, and in addition to allowing me to brag a bit, I feel like this image shows how important the park is to Manhattan. Sometimes, just knowing that the buildings end somewhere is enough to relax.