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New York City Skyline - Central Park and Skyscrapers from Above - By Vivienne Gucwa When the day stretches out leaving a trail of sighs in its wake, the sky and the infinite slowly implode folding themselves into one another until all that is left is a never-ending horizon reaching out towards the rest of forever. --- This is a view of Central Park and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan as seen from above. It was taken from the top of the Empire State Building on an impossibly perfect morning. Upper Manhattan sits in the distance with the Chrysler Building and Queens to the right. The trees of Bryant Park are peeking out in the bottom-left part of this image. ---
New York City Skyline - Empire State Building and Midtown Manhattan Skyscrapers - By Vivienne Gucwa Being above the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan makes the mind and heart pause. It's hard to take in the immensity of the view especially after sunset when all of the city's lights flicker like stars in a sky suspended upside down over an ocean full of clouds. But, after a few moments, something else happens. The mind reels, tipsy after taking its first, lingering sip of the cityscape. And, with giddy eagerness, questions and curiosity start to take over as the eyes wander over every roof and into every window, past the fast moving traffic that zips across the city streets like shooting stars. How many dreams are bursting forth, ready to propel themselves from the minds of urban dreamers: out from inside the walls, offices, apartments, and houses that contain them? How many hopes are being uttered at the same time? How many love songs are being sung? How many hearts are being broken as other hearts are connecting? And as the sun dips below the horizon letting the urban stars hang brightly in their own universe, the city speeds on at its own pace as someone else begins pondering variations on the same series of thoughts... ---- This is a view of the Empire State Building and the New York City skyline as seen from Top of the Rock. It's a long exposure and the view is looking south towards lower Manhattan. One World Trade Center (or 1 WTC - also known as the Freedom Tower) can be seen in the distance to the right of the Empire State Building. ---
New York City - Night - By Vivienne Gucwa I have been traipsing all over the city for the last few months trying to capture a large majority of New York City’s skyline views. I think everyone has a particular skyline view they immediately think of when they think of the city. And yet, it’s still incredible to me after all this time that I come across different skyline angles that I hadn’t previously come across or had the time to explore before from certain vantage points. New York City has several prominent skyline views that are popular. One is in lower Manhattan and usually includes the skyscrapers of the Financial District along with the one or more of the bridges that serve the lower part of Manhattan. The other series of skyline views can be found from the top of a few popular skyscrapers in midtown Manhattan. Another series of skyline views involves the midtown Manhattan skyline as seen from different vantage points across (or in some cases directly from) the East River. This particular view is taken from one of the latter vantage points. It’s a 30 second long exposure taken on a gorgeously clear and cold night in the beginning of March from Roosevelt Island. Prominent skyscrapers in this view are the Chrysler Building and the United Nations building (all the way to the left). The lights of other famous midtown skyscrapers can also be seen even if those skyscrapers (looking at you Empire State Building) are hidden in this view. The lights directly in front of the skyscrapers that line the East River belong to the FDR Drive, a major traffic route that lines New York City’s east side. --------
New York City from Above - Midtown Skyscrapers and Queensboro Bridge - By Vivienne Gucwa This is a view of the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge (also known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, 59th Street Bridge, and Queens Bridge) and the skyscrapers of the New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan close to 59th Street on the east side. The vantage point is from the Roosevelt Island Tram, a tram that crosses from midtown Manhattan to Roosevelt Island a few times an hour which also offers breathtaking views of New York City. ---
New York Night - Queensboro Bridge and the Manhattan Skyline - By Vivienne Gucwa When the night falls hard onto the city's shoulders and the sky drapes a dark blanket over the skyscrapers and buildings, it's hard to contain the effervescent charm that bursts forth after the sun has retreated. --- This is the Queensboro Bridge which is known by a few other names depending on where you are from and how long you have lived in New York City. Despite growing up in Queens, I will always think of this bridge as the 59th Street Bridge because I think I belonged to one of the few families in Queens that for whatever reason associated the bridge more with 59th Street in Manhattan. It's also known as Queens Bridge which is a shortened form of Queensboro Bridge. Its current official name is the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, named after the now deceased former mayor of New York City who held office from the late 70s to the early 80s. He was many things least of all a "character" (as we say). The vantage point is from Roosevelt Island and this is the result of a 30 second exposure taken with the Sony A99. It was taken on a bitterly cold night in the beginning of March while I was having a spirited conversation with one of the Roosevelt Island security guards regarding the abandoned smallpox hospital further down the island. I tend to love to shoot long exposures alone but it was great to have the company (and quirky conversation) that night. It's those type of moments that make me love the city: little bursts of spontaneity and brevity while watching the lights sparkle in the city's eyes. ---
Midtown Manhattan Skyscrapers and Streets from Above - By Vivienne Gucwa I have been afraid of heights since I can remember. Even stepping on a tall foot stool would send me into a frenzied panic. It's partially a control issue and partially an irrational fear of the eternal "what if" quandary related to my own mortality. And yet, I have discovered as I get older that there is something supremely thrilling about being high up above things especially being high up above New York City. It's the same scattered sense of adrenaline-fueled excitement I get when I consider the vastness of the ocean. And in some ways, I think both vantage points offer the same sense of displaced wonder. A month or so ago, I watched an absolutely incredible video called Overview which examined something called the Overview Effect. "The Overview Effect is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts and cosmonauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from orbit or from the lunar surface." I can't recommend the video highly enough. It's a 15 minute short film that explores different astronaut's life-altering experiences viewing the earth from above for the first time. The footage of earth from above in the film is overwhelming. It's an emotional journey of a film that definitely has lodged its way into my consciousness. Here it is: http://vimeo.com/55073825 A few years back, when I went to the Top of the Rock, I had such an incredibly visceral reaction when I experienced seeing the city from above. It was rough for me to even take the elevator up 70 floors to the observation deck. I clenched my sweaty fists and closed my eyes the whole time deep breathing probably much to the amusement (or dread) of the fellow elevator passengers. Once I stepped out and onto the upper deck, I was hooked. It was as if I was seeing the city for the first time. Once you take yourself out and away from the streets that surround you, it's as if the city opens up its arms to you. It's fascinating to consider all of the activity and stories that are contained in any one part of such a view. In the short film I linked above, one of the astronauts describes the Overview Effect saying that common features include a feeling of awe for the planet, and a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life among other perspective-shifting feelings. And I really think that anytime we take ourselves high above or deep below the reality we experience every day, it produces different (subtler and perhaps more overwhelming in regards to the ocean) versions of the Overview Effect. Since experiencing that amazing feeling when I pushed past my fear of heights to take myself high above my own every-day reality, I have actively pushed myself to seek out as many high vantage points as I can. This particular image was taken high above the 59th Street Bridge (also known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge) entrance overlooking the buildings and skyscrapers that make up the New York City skyline in midtown Manhattan. ---
New York City Skyscrapers and Rooftops from Above - By Vivienne Gucwa This was taken from the top of the Empire State Building on an absolutely gorgeous summer morning with the Sony A77. The light from the sun in the summertime is un-matched in some respects. It seems to take on a distinct golden quality as it shines through the heavy summer air that hangs languidly over the city's rooftops. This particular view is of the tops of the skyscrapers and buildings of midtown Manhattan facing east. ---
New York City Sunset - Skyline - By Vivienne Gucwa I never really get tired of this view. I know I have expressed that sentiment many times but it's absolutely true. There's something incredibly breathtaking that occurs when you are above the rooftops of the city. It's as if the city shrinks below a vast sky in a huge universe and everything that once seemed impossible seems effortless and within the realm of possibility. It's so easy to forget that sort of thing when you live in a large city like New York City. When you are in the thick of it all, it can feel like the you are alone in a never-ending maze of cavernous streets as everyone else's dreams and hopes fly past you at the speed of light. But when you take yourself out from the middle of everything and change your perspective, it's as if the city holds its arms out to you beckoning you to come back and put your own dreams out there so they can spread their wings and fly up to the sky towards the horizon leaving a trail of hope in their path. --- This was taken from the top of Rockefeller Center (also known as Top of the Rock) and it's probably one of the most popular views of the New York City skyline since it includes the Empire State Building and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan. The view is looking south towards One World Trade Center (also known as the Freedom Tower and 1 WTC) and the skyscrapers of the Financial District. ---
New York City Skyline and the Chrysler Building - View from Queens - By Vivienne Gucwa When clouds pull themselves over the city after sunset, the city reaches up to greet the night with stars in its eyes and a racing pulse. And when the night reaches down to hold the city in the palm of its hands, the city's lights spill out onto a dark sky peppering it with stars. --- There is a heady essence of myth and legend that permeates the in-between times of the day. It seems to seep out especially in the evening just after the sun has reached the horizon when the air is thick with legend. One of my favorite activities is waiting for night to fall while experiencing the deep inhale and exhale of the city. Light spills out from the buildings and pours itself onto the surface of the water and the sky while the blue of the day's sky melts into the night's palm. --- This was taken on a bitterly cold and windy evening at Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens. The wind was whipping across the water with some ferocity and the dock was moving along with the wind gusts making even a 4 second exposure (as this is) quite a challenge. But the light and the storm clouds were magical that night and it was well worth the endless crossing of fingers hoping that the wind didn't dance too much with the camera. Some of the most beautiful views of the skyline are from across the East River and Queens has an impressive view of the skyline in Long Island City. When I was growing up in Queens, Long Island City was an almost entirely industrial area. It has become far more residential in recent decades and the areas that boast these views are now in high demand. ---

New York City Skyline - Central Park and Skyscrapers from Above

- By Vivienne Gucwa

When the day stretches out

leaving a trail of sighs

in its wake,

the sky

and the infinite

slowly implode

folding themselves into one another

until all that is left

is a never-ending horizon

reaching out towards

the rest of forever.

---

This is a view of Central Park and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan as seen from above. It was taken from the top of the Empire State Building on an impossibly perfect morning. Upper Manhattan sits in the distance with the Chrysler Building and Queens to the right. The trees of Bryant Park are peeking out in the bottom-left part of this image.

---
New York City Skyline - Central Park and Skyscrapers from Above - By Vivienne Gucwa When the day stretches out leaving a trail of sighs in its wake, the sky and the infinite slowly implode folding themselves into one another until all that is left is a never-ending horizon reaching out towards the rest of forever. --- This is a view of Central Park and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan as seen from above. It was taken from the top of the Empire State Building on an impossibly perfect morning. Upper Manhattan sits in the distance with the Chrysler Building and Queens to the right. The trees of Bryant Park are peeking out in the bottom-left part of this image. ---

New York City Skyline - Central Park and Skyscrapers from Above

- By Vivienne Gucwa

When the day stretches out

leaving a trail of sighs

in its wake,

the sky

and the infinite

slowly implode

folding themselves into one another

until all that is left

is a never-ending horizon

reaching out towards

the rest of forever.

---

This is a view of Central Park and the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan as seen from above. It was taken from the top of the Empire State Building on an impossibly perfect morning. Upper Manhattan sits in the distance with the Chrysler Building and Queens to the right. The trees of Bryant Park are peeking out in the bottom-left part of this image.

---
See photo in original gallery.
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