The opposite of rural is urban and New York City is about as urban as it gets. While I love the beauty of our setting in the Village of Rural and most all of Wisconsin, I have to admit there is a different kind of beauty in the cities.
A couple of weeks ago I spent some time in Manhattan with my daughter while on the way to stay with my mother in Florida while she has surgery. (My daughter, the journalism student, is an editorial intern at Popular Science magazine until the end of this month.) While she was at work I did some walking and, when I remembered to take my camera along with me, took some photos.
The tiny apartment my daughter shares with a roommate is one and one-half blocks from the Hudson River - where the US Airways passenger plane ditched recently. Judging by the proximity of the bridge to the pier, I imagine it first hit the water very close to where I was standing.
The Hudson looks enormous when compared to our clear and sparkling little Crystal River!
Near the pier, along the East side of the Hudson are the remnants of the New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge. An interesting site now on the National Register of Historic Places - as are many of the buildings in Rural.
The park that runs between the trails and the river is a nice spot to sit and enjoy the view of the boats on the water, even though the sound of the rushing traffic above is a clear reminder that this is still the big city.
Once out of the park and up on street level again, the glistening giants of some of the Trump buildings inspire a bit of a different kind of awe. The clean, sleek lines of the more modern towers in the city certainly give off an aura of power and prosperity, however, they are not nearly as interesting to me as some of the older, more ornate examples of big city architecture.
Churches, in particular, are a treasure trove of the most intricate and beautiful architectural detail. It is awesome to think of the time and talent that went into the planning and execution of these marvelous structures.
Some residential buildings also have very attractive architectural elements. This building on Central Park (above), I was told by another photographer, is the home of celebrities like Madonna and Paul Simon.
Central Park itself has quite a number of fascinating details in the formation of the walls and overpasses that adorn various parts of the area. Stay tuned for more photos....
Lincoln Center around dusk. There was a lot of reconstruction going on around LC and Julliard. Looks like they were just about to be wrapping it all up when I was there, though all the plywood walls and barricades were still in place.
