Nighttime at Columbia University

This Monday, I finally got around to taking the long exposures around Columbia University that had been on my to-do list.  I'm so glad that I didn't put this off any longer.























I may be falling in love.

The Guggenheim Museum NYC

The Guggenheim Museum in NYC is open to donation of choice (we each paid $1) on Saturdays after 5 PM.  The line wraps all the way around the street corner.  There's strictly no photography inside the museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which is a bit of a bummer, but understandable.













The James Turrell exhibit was interesting.  He transformed the atrium into a light exhibit which looked really cool from the bottom, but it caused the rest of the building to be really dark.  One of the most interesting things about Frank Lloyd Wright's design is the circulation of the building.  However, I felt that it was obstructed by the light exhibit.  I'd like to go when that's not in place to see how the building really looks from the inside.


Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street)
New York, NY 10128

4th of July in NYC

We had the day off for Independence Day.  Our only real plan was to watch the Macy's Fireworks over the Hudson River, but we didn't really know how to go about doing that.  The Macy's website listed where the barges would be and where to view from, but we didn't know how early it was necessary to be there to reserve spots.  We also didn't know if we'd be allowed to bring coolers, chairs, and the like for holding spots after reading mixed reviews online.  I decided it was worth it to try to bring my travel tripod.

We got off the subway at 34th Street, and after talking to our friends who were ahead of us getting there, we knew that we needed to start moving south.  We ended up finding a location at 30th and 10th, right by the High Line.  Because of the construction, it wasn't the prettiest view.

I think by the time we finally got settled, it was 7:50 PM.  We thought fireworks started at 8:30 PM, but they ended up starting at 9.

















According to the Macy's website, the show was choreographed to music, but we couldn't hear any from where we were standing.  It was a surprisingly lengthy show.  I wouldn't have minded being a little closer, though.  Not quite Disney status, but much better than a backyard SC show!

Empire State Building

I guess my reward for getting my work done Sunday afternoon was that I was free to go to the Empire State Building with a friend that night.  It was his last night in NYC, and he really wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building.  Being one of the only ones finished, I got to go with him.

The Empire State Building is open until 2AM.  We arrived on Sunday around 11PM.  Luckily for us, the skies had finally cleared (there was zero visibility from the top earlier that day).



There was absolutely no line for tickets.  We walked right in.  Tickets to the 86th floor are $25, and you can pay an extra $17 to go to a higher viewing platform.  We stuck with the $25 ticket.  They also advertised $50 passes which let you skip the lines, but there were no lines for us to skip.  We walked right through.



Tripods aren't allowed, but I brought along a small Gorillapod which I used to stabilize my camera.  My lenses (Nikon 1 10-30mm and 30-110mm) aren't quite large enough to just let my camera rest on the edge by itself.  Other DSLR users looked to be having luck just resting their camera on the edge.  I got away with the Gorillapod until the very end, when we were about to leave, and a security guard came over to me and told me that I had to take my tripod off because they aren't allowed (it's seriously like 6" tall).  I didn't argue because I already had all the shots I wanted, but I don't see how my small Gorillapod was any different than just resting a camera on the ledge.



It's pretty easy to pick out Times Square at night...







The tower was illuminated in rainbow colors for New York City Pride Week.







It was really a great time to go to the top of the Empire State Building.  It wasn't crowded at all, and the weather was wonderful.


Empire State Building
350 5th Avenue, New York, NY

NYC Sightseeing

This past week, we had a friend in architecture from Germany visit us in New York City.  He's been here for 11 months and on his last hoorah before he heads back to Munich in a week.  So I took the opportunity to tag along as he visited the must-sees on his NYC list.



This is also when we got scammed by the street performers.

The first thing on his list, since he's also an architecture major, was the One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill -



It's really nearing completion.  We're still not sure about the round thing at the top which was probably done more for potential profit than design, but we will note that it looks better from further away.

Cornelius wanted to see the museum, but we realized by the time we got tickets and through the long line, it would be late in the evening, so we wouldn't be able to do everything.  He looked at the hotel adjacent to the site and suggested that instead, we go inside and see if we can't get a better view from above.  I wasn't sure if this plan was going to work, but we were able to go to the fifth floor of the hotel where they have a public lounge/bar, and see the site from there.













We walked from the World Trade Center to Battery Park.  It's a short and simple route, and there are maps along the street.





Then took the subway to Times Square.










We got a little lost trying to find Rockefeller Center, but realized that we just hadn't gone far enough - what did we ever do without smart phones (umm... ask someone)?













It was a productive day of sightseeing, and I'm glad I took a break from shopping to do it (I'm sure you are, too, Dad!).