I was born and grew up in a very rural, semi remote area of New York state, but it has a tourist town right in the middle of it. I grew up in Lake George, in the Adirondack State Park.
In the Summer many of my friends were seasonal residents and tourists from New York City. Starting at about 14 years old I was influenced by a lot of these New York City acquaintances and the stories they would tell me of life and survival in the Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Some of my best friends grew up in Manhattan.
The vast distance between New York City and the rural and wilderness areas of Lake George was somehow bridged, and you wouldn't imagine how much Lake George and and the Adirondacks are influenced by New York City. There is an invisible connection that has linked these two vastly different places. It's like some psychedelic pattern that's just barely visible here and there, peeking at you from oddly unexpected places. The whole picture only opens up every now and then, and especially on the 4th of July. I'm sure it's an old handshake that goes way back in time.
I really enjoy your pictures because New York City really takes a bad rap a lot, in my experience. People talk about the crime and how the people are cold and only look straight down at the sidewalk; the drivers are the worst in the World, and just how "dangerous" it is in general. It is a really misunderstood place and it is often poorly described by so called hot shot writers that really don't know their *** from a hole in the wall. You can meet some of the greatest people there and most people "don't" look straight down at the sidewalk. On the other hand I'm positive that you can find more trouble than you can possibly handle, if you go looking for it. But you can also find some of the most wonderful things if you look for them. Some of the most "wonderful" things in the World are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The "Black Knight", remember the Black Knight - Nigel somebody? His "actual" suit of armour (no small thing) is on display there, and it's black. Egyptian artifacts of art, going back twelve thousand years are on display. Sculpture from the "Golden Age of Greece" is on display. Weapons so fantastic that you have never heard of or imagined are on display. That's just one place. You can find night clubs with live music that will blow your mind. You can find major acts on any given day that are in "town".
Your pictures conjure up spectacular images. Keep on posting them. "Five Points" from "The Gangs of New York" is down there in lower Manhattan. Cleopatra's Needle, in Central Park, is an Ancient Egyptian obelisk - the real deal, excavated from Egypt and brought to New York. All sorts of stuff like this is in New York City. Grant's tomb is there, overlooking the Hudson River - a huge, remarkable monument and the grave site of one of our most significant military leaders, for what it's worth. Practically every step you take in New York City is a treasure of history or antiquity, whether you know it or not. These pictures contain a lot more content than meets the eye. Broadway is actually New York Route 9 that has its other terminus near Montreal, within a stone's throw of the international border. Battery Park, partly pictured in this thread, is built upon the excavated rubble extracted to build the foundations of the World Trade Center Towers.
These pictures are really cool. I always dig it when you post new ones to the thread. Excuse my rambling, but when I look at these pictures there is, from my perspective, a lot happening that does not meet the eye. Please keep posting pictures like these.
Would love to get over to the Big Apple one day.
