
I took this picture yesterday, 11/01/2021, with my iPad Air 4.
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I took this picture yesterday, 11/01/2021, with my iPad Air 4.
I visited Manhattan this past Thursday. It was the only my second trip to NYC this year. I live about 70 miles west of NYC, in Easton, PA, and before the pandemic hit I usually visited NYC at least 5 or 6 times a year. I was encouraged by city scenes I witnessed, which reflected the city returning to normal. Once in the city I made trips to the Upper Westside and to the new Little Island park, which is located off Westside Highway, just below 14th Street.
I have previously lived and worked in Manhattan and I grew up in suburban Northern New Jersey. I’ve lived in a few other places around the country, but always returned to NY, NJ or PA to see friends and relatives . So, over the past 40 to 50 years I have seen a lot of change in the New York skyline, but most of the time the change seemed gradual. However, there have been a few occasions in when I have been struck by dramatic changes in the skyline of the city and this past Thursday was one of those days. I’m old enough to remember when the Empire State Building towered over all other buildings in midtown Manhattan. Now it is no longer visible from directly across the Hudson, blocked by the towers of Hudson Yards. Several of the Supertall skyscrapers on 57th St. are even taller than the buildings at Hudson Yards.






Test blog. I haven’t used the WordPress app to post a blog in years, but I decided to give it a try again with my new iPad Air 4. I am discovering new bells and whistles on the app. I like the app and plan to start using it on a regular basis to post blogs.

Unfortunately, we did not have a White Christmas this year, but we came close. We had had our first big snowstorm of winter on December 16th, and that snow lasted until December 23rd, and then we had a rise in temperature to the 50’s along with a rain storm that started on Christmas Eve and lasted until Christmas morning. The rain pretty much washed away most of the remaining snow. However, the snow from December, 16th, lasted long enough to to capture a few good classic winter images.






Here are my favorite ten pictures taken during Fall this year in and around my home city of Easton, PA.
First group are pictures that I shot in Forks Township, in George Gollub Park. Forks Township is immediately north of Easton and the park offers some beautiful views, particularly in fall.
Upper Left. View south, Delaware River. Approx 3 miles north of downtown Easton. Lower Left: View east toward Warren County, New Jersey.




Gingko Tree at the Sayre Mansion Inn, Fountain Hill, Bethlehem.

I took the pictures below in Easton. Upper left: View north from the Toll Bridge. Middle Left: View south from Bridge on 3rd St. Lower Left: Foot Bridge at the Karl Stirner Art Trail. Right: Porter Street, College Hill.




Here are some pictures and a video I shot on the High Line in Manhattan during my visit to NYC. on Wednesday, 09/16/2020. I have always enjoyed walks along the High Line. I have been a fan of the elevated park since it opened in 2009.





I initially did not post the video below because my narration of the video while I was walking from the South end of the HL to the north end was not easy to understand due to the fact that I was wearing a mask. Subsequently, I edited the video and added some music as a soundtrack. I think the video turned out better with music.
On Wednesday, September 16th, I visited The Edge at Hudson Yards, which is New York’s newest high altitude observation deck. The Edge opened back March, but it only remained open for a couple of weeks before it was closed when Covid-19 forced the entire city to shut down. I came very close to going to The Edge back in early March, but I postponed my trip because news of C-19 rapidly spreading The Edge is located on the 99th and 100th floors of 30 Hudson Yards, the tallest building in the Hudson Yards development. The Hudson Yards complex is located on the Westside of Manhattan, between 30th St. and 10th Avenue and 34th St. and 10th Avenue.
Here is a short video I made on the outdoor portion of the Observation Deck. It was a little windy up there, which I guess you have expect at that height. And I have to make a correction to something I said in the video regarding height. The Edge is 1,100 ft. in the air, not 1,000 ft., which I stated in video. The outdoor deck is 7,500 square feet and the glass walls on the deck are 9 ft. tall. The deck is comprised of 15 sections that were lifted by two cranes and bolted together.








I took quite a few photos in New York City last year. Here are my ten favorites.










Every year I post what I think the best photos that I took from the previous year. I normally post my selections soon after the year ends. Clearly, I did not do that this year, but here they are.
I divided my 2019 pictures into two groups: Pennsylvania and New York/NewJersey
First, the Pennsylvania group, which is comprised of photos that I took in Easton and Bethlehem, which are both located in the Lehigh Valley.









