Shadow Shot Sunday - Freedom on the East River

It is July 4th, the birthday of the USA as a free land in 1776. A day to celebrate our freedoms, and if they have shadows in then, all the better for Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

These late-2013 captures from the Brooklyn side of New York City's East River show that free minds allow us to flourish as a people. The Freedom Tower, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and the modern skyline of Lower Manhattan showcase the creativity and drive of free populace...Happy Independence Day

Whimsical Windows - Gotham skyline

I have two more pictures from our foray to visit our son last week in Brooklyn NY for Toby's meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors. 'Here' is heading south on the I-278 Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) before entering Kings County. It looks like a dilapidated industrial area as we peer over or through the cast iron guardrails. Looking toward Manhattan, on top we see old and modern buildings and a view of the famous 59th Street/Quensboro/Ed Koch Bridge (bridge name changes happen a lot in NYC), the bottom pic a look at the older styles of the city, old industrial and financial, Again, thanks to Patti for capturing this mere essence of a great city...

Whimsical Windows - Spectacular Skyline along the BQE

Toby most graciously hosts the architectural meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors. We visited our son in New York's Kings County yesterday, and the software developer scion really likes urban living in the borough of Brooklyn. After lunch, we headed back to CT, and passenger Patti used her phone to capture this view of Manhattan and the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, This was taken from a northbound lane of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The soft pastel sunset falls gracefully over the skyline of the city, a soft look that mutes the mighty city...

Whimsical Windows - Sibling Skyline

Toby hosts the fun architectural meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors, and we scout around to find the many interesting detailing we find, in any era. Here is in the New York City, borough of Manhattan and its always impressive skyline. I believe this to be from a rooftop in 1961. It is my father (the family lived in Bayside Queens 1960-1963), and sister Aunt Terry visiting, and a visit often usually included a tour of the city. I do not know the building (at UPI where my father worked on 42nd Street), but the spread out city below is amazing. Always...

Whimsical Windows - Old/New

Toby hosts the architectural meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors, and we look at pieces of interesting design on our travels. Today we are an hour north of home in the state capitol, Hartford. The views are along the short (1.1 km) Conlin-Whitehead highway, built in 1945. Once slated to be an interstate grade expressway, it was not built as such and remains a winding and slow speed entry downtown. Of interest is the building above the road, the new addition to the Hartford Public Library, making for a tunnel underneath.

In the second pic, the arched stone bridge carries Main Street over. But why is it arched? The bridge was actually built over the Park River in 1833. Which then begs the question: where is the river? It is actually underneath the highway in a concrete conduit as it flows to the Connecticut River. Not that the leaders in the 1800s even thought to have the foresight of a future highway...

Finally, after the curve past the tunnel the skyline of the city comes into view. The mix of of 19th, 20th and 21st century blend together in a unique mixture of shape and function on a nice late winter day...

Whimsical Windows - Empire skyline

The 1931 Empire State Building, taken along the BQE from the Brooklyn side of the East River, Captured by Patti

I am back for this week's architectural meme, Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors, hosted by Toby. Today is is from the series of NYC pictures Patti captured from the passenger seat. Without prompting, I am sure most could identify the landmark in the distance as the Empire State Building - iconic in style, it stands apart from the surrounding modern buildings. The day was a bit murky, so an edit to B&W ages the view a bit, and allows a the tiered and straight edges of the profile to jump at us.

Interestingly, Patti's mom actually worked in the building on the 70th floor during the late 1940s. We need to get her memoirs of the Empire State in book form at the earliest, as the B&W world should have many a tale to tell...

Whimsical Windows - A vertical vantage

Patti captured a quintessential shot of lower Manhattan skyline from the BQE 

Toby hosts the fun architectural meme Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors where we showcase windows, doors and more..I have another capture of Manhattan from across the East River taken by Patti in December. She was taking in the scenery as I drove, navigating the very badly designed 1-278 BQE. 

This is a great view of the island, the vertical and modern glass and steel towers highlighting the skyline of lower Manhattan. I did notice the words POP UP on a structure below us - and it appears that the buildings did. A fine capture of a quiet Sunday in NYC...

Whimsical Windows - Vertically Challenged

Toby is the host of the fun architectural meme, Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors - we look at interesting bits of buildings. Today is another view of Hartford taken by Patti - who safely is not the driver - from I-91 North. The vertical motif is the theme, from light stanchions to buildings, all seem to be rising to the sky. The more classic building here is the Travelers Insurance tower, opened in 1919 and sits a stately 34 stories high at 527 ft/161 M. The rest of the skyline was built from the late 1960s-1999 and has little of the charm from decades past and is mostly nondescript. But all together compel us to look up (except when driving that is :)