The Window Washer

Another one out of my office window, in the same direction as the Fly on the Wall from the day before.  

The Window Washer

Fly on the Wall

I was in the middle of a conference call (a boring conference call) and noticed this fly on the outside of the window.  I thought I was on mute when I snapped the shutter.  But, the others on the call heard the click.  As for the fly, I wonder made the fly want to make his way up to 32 floors above the ground.  

Fly on the Wall

Metropolis

Another view from my office building looking over the World Financial Center and the Hudson River.  The ferry approaches from Jersey City.  

Metropolis

Rink with a View

I had no idea there was an ice skating rink down at the tip of the island overlooking the Statue of Liberty.  When I stumbled upon it, I was lucky enough to find this group of women so well organized.  

Rink with a View

Three hundred feet above the President

StreetObservations.com - With the excitement of the elimination of Bin Laden, President Obama made a visit to Ground Zero to greet the families of those stricken on 9/11.  As it happens, my workplace happens to overlook this landmark.  It is a fantastic view of the site, but is 32 floors above, which is pretty high up.  

Here what the view generally looks like (FYI - this series of pictures is best viewed large, just click it for the big version).   This shot was taken in March.  The primary building here is One World Trade Center (originally called the Freedom Tower) which will eventually be 1776 high, that is about 3 to 4 times the height which it was here.  As I write this it is a bit higher (about 63 stories). 

A group of workers from our office stood along the windows waiting for Obama to arrive.  The time wasn't completely certain so it took a couple of visits amidst other work before there was activity. 

Even if the President was down there, I wasn't certain that I would be able to clearly identify which one might him.  I recall a visit to Ground Zero by Queen Elizabeth.  I rattled off 50 photos focused on a woman in pink, certain that I had captured her, until I watched the Nightly News and saw that she was clad in yellow.  

The first signs of pre-Presidential activity was an awareness of sharpshooters setting up on the nearby roofs.    

It was helpful that there was a live feed of the President's motorcade on CNN visible on the computers in our office, so we were able to correlate the real events with the "perceived".  Eventually, the roads grew still and the cars appeared on the West Side highway.  It is believed that Obama was in the big black van here at the very far right of the picture.  

Meanwhile down below, some bleachers had been constructed the day before for the seating of the families.  The main event was the laying of a special wreath.  The families waited.  

The car moved into the center of the plaza.  This gave the appearance that he would emerge from there.  Everyone up on the 32nd floor focused on this car, snapping away with our cameras. 

But we had been fooled, as a minute later, this group of dignitaries was spotted further down. The CNN feed confirmed that this was the President here.  Besides Obama, the group behind was NJ Governor Christie, NY Governor Cuomo, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, and the head of the MTA (I think that's who he was).  Even though my Canon 40D is a decent camera, my zoom 135mm lens was overmatched and even after cropping the picture, the 32 floors proved to be a bit much for getting an upclose shot.   

He approached the reception line.

Then he began shaking hands individually.   

He walked the wreath over to place on a pedestal.  

At this point, we had been waiting/watching the tiny little folks below for about 45 minutes.  I had delayed a business meeting to watch, but it became slightly boring.  And, it was time to leave for the meeting.  I assume he got out of there okay.

Hotel Panorama

So, it was three years since an "exotic" vacation.  I chose the itinerary for this trip to allow a chance to expand my photographic horizons, so to speak, by going to beautiful places.  It was primarily a cruise vacation, initially departing from Venice, then heading to Split, Croatia, then four stops in Greece.  All beauties when viewed through a lens (or an eyeball). 

We left 6:30pm from Newark and landed in what would be late the next day in Venice.  Then, it was a boat ride to our location of rest, the Hotel Panorama.  It is positioned on the island of Lido, overviewing the lagoon with a vista that includes St. Mark's square across in Venice itself.  Part of the hotel selection process, besides the view, was that the boat let us off directly across the street from the hotel. 

Our room was located on the corner of the building with the excellent primary vista, and the second view was looking towards the boat terminal. 

Since the island is well populated by bicycles and their riders of all ages, it was an interesting perspective to look down into the square and watch the commuters out the south window.   Also the interactions and activities down below were fascinating.  A busy-ness that, in a way, reminded me of the activity in New York.

 

After our two day stay, we took another series of boats to reach our big boat which was departing through Venice at dusk.  We could make out the yellow hotel as we passed by, headed out to the Adriatic Sea. 

Fear of Heights?

They continue to slowly dismantle the Deutsche Bank building which was damaged by fallout from the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings which were next door.  A monstrous crane sits on top and slowly lowers pieces of the building to the ground.  It's slow going with maybe only 12 stories being removed over the course of the past year. It amazes me how strong the crane must be to lift these massive steel beams. 

My office window overlooks the scene.  Click each picture for a large size version of it, it really can only be appreciated large. 

Deutsche Bank Crane

Today, I noticed there were a couple of guys way out at the tip of the crane.  And, then I saw another one walking the length of the extension like it was a bridge.  He walked quickly and didn't appear to have any kind of tethering. 

Deutsche Bank Crane 2

After he joined the group out at the tip, the crane started slowly moving horizontally with the entire arm moving as the workers stood out at the tip. This is not a job for those who might be afraid of heights. 

Deutsche Bank Crane 3

Tracks to the Empire State

Every day when I walk to work I pass a semi-abandoned train tracks in Harrison, New Jersey.  If you look east towards Manhattan, the tracks guide your eye straight towards the Empire State Building.  It seems like an interesting juxtaposition and strikes me as an interesting subject for a photograph.

Tracks to the Empire StateSo, over the course of a few years, every once in a while I will take a shot over in that direction.  I've never really found one that I love, but I will keep trying I'm sure.  One time I walked down the tracks to try to get close to the train, but in the end it seemed pretty far and I abandoned the journey.

I don't think the train ever advances past the road it crosses over where I make my turn, heading to the PATH train station.  (Even though the tracks continue on through a parking lot and beyond). 

But, there is some activity since on various days, the train will appear in different positions.  So, someone moves the train for whatever reason.  Here are some other shots:

Tracks to the Empire State at Dusk

Tracks to the Empire State in Winter

Tracks to the Empire State in Summer

Tracks to the Empire State at Sunset