This is Manhattan facing east towards Queens, shot from the Rockefeller Center observatory just before sunset. The Citicorp building is at the far left; the lone tall building in the distance just left of center is the Citicorp Building in Queens (the tallest building in that borough). The green topped building in the center is the Waldorf Astoria hotel, and to its immediate left is the GE Building at 570 Lexington Ave. The green strip of land in the middle of the East River is Roosevelt Island. I always find aerial views of NYC so inspiring. The density just makes me feel like everything is there and anything is possible – the New York of dreams, song, and film…

Columbus Circle is a major nexus in NYC at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the intersection of Central Park South (59th Street), Eighth Avenue, Central Park West, and Broadway. It is also a major transportation hub for numerous subway and bus lines. A marble monument of Christopher Columbus sits atop a 70-foot granite column – the pedestal has an angel with a globe. The monument was built in 1892 (completed in 1905) as part of NYC’s commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas.

It is difficult to capture the area in a single photo – there are points of interest around the entire circle: the Time Warner Center and shopping complex, Trump International Hotel, Merchant’s Gate to Central Park with the Maine monument, and, of course, the fountain and statue area itself, which underwent a renovation in 2005, winning a landscape architecture award. This traffic circle has always been hectic and difficult to navigate; now with the new wooden benches, fountains, and plantings, it has become an island of calm in the storm of NYC…

Midtown Manhattan is the busiest commercial district in the United States. This photo, taken from the Rockefeller Center observatory, is a closeup of a small section along Fifth Avenue in the 40s and gives a good sense of the density of buildings (click here for another view).

There is no precise, agreed upon definition of Midtown, but at the very least, it covers the area from Central Park to 34th Street and from 3rd Avenue to 9th Avenue. In this area alone, there are numerous districts, squares, stations, buildings, centers, and flagship retail stores – many of the sites known to visitors around the world are found in this small area of only about 2 square miles.

One reason I chose this photo was that I was intrigued by the attractive slab skyscraper building on the far left with its large friezes at the crown. A little digging and research this morning revealed this to be the Fred F. French building, a deco gem built in 1927 by a real estate tycoon – I think I will cover this building in another post. In doing this photoblog, I am learning about a myriad of beautiful buildings which I never really noticed. I hope that you are enjoying the process of mutual discovery…