NEW YORK STATE OF
MINE
By Andy Lopusnak,
AndysPictures.com
October 18-20, 2013
With
the combination of Giants and Jets games, I’ve covered 17 NFL games in NYC (aka
East Rutherford, New Jersey). The 17 games would, if the two NY teams were
combined, it would make the Giants/Jets the most by any team (Baltimore is the
actual most with 15). There’s some things I’ve always meant to go and shoot,
but just haven’t in the past. Also, I’ve slowly started to replace old photos
from the summer of 2006 (before I knew how to use my camera). That summer, I
was in NYC for a few days because my wife, Bethany, was here for a work
conference, and shot a lot (just not very well).
This
time, I walked all over the city and drove around to get lots of shots. On
Friday alone, I walked 14.99 miles (31K steps) and climbed 66 floors. All told
in the three days, I walked 65K steps, 30.7 miles and climbed 108 floors. My
weekly goal is 70K, so nearly getting that in three days is pretty good. Additionally,
I purchased the unlimited ride pass for the subway. They only offer an
unlimited ticket for seven days; but it’s still well worth the $31 though I
used for just two days (my fares would’ve been over $40 if I purchased them
separately.
TWO MORE PRESIDENTIAL
GRAVES
After
landing at JFK, I headed to Oyster Bay (about 40 minutes away) to snap a shot
of Theodore Roosevelt’s final resting place at Youngs Memorial Cemetery. I now
have shot all four grave sites of the presidents on Mount Rushmore, and
hopefully next year will get a chance to shoot it.
Once
I got into the City, I headed up near Harlem and added Ulysses S. Grant’s
grave. That now makes 12 presidential graves that I’ve photographed. You can
very this dozen BY CLICKING HERE. The Grant tomb took a dozen years to
build and stands as 150-feet high making it the largest mausoleum in North
America. This makes 12 out of the possible 37 presidential grave sites (almost
a third).
FLUSHING MEADOWS
The
US Open tennis tournament is held here, but there are two main remnants from
the 1964-65 World’s Fair that highlight Flushing Meadows-Corona Park: the
140-foot stainless steel model of the world with three rings representing the three
man-made satellites launched in the 1950s named the Unisphere; and the New York
State Pavilion, which is three
observation towers.
In
addition to the World’s Fair in the 1960s, the 1939-40 one was also held here. Though I did get to walk where the
water runs to get underneath shots of the sphere. The 1997 original Men in Black film used the towers as
spaceships with one of them being shot down in front of the Unisphere.
NYC PUBLIC LIBRARY
With
about 53 million items this is the second largest public library in the United
States (behind the Library of Congress) and third in the world.
It’s
an amazing building and free to enter unlike its inception when they charged
admission and didn’t allow physical access to any literary items. Check out
more of my photos of this place by CLICKING HERE.
WHO YA GONNA CALL?
I
stopped briefly at the Franklin Street subway station to snap a shot of the
firehouse used in the movie Ghostbusters.
There’s no plaque or anything noting that the flick was filmed here; but with
so many things shot in NYC it’s not surprising at all.
DAY AT THE MUSEUM
I
tried to get American Museum of Natural History earlier, but arrived an hour
before it closed. There’s no entrance fee the final hour; so it saved me $22
and I went snap crazy in that last 60 minutes. This place is HUGE covering four
floors. I’m going to have to come again in the future (once again an hour
before closing).
The
Museum was founded in 1869 by a group of wealthy New Yorkers including JP
Morgan and Teddy Roosevelt’s father.
ROSE CENTER & HAYDEN
PLANETARIUM
The
photographic highlight at the American Museum of Natural History is the
six-story tall glass cube housing an 87-foot sphere representing the Sun and
then models of the other planets in our solar system at their respective scale
sizes.
When
walking by the Museum, there’s a great view of the cube from the western side
on 81st street.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
On
my way to the Grant burial site, I decided to get an exterior of the Low
Memorial Library building at Columbia University. It’s one subway stop away
from the U.S. Grant burial site. Built in 1895 and it still has the largest
freestanding granite dome in the U.S.
9/11 MEMORIAL
I
photographed this last August, but with the Freedom Tower (now known as One
World Trade Center) exterior essentially complete I decided to return. Sadly,
the museum is still under construction and is supposed to open next year (it
looked like no work has been done inside since I was here last October). The
museum was supposed to open on 9/11/2012 – the exterior was done a year ago and
only the interior needs to be completed.
The
National September 11 Memorial & Museum opened a decade to the day of the
terrorist attacks. In just three months, over a million had visited and it has
since become one of the most visited sites in NYC. Where the Twin Towers once
stood are two pools with the largest man-made waterfalls in the U.S. cascading
down 30 feet. Each pool is the exact footprint of the original towers (one acre
each) and the sound of the water falling is supposed to drown out the sounds of
the bustling city.
There are 2,983 names of the victims that lost their lives
in the four plane attacks that day as well as the six that died in the 1993 WTC
bombing. It took five and a half years to build the memorial with a cost of $500
million.
With
construction all around the memorial, they restrict access and you need a
ticket. I got mine online to ensure my 11am time. Once the construction of all
the other buildings in the Ground Zero vicinity is completed, then the memorial
park will be open from all sides at all times.
The
Freedom Tower (1 WTC) will have an
observation deck on the 100th floor when it’s completed in 2015, which will be
the highest public observation deck in New York (I’m hoping for non-reflective
glass, but you and I both know that isn’t going to happen). The exterior of the
tallest tower in the Western Hemisphere (at 1,776-foot tall) and currently fourth
in the world (the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest at 2,717-foot tall).
IRISH HUNGER MEMORIAL
Near
Ground Zero this was designed to honor the 1.5 million Irish that perished from
1845-52 famine. There’s a famine-era cottage as well as stones, soil and native
Ireland vegetation in the 25-foot high memorial that takes up nearly half an
acre.
TRINITY CHURCH
This
is the third church named Trinity at this location. The first was built in 1698
and the current one was completed in 1846. Upon its completion, the third
Trinity had the highest point in NYC (at 281-foot high) until the New York
World Building (349) was built in 1890. Directly across the street from the
church is the American Stock Exchange.
CITY HALL
Built
in 1811, the New York City Hall is the oldest city hall building in the United
States. To see my collection of City Hall buildings from across the USA, please
CLICKHERE.
THESE ARE THEIR
STORIES
The
New York State Supreme Court building, a granite-faced hexagonal structure, was
built from 1913-27 with a delay because of World War I. It’s one of the primary
backdrops for the long-running TV series Law
& Order.
EMPTY SKY MEMORIAL
It’s
been a few years since I shot from Liberty State Park and in 2011, a 9/11
Memorial dedicated to the 746 New Jersey residents that lost their lives that
day back in 2001. Named the Empty Sky Memorial, from a Bruce Springsteen song, it has twin walls, transecting a "gently sloped mound anchored by a granite path that is directed toward Ground Zero."
JETS 30, PATRIOTS 27
(OVERTIME)
The
Jets overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to beat the Patriots 30-27 in overtime.
New York rookie quarterback Geno Smith threw a touchdown and in another. His
counterpart on the other sideline, Tom Brady, completed just 48% of his passes
and didn’t throw a touchdown for the second time in his last three games. Both
quarterbacks tossed interceptions returned for touchdowns.
In
the extra frame, New York kicker Nick Folk missed a 56-yard field goal, but one
of the New England blockers illegally pushed his own player resulting in a 15-yard
penalty and new life for the Jets. Four plays later, Folk nailed a 42-yarder
for the win. This was my second Pats-Jets game covered and New York has won
both (the previous in 2009).
New
England tight end Rob Gronkowski made his season debut after four surgeries in
the previous ten months. He tied a career high with eight receptions for 114
yards, his tenth career 100+ yard game.
THE TIME LAPSE
I
set up my Canon 40D in the high right corner of the stadium. One photo was
taken every 45 seconds.
UP NEXT: Buffalo at
New Orleans
Last
year when I was in Nawlins, I shot a Tulane game and then did the Saints game.
This year, I’ll be doing the same. I’ve shot the Bayou numerous times and
probably won’t be doing very much shooting other than the games.
BEST OF THE BLOG
Here’s
a selection of my top shots from NYC this weekend. For more of my New York City
photos, please CLICK HERE.
