The Brooklyn Bridge

Another one of New York City's much-photographed icons. We walked across the bridge last Friday. It was a gorgeous day and the path was crowded. It is located above and between the driving lanes, making it ideal for photographing the complex structure. I've shot it before. This image, taken with a Lensbaby on a winter day, is my favorite.

The second picture was taken from the top of the Liberty Tower.

In Memoriam

I had seen some photos of the memorial to those who died in the attack on the twin towers in 2001 but never in person before Friday. I was unprepared for how powerful it is.

There are two deep, square pools, each tracing the exact footprint of the towers. They are made of somber black and gray stone, deeply depressed beneath the level of the plaza. The towers once rose astonishingly high. These basins find emotional depth. Water pours over all sides, reminding me of the torrents of steel, stone and glass that plummeted onto those in the buildings and the people who came to their aid. In the center of each is another square pit, completely black and having no visible bottom. They speak of the anguish and despair of the day and those that followed.

The pools are rimmed with panels of polished gray metal containing the thousands of names of those who died. The top picture shows part of the section reserved for firefighters who died in the rescue, each with the number of his truck.                             

Family History In New York

This is 120 Wall Street in New York's financial district. It is the last building on the iconic thoroughfare, standing by the FDR Drive and East River. (They say that Wall Street begins in a graveyard and ends in a river. It's literally true.) The photo was taken from the Brooklyn Bridge.

My father, John Crowe, spent most of his career working in this building. He was not in securities or banking, but rather commodities. Sugar, specifically. The company was a brokerage, middlemen between refiners and food products companies. He was the sales manager. Pepsi-Cola, for example, bought all its sugar from him. He wrote the weekly sugar column for the Journal of Commerce, a business newspaper that once rivaled the Wall Street Journal.

His office was on the side of the building seen here, facing the East River. When I was a child I loved to go with him on Saturdays. While he caught up on paperwork, I would play with the office equipment, including an old-fashioned switchboard, and watch the boats chug up and down the river.                    

Home Town

I love it, I love it, I love it. Just glad I don't have to pay to live there.

Pix taken from the 100th floor observation deck of the new Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center. Certainly worth a visit but a bit disappointing for a photographer. There is no outdoor viewing area like at the building that was destroyed. The glass in the new place has all sorts of problems with reflections and hand smudges. These images are heavily Photoshopped but they work.

Below, a bit of spare space between downtown high rise apartment buildings has two baseball fields squeezed in.                                  

You Can't Get There From Here

A signpost? I can't interpret it so I will leave it to you.

Up to the 103rd floor observatory of the new Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center this morning and a wander around Manhattan after that. Pix soon thereafter.                       

Balloon Brigade

The St. Louis Balloon Brigade is a fixture at the Pridefest Parade. I love the combination of psychedelic angel's wings and multicolored spaghetti they wear on their backs and shoulders. I took so many pictures of them but I had to chose a sample.

Today is a travel day. If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere.                            

CDP Theme Day: Upside Down. Sort Of.

Okay, this is a stretch. Look, um, carefully at the center of the picture. A few of our colleagues have complained that this month's theme was tough. Had to scrounge up what I could from the Pridefest Parade photos that I'm editing. 

View the disoriented images for this theme day of all City Daily Photo members here.