NYC Cityscapes

We've done a couple of days of hard touring. Yesterday we did a long walking tour around the Upper West Side (UWS) with a guide book I have, which pointed out all the people who have (and still do) live in the apartment buildings near us (and more broadly in the UWS). It's pretty surprising. It's also surprising that most streets were developed to appear as they are today, from farmland, during a short period from about 1870 to 1900. Today we caught a ferry down to Brooklyn, walked around DUMBO ('Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass'), walked along the foreshore parks, had a look at Brooklyn Heights, then walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan. It was a pretty long walk! Here's some pics....

This is a large building (now apartments), originally built as a Pythian Temple, for the Knights of Pythias (look it up in your Funken Wagnalls). It's pretty outrageous - this is the entry...

The Ansonia Apartments - originally built as a hotel in 1904 but converted to apartments a long time ago. The thick walls have apparently attracted many famous musicians to live there.... 

Peek-a-boo....

The streets on Riverside Drive up near West 90th Street have an almost European character...

Up near West 88th Street close to Central Park...

Grandeur on about West 86th - just past here there's a little park in a space about as wide as one or two townhouses - very cut,  heavily landscaped and maintained by the local community....

Toy car (note winder on front bumper!)....

Today we caught one of the many ferry's that now go around Manhattan and beyond (since 2017) - they are like our CityCats, but faster with more seating up the top. They're a bargain for sightseeing, particularly with great weather like we had today (and yesterday). We caught it from East 90th Street down to Brooklyn. This image is looking south, just north of Roosevelt Island, soon after leaving East 90th Street....

From south of Roosevelt Island. The United Nations is the square blue building on the left. The top of the Chrysler Buildings is also visible....

Downtown, looking across the Manhattan Bridge (foreground) and Brooklyn Bridge (background)....

Brooklyn Bridge and NYPD....

A ferry like the one we caught....

Brooklyn Bridge Park has appeared in many films - it provides a great perspective on downtown Manhattan....

Wider view....

Brooklyn Heights is a fabulous area with many heritage precincts, intact buildings and lots of treelined streets. It's high amenity (with high prices!).....

A higher perspective from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade...

Fine old townhouses in Brooklyn Heights....

Walking across Brooklyn Bridge - we couldn't believe how many people there were - this photo doesn't show hardly any (which is a little deceiving)....

It's a great view...

140 years old - once it was built, PC Barnum took 21 elephants over it to convince people it was safe!...

Walking back down our street at the end of a long day....