Got bored so I stuck this together last night . Don't know if it'll be of any use but figured I'd litter up the thread with it :
Numbers/letters are Subway lines .....
Statue of Liberty : 1 or 9 downtown to South Ferry . Get ferry tix online .
Lower Manhattan : Best is to take the Staten Island Ferry from South Ferry .
Get on the right side of the ferry going to Staten Island for Statue of Liberty shots ,when you get to Staten Island , get the next boat back to Manhattan , get on the front of the vessel and wait until you get the shot you want .. actually there’ll be lots of shots you’ll want . AM is best as you’ll be shooting into the sun in the PM when passing the Statue
Wall St. Bull :4,5 downtown to Bowling Green. Walk north to26 Wall St. Get there EARLY to avoid the turistas . Weekends AM probably the best.
Times Square : 42nd and Broadway and 7th . Lights at night , general freak show in the day ( the Naked Cowboy , costumed cartoon characters , topless women with the interesting parts painted over ; all of whom want to be paid for photo ops.)
The High Line : Elevated park built on an old freight rail line . Runs from 33rd down to the Meatpacking District . Runs along 12th 11th 10th Avs. There’s a bunch of access points . I use 34th and 12th .
Bryant Park/The New York Public Library /Grand Central Station :All on 42nd. The lions in front of the Library , inside Grand Central , fountain and folks hanging out in Bryant Pk. The Chrysler building is just east of Grand Central . Feel lucky? Try for a shot of the eagles .(look up … way up)
Rockefeller Center/Top of the Rock : 50th btw. 5th and 6th. Nice views of Central Park in one direction plus lower Manhattan/Empire State /1 World Trade further back in the opposite. My preference over the Empire State for skyscraper shots . You’re shooting usually through thick glass (?) so bring a handkerchief to wipe off the nose marks . If you’ve got a small diameter wide lens, maybe 46mm or less you might get between the spaces in the glass . Lots of neat details on the Rockefeller Center buildings , plus the golden Prometheus statue by the skating rink . If you have the chance and a camera with good high iso , night is a good option. Walk north on 5th to Central Park southeast corner .(by the Apple Store )
Madison Square Park/ Flatiron Building :N,Q,R, downtown to 23rd . There’s some sort of street art in the park , haven’t checked it out yet , though . watch for flare shooting the Flatiron , your looking south . Play with wide lenses if you’ve got one .
Central Park :Start from 5th and 59th (Central Park South ) (By the Apple Store)Get pix of carriages . Follow walkway into park and down by the Pond . The Gapstow Bridge crosses the Pond . Nice shots around Pond and bridge . Take the walkway past the Gapstow bridge and go down the embankment to find the location of one of the iconic Park shots , taken from the edge of the Pond facing the bridge . Head up to the Mall , walk down the Mall to the end , past the band shell . Usually there’s some sort of street performers on the Mall . At the end , you’ll run into the Betheseda fo Fountain and the Lake . If you walk to the left along the Lake , you’ll encounter the Bow Bridge , and a bunch more iconic shots , both of the bridge , and the lake with the city behind it , taken from on the bridge . If you follow the Lake to the right of Bethesda Fountain , and move away from the Lake toward the East , there’s another smaller pond where folks can rent R/C sailboats . Decent image spot for the sailboats on the lake , plus the Hans Christian Anderson Statue . Lots more stuff in the park but this’ll get you started .
The Cloisters : 190 St. on the A uptown and walk north , or the M4 bus , which may take forever from midtown . Museum of Medieval art , way uptown . Built in the style of a medieval monastery , great gardens inside . Gotta get there early , like 9:30 when it opens to avoid groups of school kids . No problems with photos , just no flash . No pix in special display areas , though .
The Guggenheim : The Frank Lloyd Wright building . Can’t stand the art inside . If you go in , they’ll let you get a vertical shot from the entry level . The security folks don’t allow photos in the upper levels .
MOMA : 53rd between 5th and 6th . Philip Johnson building . Interesting place , great for a rainy day . If you decide to eat lunch in the museum , go to the cafeteria on the
Second floor , the upstairs one ( on the 4th or 5th , don’t remember) is real pricy and no better than the caf. Or better yet , eat outside at the Halal Guys food truck… usually it’s on 53rd and 6th . Watch the hot sauce!
Chinatown Downtown F to Delancey St. ; Head to Delancey , go right , walk to Orchard , left down Orchard a couple of blocks to Canal … or Downtown 4,5,6,N,R to Canal St.. Lots of tenements with fire escapes on side St’s in Chinatown and off Delancey .Pretty good Vietnamese Banh Mi place on Orchard . The best restaurants seem to have the least tourists . There’s a couple of good Chinese bakeries on Canal for a cheap lunch .The Manhattan side of the Manhattan Bridge ends at Canal . The Manhattan side of the Williamsburg Bridge ends on Delancey. If you walk up the ramp for the Williamsburg , there’s a hole in the chain link that’ll give you a decent view of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges .
Lots of great graffiti in Williamsburg . Cross the bridge and head to the river . Might be a bit scary at night. You can get great subway shots on the bridge , too . The J train ,and IIRC ,the M will get you over the bridge if you want to walk back into Manhattan . Get off on Marcy St. Peter Lugar Steak House is right there ( bring Money )
Brooklyn Bridge/Manhattan Bridge : Brooklyn side –Downtown A , C to Brooklyn Bridge or Downtown 2,3 to Clark St. If you use Clark St.,make a left on clark when coming out of the station , It’s a few blocks to the bridge . If you pass Pineapple St. within a couple of blocks you’re going in the right direction . Go down along the bridge approach to the waterfront . If you head left along the waterfront promenade , eventually the walk will curve awat from the river and you’ll see a bunch of pilings sticking up out of the water . There’s a road that goes right behind the pilings , it’s chained , step over the chain and get a shot of the pilings and lower Manhattan across the river . You want a wide lens for this . 20mm on a full frame will do you good , I used a 15mm CV on my M9 and was able to do some cropping . Use what you got. If you walk back to the bridge , and go under it , you’ve got the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges in which to play . Know that the park areas close at sunset ( or at least they did) and the park rent-a-cops are pretty pushy about getting folks out ( just my melancholy experience) When you’re sick of taking the Brooklyn ,walk over to the Manhattan and get the shot that OBEYGIANT put in the Travel contest . From there , walk up Washington St to get to the pedestrian access for the Brooklyn Bridge . Once over the Bridge , head left on Nassau St. to Fulton , left on Fulton to the South St. Seaport . Check out the side Sts off Fulton . 1 World Trade shot looking west on Fulton or next block over . Old tall ships , waterfront toward Brooklyn Bridge , old warehouses next to South St.
Coney Island : Brooklyn bound B,D,F,N Get off at Stillwell Av. . Won’t be much going on in November . Beach’ll be closed , concessions/amusements,too.
Empire State Building : 34th and 5th . Get tix in advance . You’re shooting through chain link on the 86th floor . See Kallisti’s pic #476 in the AugustPOTD
1 World Trade : E southbound to World Trade Center. Haven’t been there yet.
The Unisphere: #7 to Queens , get off at Shea Stadium . It’s a haul ,and a walk . See Miltz’ pic in the ‘Keep it cool ‘ contest . There’s something similar near Columbus Circle ( 8th Av and W. 59th )(southwest corner of Central Park) . There’s also an ‘Atlas’ statue in Rockefeller Center on 5th near St. Pats.
The Gantry’s : Looks interesting re: Manhattan view , but I’ve never been there . Think you get there via the 7 train .
