NY waterfront tour (53 pics)

[NYguy]

Decided to take a boat ride yesterday, and I hadn't taken the 3 hr Circle Line tour in years. There are a variety of other tour boats and shorter cruises, but I decided to stick with this tradition. It's easy to forget that Manhattan is an island, until you're sailing around it. My camera was out of focus, but you can still see the pics...

We began on the Westside at 42nd Street. Here you see boats of the NY Waterway, another competitor to the Circle Line...

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Fastforward down the Hudson, to the lower Manhattan skyline. Here you see the towers of the World Financial Center. 7 WTC is visible under construction, but in a few years this image will be changed by the view of the 1,776 ft Freedom Tower and the 800 ft Goldman Sachs tower...

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Lady Liberty makes an appearance, with Jersey City and Manhattan in the background

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The Staten Island Ferry offers its own unique ride accross the great NY harbor (no charge) and runs 24 hour service...

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Turning back to Manhattan, we are welcomed by three of Downtown's infamous boxes, Big, Bad, and Ugly...

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Love'em or hate'em though, Downtown still has an amazing skyline. Its only going to get more amazing in the coming years, with a number of tall, distinctive skyscrapers planned....

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Skyscrapers tower over the line of buses...

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Rumors are that a 450 foot "ferris wheel" may be built in this area...

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The Brooklyn Bridge is as magnificent as ever...

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Joined by its sister, the Manhattan Bridge...

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[Neo]

Great tour! Good to see Manhattan! 8-)

[NYguy]

The Brooklyn and Manhattan together...

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The Williamsburgh Bridge undergoes its makever. A lot of NY bridges have been getting work in recent years...

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Further up the East River, we see the Empire State...

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Hey, its the UN making an appearance. Two new skyscrapers will rise in this photo (leftside), one an extension of the UN itself (about the same size) and the other a much taller skyscraper that will be among the largest in Manhattan. The tall black box is Trump World Tower.

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The Queensborough (or 59th Street) Bridge...

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The Roosevelt Island tram moves overhead...

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One of the many large hospitals of Manhattan...

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A few of the many residential towers that line Manhattan's Upper Eastside...

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It's here that the towers of the Upper Eastside give way to Harlem...

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[NYguy]

Some interesting apartment buildings on the Harlem waterfront...

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Long before the San Franciso Giants played baseball in the City by the Bay, they played in a stadium by the river (the Polo Grounds), and were known as the New York Giants. The NY Mets played their first season here. The stadium is no more, but the name remains (as a housing project)...

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Another team that once played at the Polo Grounds was the NY Yankees - until they built a home of their own right accross the Harlem River, the great Yankee Stadium (Although I like overcast skies, at this point I was concerned that last night's game against the Baltimore Orioles would be rained out)...

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A few of the many bridges that cross the Harlem River, connecting Manhattan and the Bronx...

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Some large apartment buildings that line the river in the Bronx (I forget the name of these, something with "river" in it)...

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Upper Manhattan, along the Harlem River....not the Manhattan most people are used to seeing...

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In the background of this pic, there is a railroad crossing that was the cause of about a 25 minute delay. This is where we got stuck when the skies opened and the downpoor began. Great times!

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Back to the tour though, a few blocks in the Bronx are technically a part of Manhattan. This area is known as Marble Hill. Here we see the Metro-North station...

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[NYguy]

Continuing in the Bronx, with some beautiful scenery...

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So many Circle Line tours have come through here over the years, they decided to mark it with a "C"....No, actually the C is for Columbia University, whose home field is just accross the river in Manhattan...

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During the rainstorm, the other whimpy passengers vacated the deck (long before I had to go down for my own cup of hot chocolate) leaving me alone for this view of Columbia's Baker Field...

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A Metro-North train passes underneath the Henry Hudson Bridge on its way through the Bronx...

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One last look at the Bronx, along the Hudson...

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Moving back down the Hudson, we see yet another NY bridge undergoing work (a paint job I believe), the George Washington Bridge...

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New Jersey is not without its own towers along the Hudson...although I could do without all of the condo developments that have sprung along the river...

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Turning our attention back to Manhattan, the sun makes a return appearance...

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Like'em or hate'em, the towers of Donald Trump's ongoing development (Trump Place, Riverside South) add a striking addition to the Upper Westside skyline...

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The Time Warner "twins" stick out through the misty skyline in the background...

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The Coast Guard welcomes us back to the pier...

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The Intrepid (now a museum) sticks out into the Hudson...

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And that's the end of that little tour. NY has more waterfront than any other city, but that trip only covers a small part of it.....

[Neo]

I REALLY enjoyed this tour! Thanks so much for the time it took you to get this up for us to see.

[wolfdawg54]

Those are some neat waterlevel views of New York. Do you have any pictures of the cruise ship terminals?

[Cotuit]

I used to know someone who lived in Trump Place. Excellent views of Jersey from up there. If they ever get it done it'll be a nice little neighbourhood at street level.

I regret I never took the opportunity to ride the Circle Line when I lived in New York, perhaps as a tourist I'll finally get the chance.

[monsoon]

[Wendell FOX]

I like it especially how you made it into a "tour" full with descriptions of everything you see; more photo takers should do what you do.

Quite a lot of variety in your photos add up to a comprehensive tour of Manhattan.

[Cotuit]

BTW, what is the deal with Roosevelt Island? Do people live in the island, and what keeps it from being developed with highrises?

People do in fact live on Roosevelt Island, in fact I was toying with the idea of trying to get in there for a while.

Why it's not completly developed probably lies in the fact that it is operated by the state. Can they do anything right? This site has information on the island, including development plans.

The island has a subway stop and access to Manhattan via the Roosevelt Island Tram, there is also a road bridge connecting it to Queens. There's not much out there, it is pretty quiet, which was part of the appeal for me.

[NYguy]

BTW, what is the deal with Roosevelt Island? Do people live in the island, and what keeps it from being developed with highrises?

Roosevelt Island is mainly residential, though it was known for its hospitals at one time. It has the tram and its own subway stop, though someone I knew there once complained of the subway stop opening. It also has new parks, and new buildings seem to be going up there all the time.

Wolfdawg, #51 is the passenger ship terminal. Its going to be rebuilt and updated....

Thanks to all who commented. I'm looking forward to more NY photo threads...

[wolfdawg54]

That is good news. Right now it looks kind of old. I hope that they can fix the terminals up.

[Urban_Legend]

Awesome Pics! I'll finally get to go to NYC in August, so this was a cool preview!