New York City

#1

I've taken photos of the city nearly every day for over a decade, and while I post them online, the best ones can get lost in the shuffle (especially with 1,000 photos of our lovely daughter.) So I've set up this separate page to pull out a couple NYC photos I'm especially proud of, ranking the top 100.

For the #1 photo, I felt I had to represent one of our most frequent subjects: the view from our apartment window. Here, it's looking at the Empire State Building on New Year's Eve. You'll see quite a few Empire State Bldg photos on this list.

See what I mean? Here's a shot of the city's last remaining light, during the week-long blackout from Hurricane Sandy. I have never known anywhere to be as dark as Manhattan at night with no lights.

#2

#3

I like this photo for its rich color. Dusk at the pavilion in Union Square.

I love street fairs and similar outdoor events, and in recent years the city has focused on the length of Broadway - adding more green spaces, more pedestrian areas, more seating, and moving shops and food stands. This one shown is in Herald Square.

#4

#5

Central Park's Bow Bridge is a classic photographer's paradise. It's been featured in countless movies. Here, I was trying to snap a photo of the brilliant foliage near the bridge and happened to include an adorable couple as well.

This is a shot of the amazing wisteria arbor in the Italian garden of the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park, a perennial sketching spot of my art Meetup group.

#6

#7

Speaking of the sketch group, here's a photo I love. I just dig that despite the amazing skyline view of the Brooklyn Promenade, everyone is looking at the artwork.

This is Spoonbill & Sugartown Books, in Williamsburg. I love the city's bookstores, and you can see the map I made of all the bookstores here.

#8

#9

Here's the first photo in the list showing our daughter, Sienna, back when she was a few months old. Her brilliantly-colored outfit stands out against the classic New Yorker black among the other subway riders. She loves to ride the subway and look at all the people.

I guess a lot of the Top 10 here are Empire State Building photos, but where we live that building is always a presence. This photo focuses on Stuytown's grove of flowering trees in the foreground.

#10

#11

St. Mark's Place is one of my favorite streets. At night it's hopping with activity, but in the morning, as in this photo, it's a weird mix of a setting geared towards action but with no action actually happening. Anyone who says the city never sleeps hasn't seen the East Village in the morning.

Recalling Central Park in Fall.

#12

#13

One of the most exciting events of my life: the 100th meetup of my sketch group. Normally we meet outside or at museums, but for this special event I rented a space and did a huge experiment in drawing still lifes we brought ourselves. Over 150 people attended, and it was incredible to see the silence and concentration in the room when that many artists are all hard at work. See more photos from the event here.

This is a classic photo I took during my first year in the city, which was my desktop wallpaper for awhile. The Gandhi statue in Union Square always looks best in the spring, when surrounded by flowers.

#14

#15

Here's a view from the South Street Seaport mall, which has a great juxtaposition of the boat right next to the building, since it's on a pier. Nice vista of Brooklyn, too.

What to say about this gelato? It's in the East Village, it's beautiful, it's delicious. It reminds me of Rome.

#16

#17

This is an alley near where I work, next to Blick art supplies on Bond street. I love those old buildings with the shutters.

The Flatiron area is a great spot to see outdoor art, and the exhibits rotate frequently. This one happened to be a distorted version of the nearby landmark building, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower. It was the tallest building in the world from 1909-1913, but now it's only the 42nd-tallest in New York alone.

#18

#19

Another alley near my office, this one off of Lafayette. I was walking by on my way home from work when I glanced over and saw this. I quickly snapped a picture. What the heck is going on? Only in New York.

Colorful yoga in Bryant Park.

#20

#21

One of the most recent photos here, I saw this great light and "tree dust" falling on this quiet street in SoHo.

An awesome New York perk that I didn't learn about until I moved here: in the summer, there are street fairs every weekend. This one on Third Avenue looks packed from far away; I like the contrast between that block and the empty one.

#22

#23

Another great view from the window of our apartment. Some sunsets you just can't pass up photographing.

This is Rockefeller Center, shot from inside the Lego Store. I have no idea who those dancing men were.

#24

#25

This is looking up into the trees in Madison Square Park. Click on this photo to see the incredible amount of detail here.

A photo from my sketch meetup, on Roosevelt Island looking over at Manhattan and the 59th street bridge.

#26

#27

Click on this image to get the full effect of how beautifully packed this toy store is. It's Dinosaur Hill, on 9th Street.

Sometimes you just have to take your goat out for a night on the town, decked out in her finest pearls. West Village.

#28

#29

Beautiful street art on 1st Street. This container always has a lot of nice art, and it's next to one of my favorite small parks.

This photo only really delivers its full impact once you know the price of this panda chair, marked on the label below: $75,000.

#30

#31

Barcelona? No, New York - behind Grant's Memorial on the Upper West Side.

Elaborate window display in the Flatiron district.

#32

#33

I forget precisely if this shot is from Carl Schurz park or Peter Detmold park. But I like the greenery overhanging (which is also fun to see from inside the tunnel, as long as you don't blink and miss it.)

We were wandering the mall in the World Financial Center - which is a weird half-mall half-office building - and stumbled on this empty room. I like to think it's Lex Luthor's.

#34

#35

Nice snow scene of 192 books, on 10th avenue.

Quiet night in a shady corner of the West Village.

#36

#37

Roosevelt Island musicians accosting a passerby.

Washington Square park: light and shadow.

#38

#39

This was fun to run into: dance lessons in Stuyvesnat Square. The instructor has the red hair.

Riveted to the 2014 World Cup. Notice the guy in the street, too.

#40

#41

Another shot of the restaurant fair in Herald Square, at dusk.

I don't know what this building is, on 19th and Broadway, but the colors as the sun was setting were just amazing.

#42

#43

The ridiculously gorgeous Broklyn Promenade.

The Central Park Sketch Group visiting the (new) American Wing at the Met.

#44

#45

The old police headquarters on Centre St, looking dignified in the snow.

You never know what you're going to see ... in this case, it's Miss Myanmar preparing for a photo shoot, at Columbus Circle.

#46

#47

An older photo (probably 2004 or so) of Madison Square Park. That glorious tree is now gone.

The new Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island.

#48

#49

The pier at the South Street Seaport.

View from the "top of the Rock", overlooking Central Park.

#50

#51

9th Street is one of my favorite streets. In addition to the great toy store above, you just have some other nice little scenic shops, as well as the strings of lights along the street.

Sand artist under the arch in Washington Square Park. Looks like someone else is getting a photograph, too.

#52

#53

This was a really cool art exhibit set up at an old gas station, right in the middle of Chelsea.

Brave subway workers - they heard the train coming and all stepped onto the side as it pulled in.

#54

#55

The sumptuous English garden in the Conservatory Gardens of Central Park.

Who knows what this was - a taining exercise? The police were all standing there for awhile. This was at Citigroup Center.

#56

#57

I was elated to find this new swaying walkway, which leads from the Brooklyn Promenade down to the new Brooklyn Bridge Park. Here, the sketch group marches towards Manhattan.

Another photo of Citigroup Center, which has a great atrium for reading, too.

#58

#59

Temporary lawn in the street in Williamsburg. This is just the sort of thing you'd expect to happen in Williamsburg.

My wife's neice Carly (along with a thousand other kids) on Central Park's iconic Alice statue.

#60

#61

My wife Rachel and her sister Shira on our way out to dinner in the West Village. I tried to steer clear of photos of my friends and family when choosing these pictures, focusing instead on the city itself. But here, I feel like the light on the street is a character in and of itself, making three subjects in the frame.

Light hitting a building on Broadway, across from Bond Street. I love how some of these old New York buildings are so incredible that in a smaller town, they'd be revered as a landmark. But here they're old hat; one landmark among many. This is problematic if you became immune to their beauty and start ignoring them, and I'm thankful that this happened to me yet.

#62

#63

Some sort of celebrity(?) interview at Veselka. The restaurant was featured both in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and in Season 2 of Louie.

A small girl performing in Bryant Park. I happened upon this, from the back, by accident.

#64

#65

Freeman's restaurant, located at the end of its secret alley.

The chaotic beauty of Midtown Comics in Times Square.

#66

#67

Fall at the Oval in Stuy Town.

Restaurant underneath the High Line and underneath a hotel that overlooks the High Line.

#68

#69

Here's the sketch group again, at another of our most popular spots, the waterfall that leads to the Ravine in Central Park. One of the best spots in the city to sketch.

This is an old photo, so I don't remember exactly where it's from. Looks like First Avenue? Wherever, I liked the shapes of the speeding cabs.

#70

#71

Every list of great NYC photos needs at least one of the skyline from high above. I took this photo from the Empire State Building, naturally. You can see Bryant Park and Times Square.

Danger: It's Raining Men

#72

#73

Here's that cool walkway in Brooklyn again, this time showing the scale of the gigantic construction project going on around it.

I don't know where they go in the winter, but here they are in the summer at least.

#74

#75

Random park I passed by somewhere in midtown. Almost looks haunted.

The beautiful Conservatory Gardens in Central Park. The stones along this path mark the original 13 states, although I have no idea why, since it's called the "Italian Garden".

#76

#77

A great view of the High Line from above.

Halloween. I can never get close enough to get photos of the Village Halloween parade, but here's another procession in the Village.

#78

#79

The planetarium in the Natural History Museum.

View of downtown from the ferry to Governor's Island. I highly recommend a trip to the island if you've never been.

#80

#81

The sketch group enjoying one of the quietest spots in the city, in Carl Schurz Park.

Chatting in Tribeca/SoHo.

#82

#83

Just chillin' out max and relaxin' all gold.

It was hard to choose just a single photo of Bethesda Fountain, but I love the framing tree in this one.

#84

#85

New York' Original Roving Bookstore and Teddy Bear Emporium. Accept no imitations.

Sun setting over the west side.

#86

#87

Sci-fi model in the window of American Apparel. She was vogueing and shooting her ray-gun at passersby.

One of my favorite spots to sit and read, now gone. At the South Street Seaport.

#88

#89

Nothing says "Advanced Professional Marketing" like that font.

The shocking food store under the 59th street bridge.

#90

#91

Here's my wife, walking along the East River on a cold February night, an hour before I proposed to her. For me, this photo best captures the memory of that evening.

Sunset over the South Street Seaport.

#92

#93

Classic Flatiron shot, of which I have dozens. I particularly liked the light in this one.

Somebody filming something - I never found out what - in DUMBO.

#94

#95

This one I did find out - it was Boardwalk Empire, filming on 12th street. I especially like the old timey covers on the lamp posts.

When I walked by this paper and saw it out of the corner of my eye, for a split second I thought I was really in the Marvel Universe, looking at a stack of Daily Bugles.

#96

#97

Passed this couple in Central Park, getting their wedding photos done. Forget about the dress, I'm sure what people really want to see is your fancy new balloon.

"I just turned my back for a second ... and he was gone!"

#98

#99

I thought I needed at least one photo of myself on the list, so here's a trampoline moment in Prospect Park.

Sienna wraps up the list by looking out of our window wistfully, as the sun rises over the skyline.

#100