New York by night

New York by night
- Part 2: Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Central Park, Chelsea, Greenwich Village

New York is sometimes dubbed "the city that never sleeps" and it really comes alive when the sun has set and the many lights illuminates the streets of the metropolis. Especially Times Square, that is filled with neon signs, looks cool after dark. It is also nice to go up a tall building and look down on all lights of the skyscrapers, signs and traffic. Pictures of New York by night have been featured in endless posters and movies.

After the so called zero vision in the 90s, New York has became one of the safest cities in USA, even after dark. In the 70s New York was known as a crime ridden city that was very dangerous especially after dark, but large efforts by authorities have made most of the criminal gangs disappear. And because there are so many people around, even at night, it feels safe to move around in Manhattan, by foot or the subway. Since Manhattan was the only borough we visited after dark I can't speak for the other ones, but crime rates have decreased heavily in all boroughs.

Upper West Side:

Lincoln Center:

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a famous cultural complex on the south part of Upper West Side, at Lincoln Square near Midtown. The 2 main buildings were completed between 1962 and 1966. It is 6.6 ha large and was built by the initiative of John D. Rockefeller III and others. When we reached Lincoln Center it had turned dark. That is the time when this cultural complex looks the best with its illuminated facades.

The 3 buildings from the left are: 1. David H. Koch Theater, home of NYC opera and ballet. 2. Metropolitan Opera (The Met). 3.Avery Fisher Hall, the concert hall that is home of NY Philharmonic. There are also several other theaters in the complex, as well as cinemas, theater schools and restaurants.

I have a special relationship to Lincoln Center since it was the first famous building I saw whilte approaching the city by bus a dark evening on my first NY trip in 1998.

Close-up of The Met, that was completed in 1966.

Metropolitan Opera, often simiply called "The Met".

The signs on the stairs say "welcome" in different languages.

The illuminated fountain in front of Lincoln Center.

Alice Tully Hall is a modern annex to Lincoln Center, that features a striking design with glass and sharp angles. It lies on Broadway and is also called Irene Diamond Building. It is a signifigant 2009 renovation of a 1969 structure designed by Pietro Belluschi.

Apple store near Lincoln Center.

WARC TV.

Harperley Hall is an exclusive residential building on 41 Central Park West, Upper West Side. It was built in 1910. Madonna owns an apartment here.

Central Park:

Belvedere Castle in Central Park.

Midtown skyline seen from Central Park.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, the largest lake of Central Park.

Upper East Side:

Guggenheim Museum seen from 5th Avenue on Upper East Side.

Close-up of Guggenheim.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, often just called "The Met", is New York's largest museum. Here it is seen from the Musuem Mile part of 5th Avenue on Upper East Side. It was inaugurated in 1872 and it has today over 2 million pieces of art.