Seeing New York through the Photo Lens of Tourists

A few weeks ago I wrote about the little conversations I overheard in New York as I sped walk to and from work.  If you just stand still in any street corner you will overhear thousands of conversations that will remind you are harried, hurried, happy and broken we all are at varying moments in time.  I’m a die-hard New Yorker who has always had a love affair with the great Big Apple.   I still adore other cities ad travel to foreign and domestic lands alike.

I love Tokyo to the point I wish I could travel there once a year. I remember myself (as well as my son) stopping and taking in every single building small and tall; old and modern. I don’t tend to do that in new York. I tend to just speedily walk to where ever I need to get to in that New York minute.

Yesterday, at the end of the day, I decided that in the 17 minutes it would take me to walk to Grand Central to notice what others were looking at. I whipped out my smartphone and had it ready to snap photos of whatever others were taking photos of. Mind you, my route to Grand Central is less touristy. Nonetheless, I did catch people in awe taking photos of the grand city.

Below are photos of what others snapped photos of. Some of the photographs are a bit blurry as at times I did not stop to take the photos but took them as I ran and sped walked to my destination.

The Flat Iron Building As one crosses the street

Squirrels are the rock stars everywhere.

Squirrels are always the rock stars

A new highrise that has sprung up the last few years. One of many. The rate of construction in NYC is very high (pun intended)

A new highrise

Random art installations dot the NYC landscape

Random

The flashing red hand signals to the pedestrian to stop and not attempt to cross the street.  The tourists pay heed. New Yorkers do not.

stop: don’t walk. hmm

In between the dark tall buildings, spring up even taller brightly lit buildings

look up

As you near grand central the lights spring up.

Why are New Yorkers running all the time? To catch a train, bus and be somewhere on time.

Once you get to Grand Central, it is all fuzzy as you try to run through the crowds to get to your platform.

A fuzzy look at grand central

People watching is the other big draw to the City

Catching it all

There you have a 17 minute walk through the eyes of others. It’s a bit fuzzy and harried. Its a bit of everything: people watching, art viewing, and car dodging. That’s our vibrant New York. Something for everyone – even for us jaded New Yorkers who walk the streets everyday in a hurry to get to our next mindless meeting.

Should never stop appreciating what keeps us grounded and keeps us here. A good storyteller remembers to stop and live in the moment and see through the eyes of others.