Ed Yourdon
Walking alone, in Riverside Park South
(more details later, as time permits)
************************
In late May of 2014, my wife mentioned that she had seen a New York Times article indicating that some interesting sculptures were being installed in Riverside Park South — the stretch of Riverside Park (along the Hudson River, on the western edge of Manhattan) between 70th Street and 59th Street. If you’re interested in checking it out, the article is titled "Sculptors to bring works to city parks,” from the May 29, 2014 issue of the paper.
Of course, I thought that the sculptures might be really interesting, and thus worthy of some photographs; alas, they turned out to be rather mundane (at least from a photographer’s perspective), but there was no way I could know that until I saw them first-hand.
I had been down to this section of Riverside Park once before to photograph — but I was shocked to see that it had been four years earlier, in May 2010. If you’re curious, you can see those photos here on Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/sets/72157624207637080
Here’s an excerpt/summary of what I wrote after that initial May 2010 photo-stroll:
"After lunch [at an outdoor cafe at the base of the pier that extends out into the Hudson River at 70th Street], I was planning to walk north and check out the new pathway [connecting Riverside Park to Riverside Park North] ... but first, there was an old abandoned freight elevator at the edge of the water, which I decided I should photograph. It was just to the south of the 70th-Street cafe, and after taking the photos, I looked a little further south, and saw that there was a broad pathway, carefully mowed grass, and lots of people strolling ... where? further south!
"So I followed the path, and found that it expanded into a complex web of sidewalks, mini-gardens, mini-piers jutting out into the river, wooden-slat chairs, picnic benches, and boardwalks leading through wild grass and flowers that had been carefully planted. All of this continued, block after block after block, down below the elevated West Side Highway, all the way down to 59th Street. And it turns out that that is where "Riverside Park South" actually starts.
"So that's where most of the photos in this set were actually taken. There are some strange sights along the way, because the whole area used to be occupied by working piers that loaded and unloaded ships filled with freight and cargo, on and off railroads that snaked their way along the west side of Manhattan. But as ship-borne cargo was gradually replaced by truck, rail, and air cargo, the piers and docks gradually fell into disuse; and when the Penn Central Railroad went bankrupt, they really fell into disuse.
"It turns out that there was a massive fire along this area back in June of 1971 (a time when I lived in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, and was more-or-less oblivious to what was going on in Manhattan), and the fire was so hot that it melted and warped the steel girders of many of the docks, cranes, and loading structures. When the whole area was renovated recently (apparently part of a required "civic contribution" by Donald Trump when he acquired the rights to build condos and apartment buildings along the stretch of the far West Side of Manhattan, from 72nd Street to the mid-60s), the city planners initially intended to remove all of the old twisted metal and rotting wooden piers. But local civic groups prevailed upon the city to leave some of it intact, as a reminder of what was there before... I could go on with more details, but you can check it out for yourself here on Wikipedia…”
So, now — in early June of 2014 — I took only a few photos, including two out on the pier that extends into the river at 70th Street. You’ll get a sense of the grass and the trees and the spring season that lent a magical air to everything in the park at that point. But as for the sculptures: yawn. Maybe if I was a “real” artist, I would be better equipped to understand and appreciate them. Maybe the problem is that I really only know how to do “street photography.” Anyway, I’ll leave the sculptures to someone else to capture...
Walking alone, in Riverside Park South
(more details later, as time permits)
************************
In late May of 2014, my wife mentioned that she had seen a New York Times article indicating that some interesting sculptures were being installed in Riverside Park South — the stretch of Riverside Park (along the Hudson River, on the western edge of Manhattan) between 70th Street and 59th Street. If you’re interested in checking it out, the article is titled "Sculptors to bring works to city parks,” from the May 29, 2014 issue of the paper.
Of course, I thought that the sculptures might be really interesting, and thus worthy of some photographs; alas, they turned out to be rather mundane (at least from a photographer’s perspective), but there was no way I could know that until I saw them first-hand.
I had been down to this section of Riverside Park once before to photograph — but I was shocked to see that it had been four years earlier, in May 2010. If you’re curious, you can see those photos here on Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/sets/72157624207637080
Here’s an excerpt/summary of what I wrote after that initial May 2010 photo-stroll:
"After lunch [at an outdoor cafe at the base of the pier that extends out into the Hudson River at 70th Street], I was planning to walk north and check out the new pathway [connecting Riverside Park to Riverside Park North] ... but first, there was an old abandoned freight elevator at the edge of the water, which I decided I should photograph. It was just to the south of the 70th-Street cafe, and after taking the photos, I looked a little further south, and saw that there was a broad pathway, carefully mowed grass, and lots of people strolling ... where? further south!
"So I followed the path, and found that it expanded into a complex web of sidewalks, mini-gardens, mini-piers jutting out into the river, wooden-slat chairs, picnic benches, and boardwalks leading through wild grass and flowers that had been carefully planted. All of this continued, block after block after block, down below the elevated West Side Highway, all the way down to 59th Street. And it turns out that that is where "Riverside Park South" actually starts.
"So that's where most of the photos in this set were actually taken. There are some strange sights along the way, because the whole area used to be occupied by working piers that loaded and unloaded ships filled with freight and cargo, on and off railroads that snaked their way along the west side of Manhattan. But as ship-borne cargo was gradually replaced by truck, rail, and air cargo, the piers and docks gradually fell into disuse; and when the Penn Central Railroad went bankrupt, they really fell into disuse.
"It turns out that there was a massive fire along this area back in June of 1971 (a time when I lived in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, and was more-or-less oblivious to what was going on in Manhattan), and the fire was so hot that it melted and warped the steel girders of many of the docks, cranes, and loading structures. When the whole area was renovated recently (apparently part of a required "civic contribution" by Donald Trump when he acquired the rights to build condos and apartment buildings along the stretch of the far West Side of Manhattan, from 72nd Street to the mid-60s), the city planners initially intended to remove all of the old twisted metal and rotting wooden piers. But local civic groups prevailed upon the city to leave some of it intact, as a reminder of what was there before... I could go on with more details, but you can check it out for yourself here on Wikipedia…”
So, now — in early June of 2014 — I took only a few photos, including two out on the pier that extends into the river at 70th Street. You’ll get a sense of the grass and the trees and the spring season that lent a magical air to everything in the park at that point. But as for the sculptures: yawn. Maybe if I was a “real” artist, I would be better equipped to understand and appreciate them. Maybe the problem is that I really only know how to do “street photography.” Anyway, I’ll leave the sculptures to someone else to capture...