New York Harbor

Following on from the Red Hook Pier photos from Halloween, I am posting a few other images of New York harbor. All images are from 2019 – the first six are from late May and the last two are from early June. The air is visibly much cleaner in the first photos; the views towards Staten Island and New Jersey in the last two images are layered with haze.

As I write this post (June 7th, 2023) New York City has the dubious honor of having the worst air quality in the world. The sky glowed and the sunlight softened and dissolved all shadows, and I had the rare opportunity to see Brooklyn from a 24th floor window. The view below is of a hazy sky and about 2 or 3 miles visibility (novice guess on my part). The view of Prospect Park dominates as the main/only portion of the city visible, and everything further afield is obscured. It felt very close to a glimpse into the past, centuries back, before European colonizers and permanent settlements. A few buildings are clearly visible, but it still seems like seeing the city as what it once was.