In february I finally made my way to New York City, a city that I always wanted to visit. Although some problems related to the IT system of the airline occured, we reached our hotel with not too much delay. I, of course, instantly started looking for nice spots to take pictures with my camera. In the following I want to list five well-known and maybe not-so-well-known places that are definitely worth visiting in New York City.
Top of the Rock
The observation deck “Top of the Rock“ is very famous and thus, it is not really an insider tip. It is located in the Rockefeller Center and offers a 360 degress view over Manhattan. We went there at night and I took a lens with a very wide aperture to capture some amazing photographs of the skyline with the Empire State Building in the foreground. The observation deck is open-air but surrounded by large glass panels. There is a space of about 10 centimeters between the panels which allowed me to take photos without having to shoot through glass.
Brooklyn Bridge
The probably most famous bridge of New York connects Manhattan and Brooklyn not only if you are going by car. It also gives a very nice opportunity to walk across the East River and get an insane view of Lower Manhattan. We were surprised that the bridge was not over-crowded although we went there during the day. In Brooklyn you can find some other nice spots for photos not far away from bridge such as the Booklyn Bridge Park from where you can see the skyline of Lower Manhattan and the neighbourhood “Dumbo” from where you can get an excellent view of another famous bridge in New York, the Manhattan Bridge.
Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry operates between Manhattan and Staten Island. While the Boat itself is nothing special, the view you will get while travelling between the two boroughs is amazing. You will have the opportunity to take impressive photos of the Statue of Liberty as well as of the skyline of Manhattan and Jersey City. Since the boat passes Liberty Island with some distance, it could be helpful to use a lens with a focal length of about 200mm. To get the best view, go to the right side of the boat when going from Manhattan to Staten Island and to the left side when travelling back to Manhattan. You can also access the bow of the boat from where you can the best photos of New York City, Jersey City and the Statue of Liberty.
Coney Island
Coney Island Beach is located in the south of Brooklyn and it takes about an hour to get there from Manhattan. The beach was quite empty which was no surprise since it was february but being at an empty beach felt very relaxing during a week in a large city like New York. Right behind the beach is the Luna Park, a very colorful amusement park. The Luna Park was closed during winter but it was still worth going to Coney Island just because of the iconic view of the beach with the Luna Park behind it.
SoHo
Soho is a beautiful neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan. When we went there we just walked through the streets and were instantly impressed by the amazing architecture of the buildings there. Many houses there are equipped with fire escapes that New York city is famous for. Unfortunately the weather was not very nice when we walked through SoHo but the rainy atmosphere added a moody touch to the photos.
Honorable Mentions
There are, of course, many more places in New York City that are pretty photogenic and definitely worth visiting that did not make it into this list. Maybe I will extend that list in the future but until I do that, here are my honorable mentions:
The Vessel / Hudson Yards
High Line Park
Chinatown
Bethesda Terrace
I went to New York in february, thus things are maybe different when you go there in summer or spring but I hope this blogpost helps you planning your trip to New York City.
