Photo-of-the-Week #134 - The Changing New York City Skyline, Alpine, New Jersey, October 2013

In my lifetime, I have seen this section of the Manhattan Island (New York City) skyline change three times. Where I was born and raised in northern New Jersey I could clearly see the New York City skyline. For the 22 1/2 years I called New Jersey my home, there were no giant skyscrapers at the south end of Manhattan Island. A few years after I moved away from that region, first one, then a second giant tower became the prominent landmarks of that part of the island. I was in one of the towers around 1980 and up to about the 80th floor. After 2011 the southern part of Manhattan looked much like it did when I grew up in the region. Now, 2013, the skyline has changed a third time.

Here is the new World Trade Tower. It is now, including its antenna spire on the top, the tallest building structure in the United States at 1776 feet tall. I took this photo shortly after the structure was completed, though it's still not officially open for occupancy, yet. So, I have this photo of the new tower shortly before it's official dedication. I also have photos of the twin towers I took from a boat on the Hudson River three months before their tragic destruction.

Once again, I have to express my amazement at modern digital technology. I took this photo with the new "point and shoot" Samsung digital camera I purchased earlier this year. I was actually located about fifteen miles, line of sight, from the new tower when I shot this photo. Believe it or not, this is a handheld shot steadied on a rock. For those of you familiar with that region, I took the photo from a scenic overlook off the Palisades Interstate Parkway near Alpine, New Jersey.

This little camera has an excellent Schneider zoom lens with an additional 4X digital zoom. This photo was taken using the equivalent of approximately a 1,700mm telephoto 35mm lens. I'm sure a large sensor camera with a huge, heavy 1,700mm fixed focal length lens on a solid tripod base would deliver a significantly better photo. But, for a mere $179.95, I'm quite thrilled with the capabilities of this little camera. And the best part is that I've only been using this camera on its automatic mode. I can also change to manual mode with the turn of a dial and I can adjust all the camera's functions manually.

By the way, the bridge you see in the foreground is the George Washington Bridge that I had crossed only a couple days earlier when returning from Long Island on my way to meet up with my college buddy, Greg and his wife, Mary, for a late lunch, not far from the GW bridge.