That photo was from a snow squall that passed through New York two weeks ago. While I generally like snow and really wished that we’d got some actual accumulation on the ground, the aftermath was quite beautiful. Trees were covered in snow, parked cars had a thin layer, and any exposed soil had a light …
The army aerial photography that I’ve been mining covered the entire country, of course, not just New York City. This 1924 shot is labelled “New York – Hudson River”, which isn’t very helpful, but there’s a handwritten note on the matte border (that I cropped) that reads “Storm King Highway.” Storm King is the northernmost …
The American west is always good for dramatic scenery, and human intervention has often made it even more striking. The 1905 picture above is titled “Canyon of the Rio las Animas, Colorado” and it shows a narrow-gauge train on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in the valley. The railroad line I’ve ridden most often …
I said yesterday that the Mount Prospect and Ridgewood Reservoirs of the Brooklyn water supply system are long gone, but that’s a simplification. The Mount Prospect reservoir is completely gone, buried under a new park and the Brooklyn Public Library. The Ridgewood reservoir, seen above in a 1909 map, has had an interesting after-life. This …
The New York State lockdown for Covid-19 began on March 22; New York City was cleared for Phase 2 reopening this past Monday, June 22. Spring equinox this year was March 19 and the summer solstice was June 20. In other words, the city was shut down almost exactly the same length as astronomical spring, …
