36 Hours in Dumbo
This May my Son celebrated his 18th birthday, and instead of a material item he asked for something that was as cool for me as it was for him; a trip to NYC to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play on Broadway. While we spent most of our time on Citibikes peddling around the city, I did get a little bit of time to take some photos. With the limited time that I had to dedicate to photography, I really wanted to spend it in dumbo. An empty Brooklyn Bridge, or Water St. is a great reason to get up at 5am.
I absolutely love the bridges in NYC, they’re some of the most forgiving and patient photography subjects that one could ask for and one of my very favorites is the Manhattan Bridge. While it’s not as iconic against the skyline as the Queensborough or Brooklyn bridges, I love its giant stature and blue and white color scheme. I love being underneath and listening to the train thundering overhead and seeing the giant columns that hold it up. Perhaps the most iconic view of this beautiful structure is from Water St. where it is framed beautifully by the old buildings. On a clear day, you can see the Empire State Building aligned in the arch beneath it. It was hazy and foggy, but it was still a beautiful view. It was pretty neat to get to see Water St. empty, it’s usually full of photographers and tourists trying to replicate the famous view for themselves. I’ve yet to make a composition of it that I really like. I think I need to get further away and use a telephoto next time!
The real star of this area is the Brooklyn Bridge. One of the most iconic, photographed, and marketed landmarks in NYC (besides the Statue of Liberty). Built between 1869-1883 for trains, horse and buggy to cross, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in the world. I was always captivated by the story of how it’s designer/builder became to sick to work on the project that his wife took over the project under the guise of working in his stead. She faced a ton of adversity but was able to see the bridge through to completion and was one of the first people to cross the bridge with a rooster in tow. The Brooklyn Bridge is such a beautiful feat of engineering that it can make any photographer look talented.
While we didn’t have a ton of time for photos, we made the best of the time we did have. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was excellent, and dinner at Ivy Stark Mexology at the Timeout Market was almost worth the trip alone. While this post is titled ’36 hours in DUMBO’, I have to throw in a couple more photos… I really wanted to make it up to the Vessel in Hudson Yard. It was a hot bike trip, but we did make it up there.
