Central Park from the 100th Floor

This month Barbara and I were guests at an elegant reception on the 100th floor of Central Park Tower (at 217 West 57th Street), one of the slim skyscrapers that now adorn the midtown Manhattan skyline. Here’s what I could see through the thick windowpanes – the whole
of Central Park, pierced by the shadow of the tower I’m snapping from.

For all these pictures, I used both a 35mm Canon with a telephoto lens and the photo lens of my cellphone. Here I concentrated on the area surrounding The Reservoir.

Then I shifted the scope to include The Lake and Sheep Meadow.

Now back for a wide-angle view of just The Reservoir.

Here’s Manhattan’s upper west side bordering the Park, with the
George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River in the distance.

This one takes us a little closer to the Bridge.

Now I focused my lens on these two attractive triangles of
Park and buildings.

Here I’m honing in further on that section of the Park near where
Barbara and I lived for many years.

Now shifting over to the view of the east side of the Park and the upper east side structures, with Wollman Rink in the lower right corner.

Here’s my long lens, picking out what lies beyond the east side buildings, such as Hell Gate Bridge and lots of water.

Now we’re back at the Park and the east side buildings.

Here we're coming in closer on that residential section known as
the Upper East Side.

And now, we're zooming all the way in to define Temple Emanu-El,
and also the building that houses the Arsenal Gallery (where I had my first showing of Central Park photos), and the Central Park Zoo.

Now we’re down at the southeast corner of the Park, featuring the Pond, the Gapstow Bridge, and the massive buildings of Central Park South.

Here’s a close-up of The Pond and its surroundings – a wonderful corner
of the Park.

Check out the skaters on Wollman Rink.

This is Umpire Rock in the southwestern part of Central Park near
Heckscher Playground and Wollman Rink – a well-known location for climbing as well as to relax and take in the scenery.

Here The Pond is dwarfed by an entire cast of east side structures.

This is what a sidestreet looks like from up high.

And now for the whole works – the Pond, the C.P. South buildings,
and the sidestreet.

There’s no Park here – just some hefty structures.

That’s the One57 luxury condominium building.

Steinway Tower overlooks the scene.

The Central Park Boathouse, Bethesda Terrace, and the Bethesda Fountain.

These are the Heckscher Ballfields.

Here’s The Lake. You can just make out a slice of Bow Bridge on the far right.

Shifting now to a brief glance at the afternoon sky.

And finally back to where we started (although minus the shadow).