Friday, June 1, 2012

The New New York Skyline

Ran up to the roof of my office this morning before work started to snap a couple pictures of the Freedom Tower being built.  It's more than half way finished and looking pretty sharp if you ask me....


I never did manage to get to the top of the Twin Towers before tragedy struck in 2001 and it's always been a regret of mine.  We got close once back in the late 90's, when my cousin Robyn had come up for a visit and a group of us ventured into the city to try and get to the top.  Heavy fog had forced the observation deck to close for the night right as we were entering the building.  We were all kind of disappointed but decided to trek around Chinatown for the rest of the evening and see what secret wonders those cramped blocks held.  The thought was always "oh well, there'll always be another time to go."  Truth is, there were many more nights to go from that point on, but I never took advantage of them and then it was too late.  I only ever scaled the Empire State Building because my good friend and his family had come up from Pennsauken to spend a day in New York City and I met up with them since it was only a quick ferry ride for me.   After the attack of 9/11, I started to realize just how much of this city I was taking for granted because, well... I live here.  There's so much to marvel at in this city, things that you see tourists gape at day in and day out, clogging up the sidewalks as us natives try and navigate around them, grumbling under our breath.  Over the last 9 years I have since made a more conscious effort to "tourist it up" a couple times a year.  It's kind of refreshing to make the effort to go see the sights this city has to offer as opposed to letting them paint the backdrop of our daily grind.   I'm hoping to post some more of the photos I've captured from around the town in that span.  Needless to say, once the tower is finished, I'll definitely be making the trip to the top!