Tugboat on the East River

This little tugboat toots along the East River with the big boys, like the Staten Island ferry, tourist cruise ship and other gigantic carriers. In the background, you can also see masted boats and water taxi.

So do you toot your own horn?

Kayaking on the East River

This photo was taken from the pier at Long Island City two Saturdays ago at about 8:15 AM. I noticed this guy kayaking alone on the East River. Who on earth wakes up that early to go kayaking on a Saturday morning?!?!?!

In the background of the photo, you can see the Queensborough Bridge that links Queens to Manhattan. You can also notice some weird splotches in the sky. Those are dust particles from the INSIDE of my camera lense. ARGH!! It's an old camera so I think it's time for me to get a new one.

So what time do you usually wake up on Saturday morning?

Brooklyn Heights Promenade

This is the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on the western edge of Brooklyn overlooking the vista of Lower Manhattan across the East River. I took this photo last Saturday and edited the image before posting it on here. I enhanced the contrast and reduced the brightness. Then I cropped the photo to give it the image I want.

So do you edit your photos?

Three Bridges of East River

Strangetastes of Saint Louis Daily Photo and his lovely bride visited me in NYC yesterday morning (Saturday) with their nephew, Michael. We went on a 30-minute cruise on the East River to view the Waterfall Exhibition by Olafur Eliasson. I think we all managed to have fun exploring the city despite the foggy and wet weather.

In the photo above, you can see one of the four artificial waterfalls -- this one is under the Brooklyn Bridge. You can also see three bridges that connect Manhattan Island to Long Island, starting with Brooklyn Bridge closest to the boat, followed by Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge.

So how is your weekend so far?

Boardwalk at South Street Seaport

This photo was taken at the boardwalk by South Street Seaport near Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. I was there to pick up the tickets for a 30-minute cruise around the city to view the waterfall installation by artist, Olafur Eliasson this coming holiday weekend. A fellow daily photo blogger is visiting NYC so we are going to meet up and go on this cruise with his family.

Can you guess who is the daily photo blogger?

Water Taxi at South Street Seaport

This water taxi service have limited number of stops in lower Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey but it cuts down on travel time for those living near the rivers. Notice the sign on the side of the boat for free water taxi to IKEA Brooklyn? We finally have an IKEA outlet in the city and it's in Red Hook on the south east side of Brooklyn.

The free water taxi service to IKEA leaves Pier 11 (Wall Street) in lower Manhattan and crosses the East River to Red Hook in 12 minutes. Thanks, Eliane for the information.

So do you have an IKEA near you?

East Side Vista

Here is another 'stitched photo' from my visit to Long Island City. This photo shows the east side of Manhattan (left) and Long Island City (right). The bridge in the middle is the 59th Street Queensborough Bridge. There are two levels of automobile traffic, a subway line and a foot path on that bridge.

Click here to see the full size photo.

So what are you plans for the weekend?

Long Island City

This is a view of the waterfront in Long Island City where I took the photo of the United Nations building. Long Island City in Queens has been expanding like crazy lately with at least three new condonimiums sprouting up in the last year alone.

The photo above was taken using the 'stitch capability' on my camera, which basically combines three successive photographs together to make one long panaromic view. Click here to see the full size of the photo.

So what special camera capabilities have you used lately?

Welcome to Manhattan

This is the exit ramp of the Queensborough Bridge onto 59th and 60th Street in Manhattan. The bridge connects Long Island City in Queens to Manhattan across the East River. This photo was taken from a cable car suspended hundreds of feet above the river. You can see the pair of double steel cables that hold up the car in the top right of the photo.

Last year, two cable cars were stuck for over 5 hours midway through the journey after the stations lost power. Emergency generator power did not kick in and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had to fly a specialist in from upstate NY to fix the problem. The cable car service was subsequently shut down for months. It was returned to service only recently.

So do you have a fear of height? OR do you have any phobia?

Brooklyn Heights Vista

This is the skyline of the most expensive real estate properties in Brooklyn, otherwise known as Brooklyn Heights. The photo was taken from South Street Seaport on the lower east side of Manhattan.

A one-bedroom co-op apartment here goes for about $475,000 while a one-family townhouse can cost over $8,000,000. Despite the exorbitant prices, they are considered affordable compared to how much it costs to live in some desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan.

The only places where real estate is more expensive than New York City are London and Tokyo.

Hell's Gate

Hell's Gate is a narrow strait that separates Astoria, Queens from Ward's Island and Randall's Island on the East River. The islands sit between Queens and Manhattan, just north of Roosevelt Island. Hell's Gate got its name from the Dutch word, hellegat, which means "bright passage" because the East River was an important trade route in the early 19th century.

On June 15, 1904, a triple-decker steamboat carrying 1,300 people from the Lower East Side (Manhattan) sailed up the East River to Long Island. The wooden steamer caught on fire right at this spot. The fire was so fierce that the boat was burnt to the waterline in 15 minutes. Many of the passengers, including children had no choice but to jump into the river. The life jackets, which were made of cork at the time, were old and useless as floatation devices. A total of 1,021 people died in the incident. Following the tragedy, the US government appointed a commission to investigate the situation and numerous maritime laws, including safety procedures, were enacted shortly thereafter.

This photo was taken from the Astoria side of the river and shows two pilot ships navigating a barge through the narrow strait. The bridge above Hell's Gate is the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) track connecting Queens to Manhattan.

East River

Manhattan is a long but narrow island bordered by the East River on the east and the Hudson River on the west. It is 13.4 miles (21.1 km) long; and 2.3 miles (3.7 km) across at its widest and 0.8 miles (1.3 km) at its narrowest.

This photo was taken from the elevated Roosevelt Island Tramway, which is a cable car system connecting Manhattan to Roosevelt Island across the East River on 60th Street. In the photo, you can see the northern view of Manhattan on the left and Roosevelt Island on the right.

The East River is a beautiful and narrow waterway that attracts a fair amount of single engine plane and helicopter tours along it. Unfortunately, the tall buildings on the Manhattan side can be hazardous to inexperienced pilots who fly this route. Recently, a small plane piloted by baseball player, Cory Lidle smashed into one of the buildings during an attempt to turn the plane around after flying up the East River.

N.B.: Macky of Tokyo Photo Daily posted a similar photo last Sunday. How appropriate since Tokyo is a sister city of New York City.