Most of the country, and particularily cities like New York, continue in a state of shut-down due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Today, a most welcome and meaningful show of support was heralded simultaneously by the Navy’s Blue Angels, and Air Force’s Thunderbirds, seen below flying from just south of the George Washington Bridge, to The Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan. I joined about 30, mostly masked onlookers atop a basalt outcropping near Goffle Road, Hawthorn, NJ, to witness the event some 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) distant from Manhattan. Close-ups are seen through ground haze, and a 600mm lens.
Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂
About four weeks ago, in one of our last ventures before the Corvid-19 Pandemic, we visited the little town of Piermont, New York …on the Hudson River, and explored its 182 year old rock and earthen pier, which by 1851 served as a loading and unloading track bed for Erie Railroad trains picking up steamboat passengers from Lower Manhattan, twenty-five miles to the South. On the then longest rail line in the world, vacationers would travel 450 miles (724 km) to Dunkirk, NY and the shores of Lake Erie. Some hundred years later, long after the excursions were outmoded, tens of thousands of WW II troops would depart from this same mile long pier to ferries, and transfer onto troop ships in NY Harbor. Sadly, thousands would literally leave their last footsteps on U.S. soil right here. A monument nearby is solemnly named “Last Stop, USA.”
The Piermont Pier is located about two miles (3.2 km)south of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, jutting out a little less than one mile (1.61 km) into the Hudson River.
The old steamship/ferry slip from years ago is seen above, …to the left.
Above: Today, the pier is a commercial, residential, and hiking park.
Remnants of the steamship/ferry docks can still be seen in this 2/23/20 view looking south. New York City would be just beyond Tallman Mountain to the right.
Above: A bollard, used for securing heavy lines, is seen here near the end of the pier, looking south.
Above: The trestle part of the new bridge, carrying the New York State Thruway, is about two miles (3.2 km) to the North; and Hook Mountain, overlooking the Hudson, is seen beyond.
Above: The striking new Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge; and two miles (3.2 km) further, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse off Tarrytown, NY seen to the left of center span.
Taken some years ago while boating on the Hudson, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, also know as Tarrytown Lighthouse or Kingsland Point Lighthouse, was “installed” in 1883.
Thanks for viewing. Zoom in for a closer look.
And a special note: BE WELL, …and please use best judgement practices as we “navigate” through these un-precedented difficult times. M
I’d like to thank the Piermont Historical Society for their added information concerning this topic, and Wikipedia. I am a proud contributer/donator to both sources.
Lucy Kaplansky, a Greenwich Village honed musician and singer-songwriter with pitch perfect vocals and acoustic guitar mastery, has impressed us during a number of local performances over the years. This past Saturday, as snow fell on the city and suburbs, my city savvy son and I made the trek, first by car in N.W. Bergen County, NJ, to the local train station. The end of the line is Hoboken, just steps away from the ferry terminal where we waited a few minutes for the frigid ride across the Hudson River to the “Battery” terminal (WTC area.) A cold half mile walk thru accumulating snow and partly along the water front, brought us to the pleasantly impressive “City Vineyard” restaurant on Pier 26.
Preceded by an excellent dinner, Lucy would perform flawlessly with her music and stories, right there on the Hudson River, and practically in the shadow of One World Trade Center.
This is how we got there…
The last image above is through the window next to our high top table while watching the show, – overlooking the summer deck and Jersey City beyond.
City Vineyard is marked near the upper right on the map above.
After the show, with my son leading the way, we would take a cab uptown to Penn Station, where the trains would bring us back under the river and eventually to the car (via Secaucus Jct.) and the final slippery road home.
Note that these are i-phone images.
Thanks for viewing and comments are always welcome. M 🙂
Forty-eight years ago this month, the wrecking ball had begun its work marking the end of decades of fun and amusement at this iconic park perched high atop the New Jersey Palisades overlooking New York City.
Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂
A while back I pondered the source of the Hudson River, coursing 315 miles from the slopes of Mt. Marcy, (the highest peak in the Adirondacks of New York State,) to the southern tip of Manhattan. So I went there!
At 5,348 ft (1,629m) Mt. Marcy and other mountains of the High Peaks Region shed snow melt and rainwater via thousands of trickling rivulets, forming creeks and streams that feed Henderson Lake, 7.5 miles (12 km) ESE of Marcy’s summit.
ABOVE: A portion of pristine Henderson Lake, of which its out-flow is considered the named start of the Hudson River. Folklore cites a small glacial pond, “Tear of the Clouds” (about 7 miles to the ENE, and higher up on the southern slopes of Mt. Marcy,) as the source of the river, spurring a debate based on “longest length,” vs. “highest elevation” as relevent to proper naming.
Immediately coming out of Henderson Lake, this stream is officially the first water known as the “Hudson River,” seen from the first bridge. A hiking trail to the High Peaks starts here.
Just south, the Mac Naughton Cottage, is one of a dozen or so abandoned buildings on the west bank of the “Hudson River.”
In 1827, a mining operation was begun here. Although certainly not a concern at the time, it arguably affected the downstream quality of the river. (Subsequent pollution sources, such as PCB’s far out-weighed the environmental impact in later years but nonetheless, this operation was large, and spewed mountains of slag and tailings which are still prominent today.) The initial venture closed in 1857 due to transportation costs and….mysterious impurities in the iron ore.Many years later,MacIntyre Mine as it became known, was obtained by NL Industries, and before closing permanentaly in 1982 produced over 40 million tons of titanium …the strange impurity in the iron ore. See here for more information. 1982 would mark the end of mining activity leaving behind the Tahawus Ghost Town .
Slightly over 300 miles to the south, the George Washington Bridge is the last span over the Hudson River, as seen in the header image.
An interesting side note from this area is depicted on the nearby signage shown below. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was vacationing at the above cottage in 1901. He was advised while hiking on Mt. Marcy, that the current President, William McKinley, had taken a turn for the worst after an assassination attempt the week before in Buffalo, several hundred miles away. Determined to get to the President’s bedside as soon as possible, Roosevelt and a driver risked treacherous and frightening overnight conditions on a horse drawn buckboard to the nearest railroad connection in North Creek six or seven hours away. During this time, at 2:15 AM, President William McKinley succumbed, as Roosevelt was still negotiating the dark, back country terrain. Contrary to the wording on the sign and elsewhere, he would be sworn in as the 26th President of the United States later that day in Buffalo.
Note: At the time of my visit I shot these photographs on film. Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome. M :-
Looking down W. 57th St. at twilight this week, four of the newest buildings including the second tallest in the city, dominate the view. But, look at the closest on the left….
Designed by Danish Architect Bjark Inges, this spectacular residential building features impressive amenities, and a spectacular open air court yard.
“VIA 57 West” is so dramatically shaped that it looks different from every viewpoint, as shown here from the west, (above) and north-west an hour earlier. (below)
As usual, click on the image for a closer look, and thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome. M 🙂
An image included in my 2014 post about Hamilton Park, Weehawken, NJ, was recently selected by “Traveling Lady” for inclusion in her “Top 10 Instagram Spots of New York.”See:
