Leaving New York Harbor

Leaving New York on a big boat is an experience I've had a number of times before, but this time, I had my trusty little digital camera and perfect weather.   New York may not be a beautiful city like San Francisco or Venice, but it is a grand and magnificent city; "The Great Rome or all who lost or hated home," wrote WH Auden, one of New York City's former residents.  Leaving or approaching the city by sea presents the city at its grandest.   One of the world's great architectural spectacles surrounds New York Harbor, and the best vantage point to see it is by boat.

These are all pictures from my camera.  Michael took some of these.  I took others.

Michael and I about to embark for a weekend in St John, New Brunswick on board the Carnival Glory.

The dock from which we left

The Empire State Building from the ship

Michael watching Manhattan pass by.

The Empire State Building with the Chelsea Piers, a popular sports and recreation center, in the foreground

The unfinished 1 World Trade Center

The new World Trade Center, towers 1 and 4, with the World Financial Center, the glass vault of the Winter Garden, and Battery Park City in the foreground

The Battery and the Financial District's towers from the Harbor

The East River bridges, the Brooklyn in front, then the Manhattan, and the Williamsburg is the furthest.

The Verrazano Bridge with the Staten Island Ferry

Passengers watching the Statue of Liberty go by

Ms. Liberty from the ship

Looking back from the Verrazano Bridge;  Jersey City is on the left, Manhattan in the center, and the East River and Brooklyn to the right.

The Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano Bridge, the city's biggest and most recent suspension bridge, completed in 1964.

Traffic on the upper and lower levels of the Verrazano Bridge

Passing under the Verrazano Bridge; from our vantage point, it looked like we barely cleared the bridge, but the Queen Mary II and air craft carriers like the John F. Kennedy, much larger boats than ours, pass under this bridge all the time.

Looking back to Manhattan, Bay Ridge Brooklyn is in the foreground.

Coney Island

Coney Island

Further out to sea, looking back at the towers of Manhattan with the Rockaways in the foreground

A container ship with the setting sun and our last view of Manhattan on the horizon

Our last glimpse of Manhattan before the sun sets and the towers disappear below the horizon; it is remarkable how far out to sea these towers are visible.

Finally, the open Atlantic and the setting sun



I remember the first time I visited New York in 1982, I climbed to the top of Ms. Liberty's crown just to see the Atlantic Ocean, which I'd never seen before.  All I saw was Red Hook in Brooklyn.  Now, I've flown over and sailed upon that ocean many times.  I crossed it by ship once.  I've seen it now numerous times, and I never cease to marvel at it.

On the way up to Canada, dolphins escorted us part of the way.

On the way back from Canada, Michael and I saw a whole pod of whales spouting and leaping and splashing their flukes as we passed.