As a visitor from the Old World, a world were things are old and small and puzzled together, to me those rows of high tower buildings were a mind blowing new experience. You suddenly become aware of scale. I had never seen anything like that before with my own two eyes. Walking through the seemingly endless streets feeling so small, always looking up in awe – that is what New York meant to me at the time. Something I had only seen on TV and now I was right in the middle of it all.
In the 1990s the cars in New York looked so nice and old and American. Like an episode of Kojak. There is a TGI Fridays on the right where the balloons are and at the end of the street is the back of the New York Public Library, one of my favourite buildings in the world for all the knowledge it holds in its walls.
Randomly exploring New York City on foot, walking until you can’t walk no more, you realize that you haven’t come far towards the end of a day. There is always something to discover round each block or peaking round a distant corner, forcing you to change direction or scrap plans or make you keep going.
Like the grill of a 50s car paired with an incredible bold amount of black. Never had I seen such an Art Deco chrome façade like that before. But what also got my attention was the unusual name of the bank. A rather small signage compared to the bold building grill, but still striking enough – Gotham Bank of New York. Wow. I had found Batman’s bank.
When the plane had landed it was a late November afternoon close to sunset. By the time the shuttle picked us up at JFK International Ariport it was getting dark. Entering Manhattan at night was underwhelming at first, but when the first skyscrapers came in sight like lighthouses on a distant shore it was surreal and breathtaking.
The only musical I’ve ever went to see was not the Phantom of the Opera. When I took this picture in November 1992, I only did so for two reasons: it was round the block from our hotel and we walked past it on the way to Times Square, and secondly it was for my best friend, as she was the biggest fan of this particular musical.
