City Scenes & Architecture Photo Gallery


Lower Manhattan Manhattan, the "Hilly Island" of Algonquin origin, has a history marked by change and innovation. In the 17th century, the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam flourished into a modern community boasting cobblestone streets, fire and police patrols, a hospital, and a protective stone wall along what is now Wall Street.




After the English took control in 1664, the young city was renamed New York, with its northern boundary just beyond Chambers Street. A busy commercial thoroughfare, Maiden Lane was clogged with carts transporting grain from ships on the East River to a windmill near the Hudson. The windmill was New York's first skyline element, and today the centerpiece of the New York City seal.

New York Stock Exchange & Wall Street Area



From 1785 to 1790, New York became the capital of the United States following the American Revolution. On the site where Federal Hall now stands, George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States. Three years later in 1792, the nation's first stock exchange opened a few steps away.




In the early 1900s, modern skyscraper technology began to transform the Lower Manhattan skyline, with the Woolworth Building (1913) and the Municipal Building (1914) representing two of the most beautiful examples from the period. Wall Street financial firms cemented their place as world leaders even as Midtown developed as a central business district and industries such as shipping and manufacturing left their downtown locations.




US Custom House The U.S. Custom House sits on historic Bowling Green, the area around which New York was founded. Dutch settlers built a fort on the actual site to defend themselves against first, Native Americans and then the British. In 1732, three enterprising New Yorkers leased the open area on the north side of the fort for one peppercorn per annum and made a recreational bowling green on the site. After the American Revolution in 1790, the fort was replaced by an elegant brick building, the Government House. Although intended as a home for the President of the United States, it was never used, and when the capital moved to Philadelphia, the building became the residence of New York Governors Clinton and Jay. Between 1799 and 1815, the building served as the Custom House. The property was acquired by the federal government, and in 1899, the United States Department of the Treasury sponsored a competition for the design of a United States Custom House in New York that would be erected on that site. Cass Gilbert won the competition. Source : http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/history/


Lower Manhattan Continued









North Towards Union Square



Union Square Flea Market


14th Street Area















Madison Square Park & 23rd Street Area



Flatiron Building When completed in 1902, the Fuller Building, as it was originally known, caused a sensation. Architect Daniel Burnham made ingenious use of the triangular wedge of land and employed a revolutionary steel frame, which allowed for its 20-story, 286-foot height. Covered with a limestone and terra-cotta skin in the Italian Renaissance style, the ship's bowlike structure, appearing to sail intrepidly up 5th Avenue, was the most popular subject of picture postcards at the turn of the 20th century.









North Towards Central Park - Around 57th Street










Columbus Circle The Time Warner Center is a commercial redevelopment project at Columbus Circle. It consists of a shopping mall, restaurants, a 5-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and luxury condominiums.